On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 8:26 AM Doug Latornell <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 7:48 AM Noam Ross <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I learned to use git via the RStudio GUI. It is not the most powerful >> interface, but it was enough for most tasks I needed as a beginner: >> committing, reviewing history, pushing/pulling from Github, etc. As I >> became comfortable with the concepts and had more advanced needs I switched >> to the command line. >> >> For R-based SWC/DC workshops I have taught and seen, we often teach git >> in the command line and then afterwards briefly demo the fact that similar >> tasks can be accomplished in the RStudio IDE, which learners already have >> installed. Has anyone attempted to teach with the GUI first, or somehow >> teach them in parallel? I hypothesize learners might be more likely to use >> git immediately with this approach. >> > Forgot to include the URL of the workshop site: http://douglatornell.ca/training/meopeers-2015-06-15/ > > Last June I taught a day-long (~6h) workshop on version control based on > the SWC Mercurial lesson material. The workshop used both the command-line > and the Tortoise-Hg GUI. The learners were free to choose either interface > and I presented each section in both interfaces, using the repetition of > concepts to try to ensure more understanding by the learners. Feedback from > the workshop was generally positive, including several comments > appreciating the choice of interface. The learners are from a national > centres of excellent network that is spread across Canada and I have not > had contact with any of them since the workshop, so, unfortunately, I can't > comment on how the instructional approach correlates with uptake and > continuing use of version control. I would not attempt to use the same > approach in an SWC workshop because there is simply not enough time in > 2.5-3 hr half-day segment. > >> >> Two other thoughts on this approach: >> >> 1. While we aim to teach script-ability, scripting git commands is >> rare/advanced use. >> 2. I have gotten feedback that teaching the RStudio git GUI is hard to >> follow. This seemed to be because (1) this was a less well-developed >> lesson - more a demo at the end of the main git lesson, and (2) learners >> could not follow along via SWC notes or the live command history we shared >> via dropbox. So such lesson might require a screenshot-heavy set of >> accompanying lesson notes. Guidance might come from the DC experience with >> OpenRefine and Excel lessons. >> >> - Noam >> >> On Wed, Mar 2, 2016, 7:54 AM Konrad Hinsen <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> On 02/03/16 10:30, Juan Nunez-Iglesias wrote: >>> >>> > I hope we all migrate soon to UIs built on top of git, such as gitless >>> > <http://gitless.com/>. But it's gonna be slow and painful, because of >>> > the huge momentum that git has. >>> >>> I considered using gitless instead of git for my recent course for >>> French PhD students >>> (https://github.com/khinsen/FdV-Computer-Aided-Research-2016). The two >>> main reasons I ended up sticking to plain git were >>> >>> 1) Gitless requires additional installation, whereas plain git was >>> already available on all machines. >>> >>> 2) There is excellent SWC teaching material for Git, but not for gitless. >>> >>> So, yes, SWC is becoming a part of the "system inertia" for me! >>> >>> A problem I see with gitless is that it is technically compatible with >>> git, but not operationally. For a given local repository, you use either >>> git or gitless. For everyone who knows some git commands, that means >>> unlearning. >>> >>> What I use myself is Magit (http://magit.vc/) within Emacs. It's a much >>> more reasonable UI for git, but it's fully compatible with git (it >>> actually calls git under the hood), so you can mix it with command line >>> work. But I wouldn't consider Magit for teaching because I am not >>> looking forward to doing "introduction to Emacs" first! >>> >>> Konrad. >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Discuss mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> >>> http://lists.software-carpentry.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.software-carpentry.org >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Discuss mailing list >> [email protected] >> >> http://lists.software-carpentry.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss_lists.software-carpentry.org > >
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