Introduction to R and Data Visualization

This workshop introduces the fundamentals of R programming and data visualization. Students will learn to work with core R data structures, write basic programs, wrangle and visualize data.

Instructor: Wenbin Guo

Term: Spring

Location: Boyer Hall, Room 529

Time: Tuesday to Thursday 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Introduction to R and Data Visualization

Overview

This workshop provides practical training in R programming and data visualization. Students will:

  • Learn the fundamentals of R and its core data structures
  • Develop skills in writing basic programs and working with functions
  • Gain hands-on experience with data wrangling and visualization using tidyverse

For registration, visit the QCBio workshop page.

Prerequisites

  • No prior experience with R is required
  • Basic familiarity with programming concepts is helpful but not necessary

Textbooks

  • Primary: “Learning R” by Richard Cotton
  • Reference:
    • “Advanced R” by Hadley Wickham
    • “R in action” by Rob Kabacoff
    • “R for Data Science” by Garrett Grolemund, Hadley Wickham, and Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel

Grading

  • Assignments: 90%
  • Participation: 10%

Schedule

Date Topic Materials
Day 1 Introduction to R

An introduction to the R/RStudio environment, variables, operators, and core data structures including vectors, matrices, lists, and data frames.

Day 2 R Programming and Data Wrangling

Working with control flow, loops, functions, packages, file input/output, and data wrangling using the tidyverse toolkit.

Day 3 Data Visualization with ggplot2

Learning the grammar of graphics and building plots with ggplot2 using aesthetics, geometric objects, scales, and themes.