This isn't a test, and there are no wrong answers. People who finish online courses almost never have more free time than people who drop — they've just made a concrete plan and decided in advance how they'll handle the weeks that get hard. Be honest with yourself.
The Real Commitment
Over the next 3 months, this course asks for roughly:
Looking at that honestly: does it fit into your life right now?
Options: Yes, comfortably / Yes, but tight — I'll need a plan / I'm not sure — this is what I need to figure out
"Tight but planned" finishes more often than "comfortable but vague."
Your "Why"
People push through the hard weeks when they remember why they started.
Why do you want to learn R?
Be specific. "To analyse my own data at work" beats "to learn coding."
What's one concrete thing you want to be able to do with R by the end of this course?
e.g. "Make my monthly report charts myself," "clean a messy dataset without Excel," "build a simple dashboard for my department."
Why now, and not six months ago or six months from now?
Knowing your timing motivation helps you reconnect with it when things get hard.
Your Learner Profile
Your Weekly Plan
Naming a specific time and place beats simply intending to find time. This is the most important part of the whole planner. Vague intentions ("I'll find time on weekends") fail almost every time. Concrete plans ("Saturday 6 pm, at my desk, after dinner") do not.
Which batch will you attend?
Batch 1: Saturday 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Batch 2: Saturday 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Batch 3: Sunday 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Write it down: I will attend class every ________ at ________.
Is there anything in your life that regularly competes with your chosen class time — family responsibilities, calls, work overruns? How will you protect the slot?
e.g. "Sunday mornings are usually free but I'll tell my family not to schedule anything." Be specific about the threat and your counter-move.
If your chosen batch is unavailable one week (travel, illness, clash), which of the other batches could you attend instead?
Having a fallback prevents a single disruption from becoming a two-week gap.
When exactly will you do your 15-minute weekly practice? Name a specific day, time, and place.
e.g. "Monday 9 pm, at my desk, once the kids are in bed." 15 minutes is deliberately small — the goal is consistency, not volume. Even on a terrible week, 15 minutes is doable.
What will you actually do during your weekly practice time?
Options (pick what fits you best):
• Re-run the week's code from scratch without looking at the class notes
• Try the exercise set, then check against the solution
• Explore one thing from the lesson that I was curious about
• Redo the part I found most confusing until it clicks
Being specific here prevents the 15 minutes from becoming "open RStudio, stare at screen, close it."
Where will you practice R, and on what device?
e.g. "Windows laptop on my desk" / "Mac in the living room" / "Work laptop (I'll need to install R separately)"
Knowing your setup in advance helps catch technical blockers early — R and RStudio need to be installed and working before the first class. If there's any uncertainty about your device, flag it in Q12 so we can sort it out before Day 1.
Block your class slot and your practice slot into your calendar right now as recurring events for the next 12 weeks.
Done? ✓ It takes under 2 minutes and is one of the single highest-leverage actions you can take for course completion. Don't leave this page without doing it.
Your Programming Background
There are no right answers here. This course is designed for beginners, and prior experience is neither required nor assumed. Your answers help Dr. Aswath calibrate explanations and anticipate where you might need more or less support.
Have you written code before in any language?
Options — pick the one that fits best:
• Never written a line of code in my life
• Done a few online tutorials (Codecademy, YouTube, etc.) but nothing sustained
• I use Excel formulas, macros, or VBA regularly
• I know another language: Python / SPSS syntax / Stata do-files / SAS / SQL / other
• I'm comfortable with multiple languages or have a software background
Have you used R before?
Options:
• Never — this will be my first contact with R
• I've seen R code (in papers, tutorials) but never written any
• I've tried a tutorial or two but didn't get far
• I've used R for a specific project or course
• I use R occasionally and can write basic scripts on my own
How comfortable are you with these ideas: variables, functions, loops, conditional logic (if/else)?
Options:
• I don't know what any of these mean — genuinely starting from zero
• I've heard the terms but couldn't explain them confidently
• I understand the concepts but struggle to write them in code
• Comfortable — I use these regularly in some form
What device will you primarily use for the course?
Options:
• Windows laptop or desktop
• Mac (macOS)
• Linux
• I share a device and can't always guarantee access
• I don't currently have a suitable device (please flag this — we can discuss options)
Is there anything about the technology setup that worries you — slow internet, an old machine, restrictions on installing software, etc.?
Better to surface these now than discover them during the first class. No concern is too small to mention.
Your Statistics Background
R is a statistical computing language — statistics and code are intertwined. You don't need to arrive with a statistics background, but knowing where you're starting from helps the course meet you there.
Have you studied statistics?
Options:
• No formal exposure — I haven't studied statistics at all
• Brief coverage in school (basic graphs, mean/median, maybe probability)
• One statistics or biostatistics course at university
• Multiple courses (research methods, epidemiology, econometrics, etc.)
• I work with statistics professionally or use it routinely in research
Which of these do you understand well enough to explain to a colleague? (Tick all that apply in the form)
• Mean, median, mode — descriptive statistics
• Standard deviation and variance
• Probability and distributions (normal distribution, etc.)
• p-values and hypothesis testing (null hypothesis, significance)
• Confidence intervals
• Correlation vs. causation
• Linear regression
• None of the above — and that's fine, we start from the beginning
Have you ever analysed real data — in any tool?
Options:
• No — I've never done any data analysis
• Yes, basic Excel (sorting, filtering, charts, pivot tables)
• Yes, using statistical software (SPSS, Stata, SAS, GraphPad, etc.)
• Yes, using R or Python (even minimally)
• Yes, extensively — data analysis is part of my current work
Is there a specific area of statistics that you find confusing, intimidating, or have always struggled with?
e.g. "p-values never made sense to me," "I can calculate things but don't know how to interpret them," "I panic when I see formulas." Be honest — this helps Dr. Aswath anticipate where you'll need extra time and different explanations.
What field or domain will most of your data come from?
e.g. Public health / clinical research / epidemiology / economics / ecology / social sciences / business / engineering / other. Knowing this helps ground examples in contexts that are relevant to you.
Planning for the Hard Weeks
Almost everyone misses a class or falls behind at some point. That's normal and recoverable. The people who quit are the ones who didn't decide in advance what they'd do. So let's decide now.
What's the single most likely thing to get in the way over the next 3 months?
Work crunch, travel, family, motivation dip, a topic that confuses you — name it honestly.
Q23 — Your if-then plans:
e.g. "Watch the recording before the next session and message the group if I'm stuck."
e.g. "Focus on the core exercise and message Dr. Aswath before skipping ahead."
e.g. "Re-read my answer to Q3 and message one classmate before deciding."
Support and Accountability
You're far more likely to finish if even one other person notices whether you show up.
Who will you tell that you're doing this course?
A friend, partner, colleague, or the class WhatsApp group — naming someone makes it real.
Would you like to be paired with a study buddy from your cohort?
Options: Yes please / Maybe later / No thanks
Is there anything else we should know that would help us support you?
Time zone differences, health considerations, upcoming travel, anything that helps us help you — it all belongs here.
Your Commitment
"I'm choosing to start this course with my eyes open. I know it asks for about 1 hour 45 minutes a week for 12 weeks. I've planned when I'll do the work and how I'll handle the weeks that get hard. I'll aim to finish — and if I get stuck, I'll reach out before I give up."
You'll sign and date this in the Google Form. We may check in around Week 4–6 to revisit your plan — that's a good thing, not a test.
Ready? Fill in the form.
You've read through everything and discovered your learner profile. Now take 10 minutes and commit — it makes a real difference to whether you finish.
📋 Open the Commitment Form →