---
title: "Writing your syllabus"
author: "Bernhard Bieri"
date: "`r Sys.Date()`"
output: rmarkdown::html_vignette
vignette: >
  %\VignetteIndexEntry{Writing your syllabus}
  %\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown}
  %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8}
---

```{r global.options, include = FALSE}
knitr::opts_chunk$set(
  collapse = TRUE,
  comment = "#>",
  fig.align = 'center',
  fig.width=6,
  fig.height=4
)
```

```{r setup, include=FALSE}
pkgs <- c("iheiddown", "magrittr", "ggplot2")
lapply(pkgs, library, character.only = TRUE)
```

`{iheiddown}` is not only a tool for students to write their thesis in. It can
also be of use for teaching activities at IHEID as it harbors a great looking
template for course syllabi. This short article will walk you through the
workflow of writing your very own syllabus in R.

## Installation

The installation process is the same than for the thesis template. You'll need
the following software:

1. Install [R](https://cran.r-project.org) and [R-Studio](https://posit.co/)
2. Install a LATEX distribution:
    - [For MacOS](https://www.tug.org/mactex/)
    - [For Windows](https://miktex.org/)
    - [For Linux](https://www.tug.org/texlive/)
3. Install `{iheiddown}` by typing the following command
`install.packages("iheiddown") ` in the R-Studio console. 

Note: typing `remotes::install_github("jhollway/iheiddown")` will provide you
with the latest version from GitHub.

## Create your first syllabus 

Creating your first syllabus is easy! Let's look at how it is done. Before
we begin, we have to create a new R project by clicking on the file tab in the
top of the RStudio window and following the instructions of the prompt that
appears. Now that we have created an R project for our presentation, we can open
a new R-Markdown file. To do this click on the "plus file" logo in the top left
corner and then on "R-Markdown".

```{r, echo = FALSE, out.width="80%", fig.cap="Step 1: Open a project"}
  knitr::include_graphics("images/syllabus/0-OpenProject.png", dpi = 144)
```

After you have done this, a little pop-up helper will appear. The first thing we
will do is to select the `{iheiddown}` template for our presentation. To do so,
click on the "From Template" option on the left and select the
"Syllabus {iheiddown}" template. Now give your file a name and click
on "OK".

```{r, echo = FALSE, out.width="80%", fig.cap="Step 2: Select a template"}
  knitr::include_graphics("images/syllabus/1-CreateSyllabus.png", dpi = 144)
```
Congrats! You just created your first syllabus! We can actually already render
our syllabus. This is done by simply clicking the "knit button" while viewing
the `MySyllabus.Rmd` pane. Et voilà! You have now successfully generated your
first syllabus with R.

Take a moment to read through the generated syllabus to get acquainted with the
`{R-markdown}` syntax and to get a feel of the possibilities of the
`{iheiddown}` theme.

## Edit your syllabus

This section will focus on giving you an overview of the workflow of creating
your syllabus with the `{iheiddown}` package.

### Set YAML options

The general options are set in the YAML header. You can define the contact
information of the instructor and the teaching assistant as well as give a
general course description or set evaluation policies. 

You can also set bibliographic options such as the `.bib` file you want to draw
your references from (`references.bib` by default) and the style of the
bibliographic entries by altering the `.csl` file.

### Setting the start-date of your course

The second step is to set the correct start date of your course in the main
`MySyllabus.Rmd` file. This is done simply by editing the `startdate` variable
in the first code chunk.

### Editing your course description

The third and last step is to edit the main body of the syllabus. To do this,
simply write the title of each week's session, a description if necessary and
add citations of the weeks material with the id of the reference in the bib file
preceded by "@" e.g. `@Darwin1958`.