Course logistics, Intro, {ggplot2} review

Week 1

Wednesday January 7th, 2026

The {ggplot2} hex sticker which features a connected scatterplot with data points in varying shades of blue atop a gray gridded background. The word 'ggplot2' sits beneath the data.

Pre-lecture Prep

A. Install required packages

install.packages("palmerpenguins") # a package containing the `penguins` data set, which we'll use for plotting practice
install.packages("tidyverse") # a collection of packages used for data wrangling / manipulation and visualization (including {ggplot2})

B. Create & organize your EDS-240-class-examples repository

We’ll be coding together quite a bit throughout this course. To stay organized, we’ll complete all of our in-class examples in one repository (repo). Create and clone a GitHub repository named EDS-240-class-examples (or something that makes sense for you). Step-by-step instructions are provided, below, if needed:

Create a remote (GitHub) repo:

  1. Navigate to your GitHub profile and click on Repositories (top menu bar)
  2. Click on the green New button in the upper right-hand corner
  3. Give it the name EDS-240-class-examples, and optionally, a short description. Select the radio button for Public repository (it should be selected by default). Initialize this repository with a README, then click Create repository.
  4. From your repo’s main page, click the green Code button and copy the URL to your clipboard

Clone your repo:

You may choose the IDE of your choice, though the instructions below describe a workflow for RStudio users.

  1. Open up RStudio
  2. Click on the drop down menu next to the R project icon (top right corner)
  3. Click New Project… > Version Control > Git > paste your repo’s URL in the Repository URL: box and press Tab to auto fill the Project directory name field (it should automatically be named the same as your GitHub repo). Browse to select where on your computer you’d like your repo to be saved.
  4. Click Create Project

You should also create a folder for each week (e.g. week1/, week2/, week3/, etc.) inside your repository’s root directory to help keep all the various files that we’ll download / create organized. This consistent naming scheme will also make it easy to add large files (e.g. data files) to your .gitignore file, which is automatically created when you clone your repo as an R project (you’ll add data to your .gitignore for the first time during this week’s pre-discussion prep).

Remember to also fill out your repo’s README, referencing the MEDS README Guidelines.

C. Download the .qmd template

Template .qmd files will be provided alongside (most) lecture slides to help keep us organized and on track throughout class. They are available for download directly from GitHub at the link(s) provided in the Lecture Materials table (below). Look for the download button at the top right corner of the file (it looks similar to this, ). Please download all necessary templates and save them to the appropriate EDS-240-data-viz-examples/weekX folder before each class.

Lecture Materials

Lecture slides Code-along template Code-along key
Lecture 1.1: course logistics & syllabus NA NA
Lecture 1.2: data viz intro NA NA
Lecture 1.3: {ggplot2} review 1.3 template 1.3 key

Pre-discussion Prep

Comming soon

Discussion Materials

Comming soon

Assignment Reminders

Assignment Type Assignment Title Date Assigned Date Due
SR Pre-course reflection (SR #1) Wed 01/07/2026 Fri 01/09/2026, 11:59pm PT
HW Homework Assignment #1 Wed 01/07/2026 Wed 01/14/2026, 11:59pm PT