Meeting - 24 April 2023

Meeting Info

This is the UK Carpentry Community space for the UK Carpentry instructors, helpers and workshop coordinators (or anyone involved in training tech to researchers in general and outside of the UK) to get to know each other better, update the commmunity about developments, discuss issues and ideas, and encourage collaboration.

During these meetings, we will be conforming to The Carpentries Code of Conduct.

Meeting schedule: meetings happen on 4th Monday each month, 16:00-17:00 UK time, BST (UTC+1) or GMT (UTC+0) depending on the time of the year

Meeting details are shared via local-uk mailing list and The Carpentries community calendar.

Zoom URL: https://zoom.us/j/95360073649

Meeting Minutes

  • Chair: Mario Antonioletti
  • Timekeeper:
  • Notetaker: Stavrina Dimosthenous

Agenda

  1. Assign notetaker & timekeeper
  2. Sign in & ice-breaker
  3. Review of actions
  4. Announcements
  5. Guest speaker + Q&A
  6. Instructor Training checkout questions
  7. Wrap-up/AOB

Sign-in

Name/pronoun if you like/ institution / optionally put "(checkout)" if you are here for the Instructor Training checkout:

  1. Phil Reed (he/him) | University of Manchester
  2. Mario Antonioletti (he/him) | EPCC/SSI, University of Edinburgh
  3. Stavrina Dimosthenous (she/her) | Henry Royce Institute, University of Manchester
  4. Sherman Lo | Queen Mary, University of London
  5. Olexandr Konovalov | (he, him) | University of St Andrews
  6. Juan Herrera | (he, him) | EPCC, The University of Edinburgh
  7. Ag Stephens (he/him) | STFC Centre for Environmental Data Analysis
  8. Colin Sauze (he/him) | National Oceanography Centre
  9. Andrew Walker (he/him) | University of Oxford
  10. Joao Morado (he/him) | National Oceanography Centre
  11. Brynn Elliott, Accessibility manager for the Carpentries

Notes

  • Mario chairs
  • Introductions
  • Ag Stephens joins to learn more about Carpentries accredication
  • Brynn Elliott (accessibility manager with the Carpentries) joins for a check-in
  • CW23 taking place next week.
  • Phil going off to do a library carpentry next week.
  • Phil did a uni of utah LC Git. Phil asks if LC Git is different from SC Git. Phil taught git - you try to get the attendees to review what they have learnt and for doing this they use Google Jamboards (virtual post-it whiteboards). Activity organised commands in groups according to how they were covered in the workshop. Had about 20 attendees in his session. Found it effective as another way to work online. Mario asks question about how long. Comparison of time allocation for SC-Git vs LC-Git. Online instruction takes longer than in-person instruction. Mario usually allocates half a day to SC lesson but it's not enough. Ag notes the use of jamboard and how nice it is
    • Ag asks, how rehearsed are the timings?
    • Phil notes that timings are flexible and the pace dictates how much is covered and it's better to go slow
    • Andrew adds that SC-Shell is a full day ideally and that the audience experience and comfort sets the pace
    • Note that there is not a reflection session in SC-Git vs. LC-Git which has an interactive reflection activity on how Git works
    • Colin notes that the SC-Git workshop takes longer than the noted time
    • Colin suggests that each workshop could have time allocation calculation and contribute timings back to the lesson maintainers
    • Juan adds that he usually teaches Git in half a day usually by summarising the lessons and explaining the most important points
    • Phil notes that ssh-keygen was a sticking point
    • Stavrina notes that when learners have seen shell for the first time she prefers using https cloning push-pull
    • Phil asks if https works in comparison with ssh
    • Ag shares materials the STFC Centre for Environmental Data Analysis has created https://github.com/ncasuk/ncas-isc/blob/main/version_control/01_git_exercise.md#2-generate-an-access-token-to-use-as-your-password-and-setup-the-git-client
    • Mario notes that working in remotes is where most learners see the value of Git/GitHub in facilitating collaboration
    • Sherman asks whether Jamboard served its purpose and the interactivity
    • Phil notes that not the full body of students engaged
    • Mario asks about timezone difference UK vs. Utah
    • Phil says it went well although it was a bit confusing with timezone conversion
    • Phil will feedback about lesson development
  • Phil notes that there is a fork that someone made of SC-Git and rewrote it as a Git GUI lesson. https://ndporter.github.io/lc-git-gui/
  • Mario asks about librarians using Git
  • Discussion of Git in Research Data Management (RDM) and Digital Librarianship
    • Funders require good RDM
    • Mario adds that publishing of code and data in repositories aids in project FAIRness (Findable Accessible Interoperable Reproducible)
  • Discussion of how the new template changes the teaching experience - Phil to feed back next time
  • Stavrina asks how to organise a full Software Carpentry (with Python) over 3 days
    • Olexandr gives advice on how to organise over 2 days, Day 1 Shell + Python, Day 2 Git + Python due to instructor constaints and other responsibilities
    • Andrew suggests to slow down and not use all the material and that would fill all 3 days. What would be most useful for the learners on day 3 based on their profiles
    • Olexandr, Idea: teach in 2 days, use day 3 for "bring your own project" ?
    • Mario, applying the lessons to their own project
    • Juan, Last December, we delivered a three-day SWC course - It worked well:
      • Day 1: Shell and Make
      • Day 2: Python
      • Day 3: Git and SQL
    • Sherman notes the breakout room interaction
  • Ag asks about useful adapted lesson plan forks
    • Mario notes that he has forked a minimalist version of the Carpentries Git lesson, supplements material or takes things away
    • Andrew does not teach with slides but teaches within the live coding environment. Tries to work out the lesson outcome and try to have a marked up copy of the lesson with the important details to cover
  • Stavrina asks about sourcing instructors for a non-open Carpentry

Announcements

Select a repo