Training and events

UON researchers and graduate research students wanting to learn more about data analysis, research software, programming and research computing have access to a wide range of training courses, workshops and events. Courses and events are delivered by Intersect, a UON partner organisation, and are available to UON staff and HDR students at no cost unless otherwise indicated. For more information, see the Intersect training web page.

Online Training

MATLAB

UON staff and students are able to enrol in free online self-paced training through MATLAB Academy. See this page for more information and to get started.

SAS

UON has a site licence for SAS which includes a number of e-learning packages. Access requires creating a SAS account, and an access code that can be obtained by lodging a request through custom research request webform in service UON.

NVivo

A range of video tutorials are freely available on the QSR website.

Hands-on training

Research Data Management Techniques

Date: 30th July 2019
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Venue: CT304
Course Outline: inter.fyi/course/rdmt001
Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/64285222832
Prerequisites: None

Are you drowning in research data? Do you want to know where you should be storing your data? Are you required to comply with funding body data management requirements, but don’t know how? This workshop is ideal for researchers who want to know how research data management can support project success and are interested in research data management services and support available at their institution. Combining slide-based background material, discussions, and case studies this workshop will equip participants with best practices for managing their valuable research data.

You'll learn:

  • How to manage research data according to legal, statutory, ethical, funding body and university requirements
  • Approaches to planning, collecting, organising, managing, storing, backing up, preserving, and sharing your data
  • Services supporting research data at your institution

Databases and SQL

Date: 5th August 2019
Time: 1:30pm-4:30pm
Venue: CT311
Course Outline: inter.fyi/course/sql101
Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/65514863721
Prerequisites: None

A relational database is an extremely efficient, fast and widespread means of storing structured data, and Structured Query Language (SQL) is the standard means for reading from and writing to databases. Databases use multiple tables, linked by well-defined relationships, to store large amounts of data without needless repetition while maintaining the integrity of your data.

Moving from spreadsheets and text documents to a structured relational database can be a steep learning curve, but one that will reward you many times over in speed, efficiency and power.

Developed using the researcher-focused training modules from the highly regarded Software Carpentry Foundation.

You'll learn how to:

  • Understand and compose a query using SQL
  • Use the SQL syntax to select, sort and filter data
  • Calculate new values from existing data
  • Aggregate data into sums, averages, and other operations
  • Combine data from multiple tables
  • Design and build your own relational databases

Cleaning Data with Open Refine

Date: 13th August 2019
Time:
9:30am-12:30pm
Venue: CT304
Course Outline: inter.fyi/course/refine101
Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/65762885561
Prerequisites: None

Do you have messy data from multiple inconsistent sources, or open-responses to questionnaires? Do you want to improve the quality of your data by refining it and using the power of the internet? Open Refine is the perfect partner to Excel. It is a powerful, free tool for exploring, normalising and cleaning datasets, and extending data by accessing the internet through APIs. In this course we'll work through the various features of Refine, including importing data, faceting, clustering, and calling remote APIs, by working on a fictional but plausible humanities research project.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Download, install and run Open Refine
  • Import data from csv, text or online sources and create projects
  • Navigate data using the Open Refine interface
  • Explore data by using facets
  • Clean data using clustering
  • Parse data using GREL syntax
  • Extend data using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
  • Export project for use in other applications

Data Visualisation Techniques

Date: 19th August 2019
Time: 1:30pm-4:30pm
Venue: CT311
Course Outline: inter.fyi/course/dvis001
Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/65763248647

Prerequisites: A personal Gmail account is required to participate in this course. Institutional accounts, such as those at universities, may not work. Knowledge of Basic Unix commands is desirable but not compulsory

Data visualisation can help make sense of your data, reveal new insights, and communicate research outcomes to others clearly and persuasively in a visual manner. This course is an introduction to data visualisation techniques. The course is ideal for participants who want to know more about visualisation, what tools and options there are for various visualisation purposes, with some hands-on exercises.

You'll learn:

  • Where visualisation is in your research data management lifecycle
  • What to consider (forms, colours, setup) for data visualisation
  • What tools and options are available for data visualisation
  • What are the innovative ways of data visualisation
  • How to use some popular tools (e.g. Google Fusion Tables, Data Arena Virtual Machine, etc.)

Surveying with Qualtrics

Date: 27th August 2019
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm
Venue: X602 (New Space)
Course Outline: inter.fyi/course/spss101
Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/65763304815
Prerequisites: BYO Laptop.

Please note: Qualtrics access is currently available at the University of Newcastle to staff and students from the Faculty of Business and Law and the School of Psychology. If you would like to attend this training and are from outside these disciplines, please contact shaung@intersect.org.au

Needing to collect data from people in a structured and intuitive way? Have you thought about using Qualtrics?

Qualtrics in a powerful cloud-based survey tool, ideal for social scientists from all disciplines. This course will introduce the technical components of the whole research workflow from building a survey to analysing the results using Qualtrics. We will discover the numerous design elements available in order to get the most useful results and make life as easy as can be for your respondents.

If your institution has a licence to Qualtrics, then this course is right for you.

You'll learn how to:

  • Format a survey using the Qualtrics online platform and import a pre-built survey
  • Configure the survey using a range of design features to improve user experience
  • Decide which distribution channel is right for your needs
  • Analyse and interpret response data using the Qualtrics platform
  • Exporting response data in various formats for use in other applications