BIDS' first Spanish-language training workshop on programming, data analysis, and version control - Introducción a R y Git (Introduction to R and Git) - was recently organized by BIDS Data Science Fellow Váleri Vásquez. Her goal was to reach a wide audience of Spanish-speaking data scientists, as well as non-native Spanish speakers interested in learning the technical vocabulary relevant to these topics.
The two-part course brought an international perspective to UC Berkeley's inaugural Data and Tech for All Week events as interest poured in from far beyond the Bay Area – including from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Spain. Students participated both in person and remotely via videoconference. "The number of students registered for this workshop, and the spread of countries, universities, and organizations represented, was really remarkable," said Vásquez, who prioritized livestream access and video recording to reach a broader audience.
María Eugenia Rojas Concha, a PhD student in Berkeley's Graduate School of Education, attended the workshop. "I'm tremendously grateful for the opportunity to participate in a programming course conducted in Spanish, and will continue seeking out activities that expand my research abilities - especially if they are offered in my mother tongue!" explained Rojas.
The instructors for this workshop graciously volunteered their time and expertise. Juan Pablo "JP" Carvallo is an energy systems modeler and empirical researcher. He is currently a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, having received his undergraduate degree in Engineering from Universidad Santa Maria, Chile. Hector Manuel Sanchez Castellanos is a computer scientist. He is currently a postdoctoral scholar at UC Berkeley, having received his previous degrees in engineering and computer science from the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, México, where he is also affiliated as guest faculty.
The materials from the workshop are now available online:
Introducción a R y Git (Introduction to R and Git)
Date: March 8, 2019
Time: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific
Location: 190 Doe Library, UC Berkeley, AND via livestream video conference
Course Materials: https://bids.github.io/2019-03-08-esbids/
