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The courses below are available to all UCL students to book. The booking system is not currently available but will become available from early October when new dates are published.

Word processing

Using Word 2016 for Dissertations and Theses
LaTex with NatBib

Spreadsheets

Excel Essential Skills - WORKSHOP 3
Excel Essential Skills - WORKSHOP 2
Excel Essential Skills - WORKSHOP 1
Excel 2016 to manage lists
Pivot Tables with Excel 2016
Advanced statistics with Excel 2016
Charting with Excel 2016

Bibliography

Kick-starting your literature review

Graphics

Introduction to Photoshop CS4

Data analysis and visualisation

Getting started with Stata
Data Manipulation in R with Rstudio
Data Visualization in R with ggplot2
An Introduction to R with RStudio
Getting Started with SPSS

Programming

Introduction to Visualising Data with Matlab
Introduction to Research Programming using Python
Introduction to Matlab

Unix

A Quick Introduction to UNIX
Further UNIX

A Quick Introduction to UNIX

This course is designed as a beginner's guide to the Unix and Linux operating systems which have long been popular in academic contexts.

If you are already familiar with the UNIX command line, this course is not likely to be suitable and you should consider the course Further Unix which concentrates on data manipulation with command line tools such as grep, sed and awk.

Because of its in-built strengths in network computing multi-threading multi-user computing, Unix forms one of the backbone technologies of the World Wide Web and as Linux is becoming increasingly popular as an operating system on desktop computers. The course covers the most basic and frequently used Unix / Linux commands and introduces important concepts in security and managing your computing environment.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • Introduction to Unix/Linux
  • What is Unix?
  • Types of Unix
  • Files and processes
  • The shell and subshells
  • The Directory Structure
  • Managing Files and Directories
  • Understanding pathnames
  • Working with Files on the screen
  • Searching the contents of a file
  • Redirecting Output
  • Wildcards
  • Getting Help
  • File system security (access rights)

 

Delivery

This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

Pre-requisites

Candidates should have good basic personal computer skills (keyboarding and using the mouse) and will find a basic understanding of concepts such as files and folders useful.

Introduction to Matlab

 

This course takes place over two days.

 

  • 18 April 10 a.m. - 5pm and 20 April 10 a.m. - 5pm
  • 22 November 10 a.m. - 5pm and 27 November 10 a.m. - 5pm
  • By booking you are committing to attend BOTH days of training

     

    This course introduces attendees to the basic elements of the Matlab programming language and programming environment. It is designed for those with little or no knowledge of Matlab and assumes no knowledge of programming.

    The course does assume a basic understanding of matrix mathematics, linear algebra and some statistics and calculus.

    Please note that this is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) course, therefore you will need to bring a laptop with MATLAB installed. You can download MATLAB via the UCL Software Database here

     

    If you don't own a laptop, you can borrow a laptop via the UCL Laptop Loans for Students service here

    You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

    Also, please note that there are issues with accessing the wheelchair refuge due to construction works at a neighbouring builidng, so 188 Tottenham Court road is treated as inaccessible to wheelchairs.

    "

     

    Outline

     

    • Identify features of the Matlab desktop
    • Simple arithmetic at the command line
    • Create and use a variable
    • Creating matrices
    • Arithmetic with matrices
    • Manipulating matrices
    • Comparing matrices
    • Referencing matrix elements
    • Deleting matrix elements
    • Systems of linear equations
    • Solving equations including ODEs
    • Saving data
    • Reading data
    • Creating 2d and 3d Plots
    • Programming - writing scripts and functions

     

    Delivery

    This course is delivered over 2 days in trainer led sessions.
    By booking you are committing to attend BOTH days of training:

  • 22 November 10 a.m. - 5pm and 27 November 10 a.m. - 5pm

 

Pre-requisites

 

You must have a good understanding of Matrix mathematics.

As well as an understanding of matrices, attendees will benefit from an understanding of linear algebra, basic statistics and calculus as relevant to their interest.

Please note that this is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) course, therefore you will need to bring a laptop with MATLAB installed. You can download MATLAB via the UCL Software Database here

 

If you don't own a laptop, you can borrow a laptop via the UCL Laptop Loans for Students service here

"

 

Charting with Excel 2016

This session is for those familiar with Excel who would like to start to use it to create charts.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • overview of chart types
  • creating charts
  • modifying existing charts
  • combination charts
  • plotting non-adjacent cells
  • adding error bars to charts
  • printing charts
  • common mistakes
  • trendlines

 

Delivery

This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

Pre-requisites

In order to benefit fully from this course you need to be able to:

  • Select non-adjacent data
  • Create and using basic formulas
  • Utilise basic functions e.g. SUM, COUNT

Please visit our ISD Digital Skills Development Moodle course for details.

