>From the prospective of a student, I highly recommend the hands on approach. I >had the best outcomes when I was provided with examples, and then encouraged >to make my own modifications in a lab / class environment, with help >available. This approach allows students to build the skills required to >program independently, without becoming overwhelmed at the start.
Murray Murray Pung | Research Analyst AIM Research & HR Consulting PO Box 328, Nth Sydney NSW 2060 P +61 (02) 9956 3951 F +61 (02) 9922 2210 www.aimsurveys.com.au -----Original Message----- From: John Fox [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, 20 September 2005 4:25 AM To: Rau, Roland Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [R] Teaching R - In front of the computer? Dear Roland, I've taught the use of R to this kind of audience many times. Take a look at <http://socserv.socsci.mcmaster.ca/jfox/Courses/UCLA/index.html> for materials used in such a workshop, and at <http://socserv.socsci.mcmaster.ca/jfox/Teaching-with-R.pdf> for a paper on teaching social statistics with R. As others have suggested, using static slides is not a good idea, and having at least a live display for the presenter is essential. It also helps to have the students sitting at computers and able to try things out for themselves. If this is a workshop devoted to R, I'd strongly recommend this format. On the other hand, if you're teaching R in the context of a more general statistics course, you can cover the basics in a hands-on workshop and then use the LCD projector to introduce new commands, etc., during the course as they're needed. I find that once they've acquired the basics, students are able to work more independently. I hope this helps, John On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:25:14 +0200 "Rau, Roland" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear R-Users, > > given you have been teaching R to students (grad level, mainly social > science background, no previous programming experience, 80% know > SPSS), > what are your experiences concerning the style of teaching? Do you > prefer to stand in front of the class like in "normal" lectures and > you > show them slides? Or do you you explain some concept (for example > things > like mydata[order(var1, var2),]) and show it directly on the computer > via beamer/projector and also the students have to enter it on the > computers in front of them. > > Any experiences you can share are highly appreciated. > > Thanks, > Roland > > +++++ > This mail has been sent through the MPI for Demographic > Rese...{{dropped}} > > ______________________________________________ > [email protected] mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide! > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html -------------------------------- John Fox Department of Sociology McMaster University Hamilton, Ontario, Canada http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/jfox/ ______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide! http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html ______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide! http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
