--- title: "Writing your syllabus" author: "Bernhard Bieri" date: "`r Sys.Date()`" output: rmarkdown::html_vignette vignette: > %\VignetteIndexEntry{Writing your syllabus} %\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown} %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8} --- ```{r global.options, include = FALSE} knitr::opts_chunk$set( collapse = TRUE, comment = "#>", fig.align = 'center', fig.width=6, fig.height=4 ) ``` ```{r setup, include=FALSE} pkgs <- c("iheiddown", "magrittr", "ggplot2") lapply(pkgs, library, character.only = TRUE) ``` `{iheiddown}` is not only a tool for students to write their thesis in. It can also be of use for teaching activities at IHEID as it harbors a great looking template for course syllabi. This short article will walk you through the workflow of writing your very own syllabus in R. ## Installation The installation process is the same than for the thesis template. You'll need the following software: 1. Install [R](https://cran.r-project.org) and [R-Studio](https://posit.co/) 2. Install a LATEX distribution: - [For MacOS](https://www.tug.org/mactex/) - [For Windows](https://miktex.org/) - [For Linux](https://www.tug.org/texlive/) 3. Install `{iheiddown}` by typing the following command `install.packages("iheiddown") ` in the R-Studio console. Note: typing `remotes::install_github("jhollway/iheiddown")` will provide you with the latest version from GitHub. ## Create your first syllabus Creating your first syllabus is easy! Let's look at how it is done. Before we begin, we have to create a new R project by clicking on the file tab in the top of the RStudio window and following the instructions of the prompt that appears. Now that we have created an R project for our presentation, we can open a new R-Markdown file. To do this click on the "plus file" logo in the top left corner and then on "R-Markdown". ```{r, echo = FALSE, out.width="80%", fig.cap="Step 1: Open a project"} knitr::include_graphics("images/syllabus/0-OpenProject.png", dpi = 144) ``` After you have done this, a little pop-up helper will appear. The first thing we will do is to select the `{iheiddown}` template for our presentation. To do so, click on the "From Template" option on the left and select the "Syllabus {iheiddown}" template. Now give your file a name and click on "OK". ```{r, echo = FALSE, out.width="80%", fig.cap="Step 2: Select a template"} knitr::include_graphics("images/syllabus/1-CreateSyllabus.png", dpi = 144) ``` Congrats! You just created your first syllabus! We can actually already render our syllabus. This is done by simply clicking the "knit button" while viewing the `MySyllabus.Rmd` pane. Et voilĂ ! You have now successfully generated your first syllabus with R. Take a moment to read through the generated syllabus to get acquainted with the `{R-markdown}` syntax and to get a feel of the possibilities of the `{iheiddown}` theme. ## Edit your syllabus This section will focus on giving you an overview of the workflow of creating your syllabus with the `{iheiddown}` package. ### Set YAML options The general options are set in the YAML header. You can define the contact information of the instructor and the teaching assistant as well as give a general course description or set evaluation policies. You can also set bibliographic options such as the `.bib` file you want to draw your references from (`references.bib` by default) and the style of the bibliographic entries by altering the `.csl` file. ### Setting the start-date of your course The second step is to set the correct start date of your course in the main `MySyllabus.Rmd` file. This is done simply by editing the `startdate` variable in the first code chunk. ### Editing your course description The third and last step is to edit the main body of the syllabus. To do this, simply write the title of each week's session, a description if necessary and add citations of the weeks material with the id of the reference in the bib file preceded by "@" e.g. `@Darwin1958`.