About this package
tutorial.helpers provides functions to help you write R tutorials, especially if you follow my advice about the best way to do so. This approach is currently used in several packages, including r4ds.tutorials and positron.tutorials.
Installation
To install the package from CRAN:
install.packages("tutorial.helpers")You can install the development version from GitHub with:
remotes::install_github("PPBDS/tutorial.helpers")Useful tools
Tutorial template
To create a new tutorial, you first need a new directory, located in the inst/tutorials directory of your package. Once you create that directory, make sure that your R session is located within it. Then, issue this command:
> rmarkdown::draft("tutorial.Rmd",
template = "tutorial_template",
package = "tutorial.helpers",
edit = TRUE)This will create a new file, tutorial.Rmd in the current directory. This highly opinionated template provides a framework for teaching students how to use AI to do data science.
Testing
The package includes two important functions: make_exercise() and check_current_tutorial(). Use make_exercise() to add a new exercise to the current tutorial. It will number the exercise, and the code chunk labels, automatically. Use check_current_tutorial() to renumber all the exercises and relabel all the code chunks. This is especially useful if you add or delete an exercise in the middle of a section.
There are three exported functions for checking the tutorials in your package. See the testing vignette for details on their use.
Tutorials
The package includes three tutorials: “Getting Started,” “Introduction to R,” and “Introduction to Python.” You should require your students to complete the “Getting Started” tutorial if you are creating your own tutorials with tutorial.helpers package. For example, in Positron, have students run:
This will teach them enough about how tutorials work to be able to complete the tutorials you write. If you are also teaching R, we strongly recommend the “Introduction to R” tutorial.
Download answers
The most useful tool is the download answers trick. In your tutorial, simply include library(tutorial.helpers) in the setup R code chunk and then insert this empty code chunk at the end.
```{r download-answers, child = system.file("child_documents/download_answers.Rmd", package = "tutorial.helpers")}
```This will ask the student to provide an estimate of how long the tutorial took to complete. It will then provide the ability to download the student’s answers in html format. Students submit these files to their instructors, who can then confirm that the work was completed and look for any patterns in student (mis)understandings.
Recommended components
We recommend including this child document at the start of each tutorial:
```{r info-section, child = system.file("child_documents/info_section.Rmd", package = "tutorial.helpers")}
```This will insert (optional) questions asking for the student’s name, email and id.
We recommend ending the tutorial with the download-answers child document, as discussed above.