On 10-11 June 2019, we were delighted to welcome 16 delegates to Oxygen House for our 2019 R Training Workshop. Our group this year was particularly diverse, comprising ten undergraduates and six PhD students from no fewer than 11 different universities.
The goal of the workshop was to provide an interactive introduction to the R language, viewed through the lens of sports modelling. Working in groups, and supported by six ATASS Sports researchers, our delegates first picked up the fundamentals of R through a variety of bespoke training activities, and then had chance to hone their skills on some real-world “mini-projects”, which included developing a football prediction model, visualising point-by-point probabilities in tennis, and practicing key “data wrangling” techniques (such as downloading, collating, and cleaning data). We also organised a fun prediction competition to tie in with the Women’s World Cup matches on Monday evening, as part of the night of entertainment at Oxygen House.
We always try to ensure our delegates get the most they can out of each workshop, and were very happy to read through their post-workshop feedback: this year, 100% of delegates said that the workshop content was interesting (88% strongly agree, 12% agree); that they had learned something useful from the workshop (88% strongly agree, 12% agree); and that ATASS had welcomed them and met their needs throughout the visit (100% strongly agree). A selection of more detailed feedback from this year’s delegates appears below – in their own words!
Delegate feedback on our 2019 R Training Workshop (10-11 June 2019):
“The workshop was excellent – I’d never done any R previously and I feel I learnt a lot.”
“Very welcoming and the hospitality was really good. Learnt a lot, and it was good how many resources were provided.”
“I really liked the working environment – Oxygen House is a very well-designed, comfortable environment which I found allowed me to work efficiently, productively and in a relaxed way, which I really appreciated. The workshop started from the basics but even with 5 years’ experience of using R, I learnt a lot about useful functions, efficient methods and good practice, which I will take back with me into my own work.”
“Really enjoyed the relaxed nature of the workshop. Felt like I learnt a lot and looking forward to using what I have learnt in future work.”
“Everything was well-explained through examples and interactivity.”
“The workshop really helped develop my R skills and I enjoyed using it for data I am interested in.”
“It was useful working in pairs with assistants, as it helped with any problems and queries. The staff were all really friendly and helpful.”
“Ratio of helpers to students meant it was very easy to seek help quickly when needed. Very fun and calm atmosphere. A very interactive way to learn R.”
“Very friendly, open atmosphere, starting from ‘zero’ – and an interesting mix of participants! Group work was actually a great way to get to know people.”
“It was great to mingle with some of the employees in a social environment and talk informally about what they do.”
“The evening event was nice, as we had the chance to actually get to know the rest of the people.”
“The staff were very helpful and welcoming. Lovely environment, very interesting content, and challenging enough (although ‘beginners’). Learned lots of new things and feeling excited and motivated to possibly and hopefully pursue this further. Thank you”