"

 

LaTex with NatBib

This course introduces the main elements of typesetting with LaTeX and using the Natbib citation package.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • Overview of TeX and LaTeX
  • The structure of LaTeX documents
  • The document production flow using LaTeX
  • Formatting and layout
  • Natbib citations and databases

 

Delivery

 

The course on the following dates takes place over 2 three-hour sessions on two separate days:

  • 04 Dec 10 a.m to 1 p.m and 06 Dec 10 a.m to 1 p.m

By booking you are committing to attend both sessions of the course

 

Pre-requisites

You should be a confident computer user and should understand the use of bibliographies.

Using Word 2016 for Dissertations and Theses

 

Note that this course is entitled IS: Managing Long Documents in Word 2013 on the UCL staff training booking system.

This is an intensive course for anyone who needs to work with long documents in Word.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • styles
  • table of contents
  • table of figures
  • cross referencing
  • sections

 

Delivery

This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

Pre-requisites

You MUST be able to use the following Word features in order to attend this course:

  • selecting text
  • moving around your document
  • formatting text
  • moving and copying
  • find and replace
  • proof-reading tools
  • viewing modes
  • page setup, e.g. changing margins
  • print preview and printing
  • using help

If you are not confident in these features, we recommend the Word for Long Documents pre-requisite skills playlist in Lynda.com."

 

Getting Started with SPSS

An introduction to using SPSS for those familiar with basic descriptive and inferential statistics.

The course on the following date takes place over a whole day session with an hour-break inbetween:

  • 08 November 10 a.m-5 p.m.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • data organisation and the data editor
  • defining and entering data
  • labelling variables and values
  • the Viewer window
  • computing new data
  • initial data analysis
  • the Frequencies command
  • crosstabulating data
  • the means command
  • further graphics
  • printing graphs
  • missing values

 

Delivery

 

The course on the following date takes place over a whole day session with an hour-break inbetween:

  • 08 November 10 a.m-5 p.m.

 

Pre-requisites

You should have a good understanding of statistical concepts. No prior experience with SPSS is required, but experience using a spreadsheet application such as Excel would be an advantage.

Further UNIX

 

This course introduces techniques in manipulating data files with UNIX using command line tools including grep, cut, sed and awk. Some basic elements of scripting may be included if time allows.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • Selecting rows of data
  • Selecting columns of data
  • Cutting and joining data
  • Piping commands
  • A first look at SED and AWK

 

Delivery

This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

Pre-requisites

A good understanding of basic command line techniques such as creating text files, copying, moving and deleting files, and navigating the file structure is essential.

Introduction to Photoshop CS4

This course provides an introduction to Photoshop CS4 and covers all the basic tools required to prepare an image for use online.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • Photoshop CS4 Interface
  • Navigating your document
  • Selections and Advanced Selections
  • Painting Tools
  • Cropping and Transformations
  • Filters
  • Layers
  • Adjustment Layers
  • Saving for the web

 

Delivery

This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

Pre-requisites

You should be a confident IT user. No prior experience with Photoshop CS4 is required. If you have advanced skills in another graphics package you will probably find this course unnecessary.

Pivot Tables with Excel 2016

 

Pivot Tables allow you to organise and summarise large amounts of data by filtering and rotating headings around your data. This course also shows you how to create Pivot Charts.

Note that this course can be attended by people using Excel 2010 or 2013. There are some differences between the two versions but most features are the same.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • creating a Pivot Table
  • rearranging data in a Pivot Table
  • summarising data in different ways
  • formatting data
  • changing display options
  • grouping data
  • sorting and filtering data
  • creating Pivot Charts

 

Delivery

This is a trainer-led 2 hour session.

Pre-requisites

In order to benefit fully from this course you need to be able to:

  • Select non-adjacent data
  • Create charts

Please visit our ISD Digital Skills Development Moodle course for details.

"

 

Excel 2016 to manage lists

This course is designed to help you use Excel to manage your data, in much the same way as you would use a simple database. It is aimed at those who have a good understanding of the basic use of Excel for entering data.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • Enter and manipulate data
  • Working with sorts and filters
  • Outlining
  • Views
  • Conditional formatting
  • Data forms
  • v-lookups and h-lookups

 

Delivery

This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

Pre-requisites

There are a number of pre-requisites for this course. Please visit our Moodle course ISD IT Training course for details.

