[1] 31 79 51[1] 31 79 51[1] 31 79 51[1] 31 79 51[1] 31 79 51Tools and recommendations for reproducible teaching
Talk at TALMO
Mine Dogucu
University of California Irvine
University of California Irvine
Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel
Duke University
Duke University
2025-03-12
Teacher-Scholar’s Toolkit
| Purpose | Tool |
|---|---|
| Research | R |
| Teaching | PowerPoint |
| Learning | Graphing Calculator |
Teacher-Scholar’s Toolkit
| Purpose | Tool |
|---|---|
| Research | R |
| Teaching | R |
| Learning | R |
Teacher-Scholar’s Toolkit
| Purpose | Tool |
|---|---|
| Research | R |
| Teaching | PowerPoint |
| Learning | Graphing Calculator |
| Purpose | Tool |
|---|---|
| Research | R |
| Teaching | R |
| Learning | R |
Why?
- Course management
- Role modeling
- Sharing course materials with others
Framework for Reproducible Teaching
All teaching materials should be
computationally reproducible,
well-documented, and
open.
Computational Reproducibility
Literate programming
Literate programming - Websites
Literate programming - Slides
Literate programming - Exams
Raw data - Real data
Keep data in the raw form you find or collect it, and record any steps to process it to prepare it for teaching.
Raw data - Simulated data
File organization
week-11-simple-linreg
|-- week-11-simple-linreg.Rproj
|-- README.md
|-- data
|-- README.md
|-- bike-rental.csv
|-- birth-weight.csv
|-- lectures
|-- lec-11a-simple-linreg.qmd
|-- lec-11b-indicator-var.qmd
|-- lec-11c-assumptions.qmd
|-- quizzes
|-- quiz-11a-simple-linreg.qmd
|-- quiz-11b-indicator-var.qmd
|-- quiz-11c-assumptions.qmdAdopt a project-based workflow to avoid changing file paths.
The file names should
be machine-readable
be human-readable
play well with default-ordering
File organization
Use here::here() to set the file path to the root of the project.
Version control
Version control
Version control
Documentation
Data documentation
Document contents and provenance of data files:
Option 1:
A single README.md file with variable descriptions and provenance.
Option 2:
- A CSV file with variable descriptions with columns
nameanddescription. - A
README.mdfile with data provenance.
Use plain-text formats, not spreadsheets like Excel or Google Sheets, for version control compatibility.
Folder documentation
Include a plain-text README file in the course folder and each top-level subfolder explaining the folder’s contents and outlining steps to reproduce materials, e.g., quarto render.
Software documentation
Minimum:
Document versions of R, Quarto, packages, etc. README files, manually updated or programmatically generated with session_info().
Medium:
Use renv (R) or venv (Python) to preserve the computational environment.
Advanced:
Use Docker containers for full environment snapshots.
Reproducibility in communication
Use the reprex package to generate reproducible code snippets and share session details when answering student questions.
What’s your style?
Option 1:
or Option 3: Who cares? It doesn’t matter!
Style guide
Pick a style, any (reasonable) style, but, at a minimum, avoid spaces and use line breaks to improve human and machine readability.
Ideally, conform to a established, professional style guide for better student preparedness:
- tidyverse style guide: style.tidyverse.org
- Google’s Python style guide: google.github.io/styleguide/pyguide.html
- Julia style guide: docs.julialang.org/en/v1/manual/style-guide
Openness
Gold standard
Openly share materials on publicly hosted websites to increase accessibility and reusability.
Challenge: University policies on hosting course materials in password-protected LMS – consistency for students across courses but limits broader access.
Consider posting materials both on university platforms (for students) and publicly (for wider access). Open access benefits learners worldwide, while open-source sharing allows other educators to adapt and reuse materials.
Licensing
Always release materials with a license, whether open-access or open-source.
Non-software:
Consider whether to allow derivative works and re-sharing (e.g., share-alike options):
- Creative Commons (CC) licenses are recommended.
- CC BY-NC 4.0: Allows reuse with attribution but restricts commercial use (useful for future textbooks).
- CC BY 4.0: Allows both commercial and non-commercial use (e.g., corporate training, MOOCs).
Software:
- MIT License
- General Public License (GPL) etc.
Educators should familiarize themselves with licensing options before making a choice. Recommended reading: The four R’s of openness and ALMS analysis: frameworks for open educational resources by Hilton III et al. (2010) on licensing and open educational resources.
Coda
Example - Frontend
Example - Backend
Challenges and benefits
Rarely, if ever, an investment in reproducibility doesn’t pay off!
Adopting the full framework likely requires learning new tools and keeping your (and your co-instructors’ + TAs’) knowledge of tools and ecosystems up to date, which is no small feat!
Openness brings
- free learning materials to your discipline and community,
- invites kudos from colleagues using your materials,
- generates opportunities for collaboration and recognition, and
- can serve as a role model for your students.
See also
QUESTIONS?
Slides at mdogucu.github.io/talmo-25.
Source code for slides at github.com/mdogucu/talmo-25.
Tools and recommendations for reproducible teaching Talk at TALMO Mine Dogucu University of California Irvine Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel Duke University 2025-03-12