Project Leader: Dr James Fern and Dr Sean Williams, Department for Health.

Following the success of our initial TDF (which supported the creation of the ‘HealthTeachR’ resource, to support staff and students in the Department for Health to make the transition to using the open-source software R and RStudio, when teaching and learning research methods and statistics), this project would support the creation of an additional resource, focused specifically on learning and teaching statistical analysis in R.

This is the logical next step in ensuring the Department is equipped to deliver all research methods and statistics teaching, within the R environment. The resource will support staff and students alike from the Department for Health, and potentially the wider University community. As with the first TDF, these resources can be utilised across the Faculty and wider institution where relevant. Traditionally in higher education, ‘point and click’ software such as SPSS has been the default software package for teaching statistics. However, employers are increasingly requiring graduates to be familiar with data analysis and visualisation using programming language in an integrated development environment. The costs associated with SPSS prohibit most graduates from using the software after leaving University.

By making R the platform upon which we teach statistics, students can learn how to apply statistical techniques to real-world data, gain experience working with data in an environment employers value, and can continue to utilise these skills after graduation and throughout their careers.

Report and finding due Spring 2026