You should ensure that you have all the relevant pre-requisite skills OR attend our Excel 2013 Essential Skills course prior to attending this course."

IS: Portico - Assessments & Awards

 

This course is aimed at staff who are involved in the assessment and awards process and who need to get the highest level of access to the related Portico functions.

Before undertaking any training on Portico it is vital that your Head of Department has requested the appropriate access level on your behalf.

You should also complete the activities in the topic Basic Portico Navigation and Use from the Using Portico Student Information Systems course and the Data Protection and Destruction of the Information Security Awareness course (both online in Moodle) before attending.

See Prerequisites (below) for details.

"

 

Outline

 

  • processing module results (agreeing marks, moderation)
  • managing reassessment
  • progression /awards calculation
  • reporting
  • progression/awards confirmation

 

Delivery

This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

Pre-requisites

 

Examinations Processing functions at level 3.

Complete the activities in the topic Basic Portico Navigation and Use from the Using Portico Student Information Systems course.

Complete the Data Protection and Destruction section of the Information Security Awareness course."

Introduction to Research Programming using Python

 

This course will take place over multiple dates:

  • Thursday 16 November 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  • Thursday 23 November 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  • Thursday 30 November 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  • Thursday 07 December 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  • Thursday 14 December 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

You must attend ALL five sessions.

Between each session you will also be given additional resources such as web sites, documents and videos to further your understanding. You should expect to spend about two hours on this learning as well as the scheduled classroom sessions.

This course will help participants to understand the use of scripting languages in data analysis, to modify scripts to meet their needs and develop simple scripts from scratch. Participants will apply these techniques using the Python programming language.

Note that this course is aimed at those who are new to programming and to Python. It is not suitable for those who have already programmed in another language wishing to convert to Python.

 

Outline

 

  • The uses of scripting languages and an overview of the available options.
  • Introduction to Python, IPython and the IPython notebook and Python libraries.
  • Essential programming: variables and types loops, conditionals, data structures.
  • Best practice in coding including an introduction to testing.
  • Object-oriented Python.

 

Delivery

 

This course will take place over multiple dates:

  • Thursday 16 November 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  • Thursday 23 November 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  • Thursday 30 November 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  • Thursday 07 December 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  • Thursday 14 December 2017 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

You must attend ALL five sessions.

Between each session you will also be given additional resources such as web sites, documents and videos to further your understanding. You should expect to spend about two hours on this learning as well as the scheduled classroom sessions.

 

Pre-requisites

You should be a confident computer user with good file management skills.Note that this course is aimed at those who are new to programming and to Python. It is not suitable for those who have already programmed in another language wishing to convert to Python.N.B. Priority is given to Postgraduate students.

Excel 2016 Essential Skills

 

This course covers how to create, import, export and edit data. It will also show you how to select cell ranges, enter and manipulate formulas and perform basic functions such as in electronic worksheets and to manage workbooks.

The course equips candidates with the pre-requisites for our further Excel courses.

You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

"

 

Outline

 

  • Input and edit data
  • Format data and worksheets
  • Enter formulas and functions
  • Sort and filter data
  • Customise layouts
  • Streamline workflow
  • Import and export data

 

Delivery

This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

Pre-requisites

This course assumes little knowledge of Excel but it would be beneficial to go through the recommended resources in Moodle which would give you a general understanding of spreadsheets and working in Excel 2013. 
Please visit our Moodle ISD IT Training course for details."

Kick-starting your literature review

This course aims to help you leverage some simple software tools to kick-start your literature review.

The course will start with an review of library and literature searching techniques including creating appropriate search strategies and using appropriate databases.

We will explore the use of Firefox with Zotero for building a database of literature - the bibliographic database - and some Zotero plugins that will give us useful added functionality.

We will learn how to annotate PDFs from Zotero and how to extract and report on annotations to produce rich reports of the literature.

This is a bring your own device session and if you bring a laptop with an up-to-date installation of Firefox you will be able to install the software to be used and practise the techniques described.

Outline

 

  • searching for relevant literature
  • organising reference data
  • annotating literature with zotero and with adobe
  • generating an editable report on selected data with Zotero and Word

     

    Delivery

    This is a three hour hands on workshop.

    Pre-requisites

    There are no prerequisite for this course.

    This is a bring your own device session and if you bring a laptop with an up-to-date installation of Firefox you will be able to install the software to be used and practise the techniques described.

