The topic we discussed is the learning of the R language. This video can be used by students in grade 12 and above. Because the video covers some concepts about R language, interesting editing, and monologue forms, students can clearly understand the wide range of uses and convenience of R language. This is a video that explains why R is a better choice than other statistical software packages and software options (including SPSS, STATA, SAS, etc.). Making students understand that learning theme-R language is worth learning.  

1. What kind of interaction would the video require from your students? Does it force them to respond in some way (inherent)? 

This video contains designed interactions. In fact, some media or technologies are not inherently interactive, but they can be explicitly designed to encourage interaction with learners (Bates, 2019). In our R language teaching, we do not force students to respond. Teachers can add activities in specific media to allow students to discuss based on the content of the podcast every few minutes. Therefore, designed interactions are suitable for teaching programming. 

2. In what way are they likely to respond to the video on their own, e.g. make notes, do an activity, think about the topic (learner-generated)?

Students will respond to the video by remembering how to participate in the activity. We have designed the students’ self-programming attempts and group discussions in the teaching plan, so students will be more willing to try simple programming in the R language after watching the video. 

3. How much work for you would that activity cause? Would the work be both manageable and worthwhile? Could the activity be scaled for larger numbers of students? 

I use a short presentation to let students have a better experience and follow the cases I wrote. For example, I calculated the average and median of two variables, plotted a simple 2*2 matrix, and calculated the correlation coefficient. Students only need to retype the code that I wrote at a slow pace to achieve a simple learning process of understanding and memorizing. So, there is not much workload in class. Moreover, this example operation is suitable for large-scale teaching but not suitable for management. 

4. How could the video have been designed to generate more or better activity from viewers or students? 

This video uses interesting explanations and simple real codes to improve students’ enthusiasm for learning R. Students may like to request more open discussions in the class activities. Students can understand mathematical logic and simple programming concepts through simple thinking. This kind of video is conducive to the participation and thinking of students. 

Reference

Bates, A. W. (2019, October 10). 9.6 Interaction. Teaching in a Digital Age Second Edition. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/. 

R Programming 101. (2018, December 14). R programming for beginners – Why you should use R.[Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/cnkKHL_dyGE