1  Syllabus

Over the last few decades, the way we do research has substantially changed as digital technologies and social media have become more embedded in even the more traditional and conservative parts of our society. This shift has affected research in multiple ways and has increased the need, expectation, and/or pressure on various aspects. These needs include, in no particular order, being able to:

  1. Formally disseminate more types of new or existing knowledge and scientific output.
  2. Informally share information, discussions, or ideas regularly and quickly.
  3. Collaborate more across regions and timezones.
  4. Be more open and transparent about the whole research process.
  5. Network and connect with others in the research community and, at least in health, those who participate or want to participate in research using a wider variety of tools and platforms.

While academia and research seek to expand the boundaries of our collective knowledge, we also paradoxically are very slow to adapt to and adopt changes, especially technological ones. But the needs listed above are now so great that we must embrace new tools to effectively fulfil those needs.

This workshop introduces you to one such tool widely used for working and communicating in industry and increasingly in academia: GitHub. While GitHub can fulfil the needs above (and much more) we will focus on using GitHub to enhance the transparency and sharing aspects for this workshop (4. in the list above), rather than the collaboration aspects.

During this workshop, we’ll be just scratching the surface of what Git and GitHub can do, focusing on the essentials to help you get started. We’ll use GitHub’s web interface as a learning tool, giving you a simple way to explore and practice the basics of working with files on GitHub. While this approach is less powerful than working directly with Git, it serves as a gentle introduction to the key concepts and workflows. Our goal is that what you are introduced to in this workshop will provide a solid foundation, preparing you to build toward more open, transparent, and advanced practices with GitHub.

This workshop lasts 3 hours and is split into the following sessions, listed in the schedule:

1.1 Learning outcome and objectives

The overall aim of this workshop is to enable you to:

  • Explain in simple terms what Git and GitHub do, work with files and folders on GitHub, and track tasks using GitHub Issues.

Broken down into specific objectives for each session, we’ve designed the workshop to enable you to do the following:

The basics of Git and GitHub

  • List and describe Git’s core functionality and purpose, and how GitHub expands on that.
  • Explain the difference between Git and GitHub.
  • Explain how GitHub differs from services like OneDrive or Dropbox.

Creating a repository on GitHub

  • Navigate to commonly used sections on GitHub, like repositories, notifications, and the list of issues.
  • Create new repositories on GitHub.
  • Navigate a repository’s landing page (the “Code” tab) on GitHub to view files and folders, and locate the Issues and history areas.

Working with files on GitHub

  • Navigate GitHub to create, upload, rename, and edit files and folders.
  • Use good naming practices for files and folders.
  • Use the GitHub history page to explore and find previous changes made to your files.

Making and using GitHub Issues

  • Use GitHub Issues e.g., to start discussions, request help, or list to-do tasks.
  • Comment on existing issues.

Tangibly, during the workshop you will:

  • Create your own project on GitHub (known as a repository)
  • Create and edit text files and folders on GitHub.
  • Create GitHub Issues and comment on them.

We will not go into using GitHub for collaboration as that is beyond the scope of this workshop.