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Lecturer(s)
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Langerwisch Fanny, Dr.
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Václavík Tomáš, doc. RNDr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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Changing temperature and precipitation patterns caused by climate change alter many aspects of the natural and human system. In the course the students will learn to assess these changes by applying the widely used and freely available R language. They will acquire knowledge how to develop their own (simple) scripts, reading in, transforming, and preparing data, as well as analyzing them and presenting the results in figures, tables, maps. After basic introduction to R programming the students will develop their own small project related to climate change and/or its consequences. The course will be therefore a combination of lectures and lab work (with own or university computers). Topics: 1. Introduction to R - reading in data, R objects, first loops 2. Preparation of input - conversion of data to be read to R 3. Simple statistics with R - average, trend, linear models 4. Basic plotting 5. Introduction to some aspects to climate change science 6. Development of own 'project' related to climate change (consequences) - change in climate, vegetation, ice cover etc.
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Lecture, Work with Text (with Book, Textbook), Laboratory Work
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Learning outcomes
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Climate change is a pressing issue and science has to tackle the various consequences of it. One important tool to investigate it is programming, either as a (dynamic) model or as a method to analyze the data. This course will provide an introduction to R, including reading in data, first programming, simple analyses and presentation of output, such as figures and tables. It aims to connect the technical aspect of R programming with the recently more urgent aspect of climate change. The course will therefore focus on climate change related data/questions, e.g. changes in climate and vegetation. The overall objective of the course is to learn R and to apply it to a small independent project related to climate change to enable the students to apply the newly acquired knowledge to a pressing topic.
- Understand basic concepts of R programming - Apply R programming to a climate-change related problem - Understand how programming can enhance scientific thinking
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Prerequisites
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unspecified
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Written exam
The course concludes with weekly tasks and a final short independent research project.
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Recommended literature
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