Learners, instructors, and 'workshop helpers' from Old Dominion University pose after a collaborative and engaging 2-day workshop with shell, git, R, and JupyterHub.
The DataUp program visited Old Dominion University on Oct 25-26 to introduce shell, git, R, and the JupyterHub. The workshop included students, faculty and staff eager to engage with the analytical tools. This workshop brought together a ‘melting pot’ of faculty, staff, and students from various corners of the university to engage in a 2-day workshop. The concepts were chosen by ODU as Unix Shell & R are utilized in their High-Performance Computing Center. Even though intensive, one student noted, ‘it’s like drinking from an 8-hour firehouse, but the information is great. I knew nothing before Day 1 and [now I feel] more confident [after the first day]’. The 2-person instructor team led the traditional Carpentries curriculum, but their instruction was magnified by multiple ‘workshop helpers’. In training workshops such as these, learners have various expertise levels and learning styles. Multiple ‘workshop helpers’ and instructors reinforced the concepts as the diverse point of views benefited the wide range of learning styles. This was especially beneficial to a professor who noted that she learned to code about 15 years ago and was very nervous to retool herself but, ‘this workshop helped [her] to remove her fear [of coding]’.