Why organize? What’s the benefit? What’s the cost? How do you organize?

Why Organize Your Workspace?

Exercise: Physical Organization

Now that we have discussed some basic reasons to organize, we are handing out some supplies for a quick exercise. Your groups are receiving some envelopes, shape cutouts, and markers.

Your first task is to organize those: you have 2 minutes.

Now trade your result with another group, but do not do anything with their result yet: we will ask you a question momentarily, which the first group to answer correctly wins.

After that question: How did you organize? How did the other group organize? What do you think was bad about your approach? What was good about theirs? Write down a few sentences answering these questions: you have 2 minutes.

Now you will get more shapes. Add those to the other group’s material; you may also re-arrange their organization: you have 1 minute, then trade.

Once everyone has their folders back, we will ask another question. Again, the first group to answer correctly wins.

After that question: What did the other group do? Was that consistent with the organization scheme you used? Why (or why not) do you think that? Again, write your answers down: you have 2 minutes.

What Does Organization Mean In Programming?

Exercise: Computational Organization

Download and unpack this file.

This collection of files is a mess. It was used to generate the assignment of shapes in the previous exercise.

With a partner, re-organize the files. Spend 5 minutes. Don’t worry about making the code work after your changes (though feel free to do so if you have time).

What do you change? Why? Write it down.

Switch seats with another group, without discussing your changes. What did they change? Why do you think they did? Spend 2 minutes.

Now share your changes and reasons with the other group. What did you like about the other group’s approach? What did they find confusing about yours? Spend 2 minutes.

Does Organization Relate to Scientific Communication?

Exercise: Publication Requirements

With a partner (that you have NOT worked with on the previous two exercises), take a look at the New England Journal of Medicine manuscript requirements.

What do they actually require? In 2 minutes: write down 2 distinct requirements.

How does it relate to how you organize your project? Write something (possibly “It doesn’t not”) for each of the requirements you identified previously.

We will then discuss these answers as group.

Which of your requirements (and their relations to organization) did other groups mention?

Tools For Organization: Version Control

First a quiz on git commands:

• how do you clone a repository?
• once you have a copy, and make changes to a file and then save them, are those changes in the repository?
• when you have changes in your local copy, how do you get them back into the original repository?
• how can you see what changes are in the repository?

Exercise: git practice.

We have a hat filled with things to do with git. Everyone will get something to do, and a partner.

First, both partners should clone this repository to the own computers.

Then, both partners should perform the task on their pieces of paper.

Now, keeping their tasks concealed from each other, the partners should switch computers, and figure out what the other person did and then UNDO that action.

Re-quiz!

Tools For Organization: Templating

Exercise: Template a Helloworld

We are now going to build the skeleton of a project that we could distribute for others to use. Depending on which language you prefer, see either:

• Python Modern
• R Devtools

Using those template tools, create a module or package that provides a single function hw that, when invoked, causes “Helloworld” to printed to the screen.