[R-sig-teaching] purpose of list

[Mark Daniel Ward]

Dear Bob,
    Thank you for your question to the list.  I'm using R to teach 
courses on Computing with Data.  I am in the Department of Statistics at 
Purdue University (in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA), although of course 
my opinion does not represent our entire department.
    I believe that R is a great tool for teaching undergraduates and 
graduate students.  I teach these Computing with Data classes at both 
levels.  As you might guess from the title, I do not focus on 
statistical methods, but instead I focus on the ability to manipulate 
data that is very large and thus cannot be handled by less-powerful 
software.
    It might be helpful to note that I teach R alongside other 
technologies (in the same course), including UNIX tools, bash shell 
scripting, regular expressions, SQL, XML, and a brief introduction to 
Perl....  although R remains the main topic in my course.  I spend about 
1/3 of the time in the course on R.
    Our students are fortunate to have access to other software, 
including (for instance) S-PLUS, but I really enjoy using open source 
technologies in my classes to the greatest possible extent.
    I hope that helps give a perspective about one use of R in the 
classroom.
Mark



Robert W. Hayden wrote:
> I had some minor role in the creation of this list.  At times I have
> complained that members have been too harsh in redirecting queries
> whose proper home seemed to me debatable.  But as time has gone on I
> have to admit that too much (most?) of the traffic on this list is
> about how to make R work rather than how to use it in education.  So,
> trying to think positively, let me toss out some general EDUCATIONAL
> questions.  How are people using R for educational purposes?  What do
> people think of the various GUI or alternate (e.g., spreadsheet)
> interfaces?  Is there anything that makes R as easy to use for
> beginners as, say, Minitab?  What about using R for educational
> simulations?  Is R the tool for replacing what George Cobb calls a
> "Ptolemaic curriculum"?
>
>        http://repositories.cdlib.org/uclastat/cts/tise/vol1/iss1/art1/ 
>
> If anyone wants to respond it might help to briefly describe your
> student audience.  While I am attracted to the power of R, many of the
> folks who ask me about R are attracted by the price.  That is
> especially important in a number of contexts I work with:
>
>
> my own online courses where we have no computer labs for
> students who must get their own software, often paying full
> single-copy prices
>
> public high schools in the U.S. where student computer access at
> school is limited and it is very helpful to give students something
> they can install on a computer at home
>
> people teaching in less wealthy nations
>
>
>   
>> On 6/29/09, Martin Maechler <maechler at stat.math.ethz.ch> wrote:
>>     
>>> Wrong Mailing List !!
>>>
>>>  Please use R-help  for R questions!
>>>
>>>       
>> <skip>
>>     
>>>     AA> Assume I have the following data sets:
>>>
>>>       
>> Also, please send reproducible code with dummy data. Assuming the data
>> is too abstract to think of a solution; and you haven't even mentioned
>> the exact R function that you wanted to use.
>> Best regards,
>> Liviu
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> R-sig-teaching at r-project.org mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-teaching
>>
>>     
>
>
> ------->  First-time AP Stats. teacher?  Help is on the way! See
>
>  http://courses.ncssm.edu/math/Stat_Inst/Stats2007/Bob%20Hayden/Relief.html
> 	    
>   Robert W. Hayden in the old library at  212 Main Street (P. O. Box 450)
>   North Troy, VT 05859  phone (802) 988-2587  web site http://statland.org/      
>   email  bob statland.org  (add your own "@" and save me some spam)
>
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