If you see a way to improve the course, find a problem with the
materials, or have a question about the materials, please open an
issue ticket. If you do this, I can easily track your
idea/problem/question until I address it.
A set of notes might contain an error or poorly explain a concept,
the instructions in a tutorial might miss steps, the homework assignment
might not clearly describe the task. In all these cases, you can improve
this and future iterations by creating a record of the problem.
You spend more time studying the materials than me. I try to imagine
how you experience the content, but you actually experience it.
Help me make the course better.
If you see a way to improve the materials or need help, I strongly
prefer that you open any issue ticket at all to no issue
tikcet. I can edit (or help you edit) your issue as needed. But you
can make the issue even more useful by following the guidelines
below.
For our purposes, three most valuable issue tickets…
- ask a question about R and contain a minimal, complete, and
verifiable example,
- suggest an improvement or correction for the notes or homework
assignments, or
- request feedback on an idea, especially for your research
projects.
Where should I open the issue ticket?
- If you want to open an issue related to course
materials, open an issue
ticket in the 5737.github.io repo.
- If you want to open an issue requesting that we grade your
homework, open an issue in the the repo for that
homework assignment.
- If you want to open an issue related to your research
project, open an issue in the the repo for your
research project.
- For more general conversation, we have a team
discussion.
What makes a good issue?
- Choose a descriptive title. On my dashboard, I see a queue of issue
tickets, so a good title helps me (and others) find the issue ticket I
want.
- Describe the idea/problem/question completely in the body. If I
revisit the issue in a year, I should understand.
- Link to any documents that might help explain or resolve the
issue.
- Use screenshots liberally. Copy-and-paste any images that might be
helpful. Remember that command + control + shift + 4 (macOS) allows you
to select a portion of the window and copies that portion to
your clipboard. You can paste this image into the body of the issue with
command + V. (But remember that others cannot copy-and-paste code from
screenshots.)
- Format your body well, using GitHub-flavored markdown syntax.
I want feedback on an idea for my research project.
- Open an issue ticket in the the repo for your research
project.
- Describe your idea by describing it directly in the body, linking to
a document, including code, or providing a screenshot.
- Ask clear, explicit questions or point to specific areas of
improvement.
- To draw attention to the issue, you can use the
@
to
alert individual people. You can use @pos5737/staff
to
alert the TA and me. You can use @pos5737/students
to alert
all classmates.
The homework assignment isn’t clear.
- Open
an issue ticket in the 5737.github.io repo.
- In the body, link to the assignment, reference the unclear
question(s), and describe your confusion.
- Use the
question
label.
My code doesn’t work.
- If it’s part of the homework, then open an issue
ticket in the 5737.github.io repo. If it’s part of
your research project, then open an issue in the the repo for
your research project.
- Explain what you want to accomplish with the code. For homework
assignments, simply link to the assignment and reference the question.
For non-homework, you should provide a bit more background.
- Post your problematic code using Markdown
syntax so that others can copy-and-paste the code to reproduce the
error. It’s hard to find an error without the ability to reproduce
it.
- Post a screenshot of the problematic output or error message.
- Ideally, post a minimal, complete, and
verifiable example. Creating an MCVE teaching you a lot about the
problem and usually identifies the error.
- Use the
question
label. If it’s a question about
homework prior to submission, then also use the hw help
label.
I can’t answer a question from the homework.
- Open
an issue ticket in the 5737.github.io repo.
- In the body, link to the assignment and note the unclear
question(s).
- Use the
question
label and the hw help
label.
I want to submit my homework for review (i.e., grading).
See the instructions here.
Carlisle Rainey