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Extending the Default Behavior

Source: vignettes/instructor_guide.Rmd
instructor_guide.Rmd

Greetings and welcome to gvsu215!

I’ve tried to keep function names simple and required arguments to a minimum to help students focus on the statistical content rather than the R code. That being said, there are some more advanced features and capabilities built into the package that you as the instructor may take advantage of if you so choose.

Different R Markdown Export Formats

This package should be able to be used in any output format using R Markdown, including HTML1, PDF2, and Word. If this is not the case, reach out to Dr. John Gabrosek or submit an issue on GitHub.

3: Best results will come from HTML output. 4: If using PDF output, you will want to make sure student R Markdown files have the following in the YAML header which will allow the compiler to use the xelatex engine. As such, you will avoid messages printing out from every function call.

output:
  pdf_document:
    latex_engine: xelatex

Extra Function Arguments

Many functions in this package have extra arguments that aren’t necessary for basic function features but can allow for a little customization depending on your pedagogical approach and preferences, such as if you are focusing on data literacy or proper axis labeling. Each of the functions listed below have extra arguments, which are detailed after the function name.

  • tbl_1var(), tbl_corr(), tbl_num_sum()
    • The digits argument can be specified with an integer value for the number of digits to round to. Defaults to 3.
    • The caption argument can be used to override the default caption.
  • tbl_2var()
    • The row_pct argument can be used to add in row percentages in each cell.
    • The digits argument can be specified with an integer value for the number of digits to round to. Defaults to 3.
    • The caption argument can be used to override the default caption.
  • tbl_pctile()
    • The probs argument can be used to specify which percentiles are to be given. Simply pass in a vector of values between 0 and 1.
    • The digits argument can be specified with an integer value for the number of digits to round to. Defaults to 3.
    • The caption argument can be used to override the default caption.
  • plot_bar()
    • The type argument can be used to specify if a plot with percents or counts is desired.
    • The fill argument can be used to choose a fill color (for a single variable plot).
    • The orient argument can be used to flip the axis. Choose either “vertical” (the default) or “horizontal”.
    • The dodge argument can be used to create more rows on the x-axis labels. This can help if your labels are overlapping. Use an integer to tell how many row to create (more than 2 is not recommened for interpretatiblity).
    • The title argument can be used to override the default title.
    • The ... is used for other labels on the plot, namely, the x- and y-axis labels.
  • plot_box()
    • The fill argument can be used to choose a fill color.
    • The orient argument can be used to flip the axis. Choose either “vertical” (the default) or “horizontal”.
    • The title argument can be used to override the default title.
    • The ... is used for other labels on the plot, namely, the x- and y-axis labels.
  • plot_hist()
    • The group_cols argument can be used with a grouped histogram to specify how many columns the faceted output should take up.
    • The fill argument can be used to choose a fill color.
    • The title argument can be used to override the default title.
    • The ... is used for other labels on the plot, namely, the x- and y-axis labels.
  • plot_scatter()
    • The fill argument can be used to choose a fill color (for a non-grouped plot).
    • The title argument can be used to override the default title.
    • The legend_title argument can be used to override the default legend title.
    • The axis_lines argument can be used to draw axis gridlines on the plot (both).
    • The ls_line argument can be set to TRUE to draw in a least squares line.
    • The ... is used for other labels on the plot, namely, the x- and y-axis labels.
  • infer_*()
    • The digits argument can be specified with an integer value for the number of digits to round to. Defaults to 3.
    • The caption argument can be used to override the default caption.
    • The conf_lvl argument can be used to choose a different confidence level other than 0.95. (Not applicable to infer_anova().)