[R-sig-teaching] Undergraduate finance

[Randall Pruim]

Here are my main suggestions:

  1. Less Volume, More Creativity!
  2. Use RStudio Server if you can.
  3. Take advantage of (or create) learnr tutorials

Here’s a bit more detail.

There are lot of packages/authors/functions/etc out there.  You need to be selective in what you choose.  It is not enough to get R to do what you want done, you need the suite of tools you introduce to students to play well together.  The less you use R in the course, the more important this is.  The particular suite you choose will depend on the goals you have for your course and your students, the availability of functions/packages to support those goals, and your personal preferences (regarding things like style of API).

I’ve given numerous presentations with the Less Volume, More Creativity theme (example: http://cvc.mosaic-web.org/Summer2017/Learn/LessVolume/LessVolume.html) — but not always with the same underlying set of commands.  Here are some suites that I think work well together.

* mosaic package + lattice graphics  (I now prefer ggformula graphics)
* mosaic package + ggformula graphics
* tidyverse (dplyr, readr, tidyr, etc.)

If you make it your goal to keep the set of R commands you teach as lean and consistent as possible, while still capable of doing what you need, then are heading in the right direction.  I would start with the things you are quite sure you will need/want to use (For me this was formulas, since I knew I would need them for models.  That moved me to lattice graphics originally, and ggformula graphics now and led us to include many things in the mosaic package to make numerical summaries follow that same basic template.)  Work your way out from there — always asking “do I really need this? and does this play well with the other things on my list?

Using an RStudio server means that (a) your students don’t have to install anything and (b) you can ensure everyone has the same working environment (installed packages, etc.)  It also safeguards against things like computer failure.  (If you have enough students, someone will fall asleep in the top bunk sending their laptop crashing to the floor…)

learnr tutorials are very easy to write and provide a great way to demonstrate to your students how the things you have chosen work.  Interactive R sessions, and quizzes can be embedded in the tutorials.  Here’s an example:  http://rsconnect.calvin.edu/ggformula/introduction/.  I expect more of these will become available as more people see how easy they are to construct and how helpful they can be.

—rjp





On Oct 2, 2017, at 2:03 PM, Geoffrey Smith <gps at asu.edu<mailto:gps at asu.edu>> wrote:

Hello,


I am teaching an undergraduate course in Investments next semester and I would like to incorporate a little R programming into it. Does anyone have any teaching tips or textbook suggestions?


Thank you.


Geoff


Geoffrey Smith

Clinical Associate Professor of Finance

WP Carey School of Business

Arizona State University

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