How This Ecosystem Works

Four Tools, One Workflow

This course uses four connected tools. Each one has a specific job, and they all live inside VS Code or link out from it. Here is where to go for what.

Where to Find Things

I need to… Go here
Check the schedule or find an assignment description This website (V2V Hub)
Open this week’s workbook lab VS Code (in your course workspace)
Write a journal entry or organize notes VS Code (your course workspace)
Read the textbook From Vibes to Variables (online) or alongside your workspace
Run R code or render a document VS Code
Submit an assignment Blackboard
Push my work to GitHub VS Code Source Control (or GitHub Desktop)

The Four Tools

VS Code (your course workspace) is your home base. You write journals, take literature notes, organize your project, run R, and render Quarto all in one window. Everything is Markdown and plain files, version-controlled with Git. You start using VS Code in Week 1 and never leave it.

v2v is an R package you install once. It sets up your environment, checks that everything works, and provides the sampled Twitch practice corpus for the applied weeks. You install it in Week 2 and use it throughout the semester.

From Vibes to Variables is the textbook. You can read it online or alongside your workspace. Its 14 chapters cover the full research arc from curiosity to publication.

This website (V2V Hub) is your reference guide. It holds the syllabus, the weekly schedule, setup instructions, and assignment descriptions. When you are not sure what is due or how to do something, check here first.

NoteCopilot is a helper, not a fifth tool

If you enable GitHub Education Copilot, it suggests code inside VS Code as you type. Treat it as an autocomplete you supervise, not another platform to manage. You are responsible for understanding every line you keep.

The Weekly Rhythm

Each teaching week follows the same pattern:

  1. Read the assigned chapter(s) in the textbook
  2. Open the week’s workbook lab in VS Code
  3. Work through the lab in VS Code
  4. Write your journal entry in VS Code
  5. Push your work to GitHub from VS Code’s Source Control panel
  6. Submit any assignments to Blackboard by the deadline

How the Tools Connect

  You read the textbook
         |
         v
  You work in VS Code (journals, notes, qualitative work)
         |
         v
  You push to GitHub (builds your commit history)
         |
         v
  You work in VS Code (R assignments, data analysis with the v2v package)
         |
         v
  You render with Quarto (White Paper: PDF + website)
         |
         v
  You publish to GitHub Pages (live White Paper URL)
         |
         v
  You submit to Blackboard (PDF + URL)

When Each Tool Appears

Weeks Primary Tools
1 to 8 VS Code, Git/GitHub, Zotero, this website
9 to 13 VS Code, R, the v2v package (plus VS Code for journals)
15 to 17 Quarto, GitHub Pages (assembling the White Paper)

You do not need to learn everything at once. Each tool is introduced when you need it.

Getting Help

  1. Check this website first. Most questions are answered in the module pages or setup guides.
  2. Check the textbook. The relevant chapter usually explains the concept.
  3. Ask a classmate. Someone else probably had the same issue.
  4. Email Dr. Leith at aleith@siue.edu (allow 24 hours Mon-Fri).
  5. Office hours: TuTh 12:30-1:45 PM and 3:30-5:00 PM, Dunham Hall 1017.