Hi PSYC3361! Welcome to my Week 1 Learning Log.

1. What were your coding goals this week?

To complete 1 coding session (R markdown)
To become comfortable with the content in the R markdown session
To get an idea of what coding is - and to not freak out and shut down every time it’s mentioned!
To understand why we’re learning coding in a Psychology Internship

2. How did you go achieving your goals (challenges/successes)?

I’m happy to report I finished 1 coding session - I decided not to do anymore until I’m comfortable with this one, so I’ll start the data visualisation sessions in week 2.
I realised that I have actually done some coding before, in my studies in Public Relations, but didn’t realise it had any use!
I now have a very basic understanding of what coding is. Very, very basic. I am surprisingly finding it fun! (but don’t tell anyone that!).
I haven’t really struggled yet…although I do feel overwhelmed by the idea of writing a whole thesis in R…my assignments are strenuous enough in Word!
I’m also certain that as I continue into more complex topics such as data visualisation and wrangling, the struggles will begin!
One thing that is quite different is not seeing what your document looks like while you’re writing it. This seems to be slowing and stagnating work flow, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of practice and experience.
I do understand why we’re learning it…although I’m not sure I’m won over yet…baby steps!
- Who knows…maybe I’ll be converted from:
to

This week I plan to do the Data Visualisation Coding sessions and practice the tools I learn in that, until I feel more confident.
- I’m sure https://www.youtube.com will be helpful!
I also plan to do some research on the benefits of coding - I’m sure people don’t go through the pain of learning it for it to be a gimmick so I’d love to do some exploring about this.
Finally, I hope that my confidence and enjoyment increases as I learn more skills.
Hopefully, \[ Patience + Practice = Success? \]