    Data Visualization in R with ggplot2

     

    This course introduces you to data visualization in R using the ggplot2 package. The ggplot2 package implements the grammar of graphics concepts for creating visually appealing and professional looking graphics in R.

    Basic knowledge of working with datasets in R is essential but experience with plotting functions is not required.

    Although this course takes place in a public cluster, you will need to bring a laptop with R and ggplot2 installed. If you do not, you will find that some material does not work on UCL desktop machines.

    Instructions for downloading both R and ggplot2 can be found here

    "

     

    Outline

    By the end of the course you will be able to:

    • Create scatterplots, histograms, line graphs, and boxplots
    • Add chart labels, axis labels and legends to the plots
    • Apply statistical transformations to the plots
    • Change various attributes of plot layers including color, shape, size and scale
    • Create mutiple plots in a single figure using facets
    • Apply themes to change the appearance of the plots

     

    Delivery

    This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

    Pre-requisites

    Basic knowledge of working with datasets in R is essential but experience with plotting functions is not required.

    Although this course takes place in a public cluster, you will need to bring a laptop with R and ggplot2 installed. If you do not, you will find that some material does not work on UCL desktop machines.

    This link will explain how to install both R and ggplot2 if you have not already installed them.

    "

     

    Data Manipulation in R with Rstudio

     

    Data manipulation is the process of cleaning, organising and preparing data in a way that makes it suitable for analysis. Most real-world datasets require some form of manipulation to facilitate the downstreamanalysis and this process is often repeated a number of times during the data analysis cycle.

    In this workshop you will learn how to apply a consistent grammar of data manipulation to raw data and prepare it for analysis.

    Although this course takes place in a public cluster, you will need to bring a laptop with R and RStudio installed. If you do not, you will find that some material does not work on UCL desktop machines. You can download R here and Rstudio here

    "

     

    Outline

    The following topics are covered in the workshop:

    • Learning to use the grammar of data manipulation
    • Merging multiple datasets and creating subsets using filters
    • Reshaping data between long and wide formats
    • Summarising data with group-wise operation
    • Setting up data pipelines for efficient data manipulation

     

    Delivery

    This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

    Pre-requisites

    This workshop is designed for individuals who are already familiar with R but wish to learn efficient techniques for data manipulation.

    Although this course takes place in a public cluster, you will need to bring a laptop with R and RStudio installed. If you do not, you will find that some material does not work on UCL desktop machines. You can download R here and Rstudio here

    "

     

    Getting started with Stata

     

    This is a first look at Stata for absolute beginners and covers basics of data management, descriptive statistics, basic plots and some hypothesis testing.

    The course on the following date takes place over a whole day session with an hour-break inbetween:

    • 17 May 10 a.m-5 p.m.

    You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

    "

     

    Outline

     

    The material to be covered includes:

    • The Stata program environment
    • Entering data
    • Browsing data
    • Editing data
    • Describing data
    • Computing values
    • Simple recoding
    • Simple descriptive statistics
    • Recoding values
    • Simple hypothesis testing
    • Producing basic plots

     

    Delivery

     

    The course on the following date takes place over a whole day session with an hour-break inbetween:

    • 17 May 10 a.m-5 p.m.

     

    Pre-requisites

    Attendees should have a good understanding of basic statistics.

    Excel Essential Skills - WORKSHOP 1

     

    Our workshops take a new approach to learning by presenting you with a problem to be solved and encouraging you to use your prior experience, web searches, in-application help and fellow participants to find a solution to the task.

    By the end of the session you will have improved problem-solving skills, an increased knowledge of the topic, a ‘suggested solution’ to the problem you worked on and some resources and guidance for further learning.

     

    Outline

    On successfully completing the workshop tasks you will be able to:

    • Create an Excel workbook
    • Make changes to workbook properties
    • Rename a sheet
    • Enter and edit column headings and row labels
    • Use the fill handle create a series
    • Re-size columns
    • Create simple formulas
    • Use an absolute reference in a formula
    • Format cells appropriately according to their content
    • Add comments to cells
    • Prepare a worksheet for printing

     

    Delivery

    This is a facilitated one hour session.

    Pre-requisites

    There are no pre-requisites for this workshop.Please note that in order to progress to Workshop 2, you will need to complete Workshop 1.

    Excel Essential Skills - WORKSHOP 2

     

    Our workshops take a new approach to learning by presenting you with a problem to be solved and encouraging you to use your prior experience, web searches, in-application help and fellow participants to find a solution to the task.

    By the end of the session you will have improved problem-solving skills, an increased knowledge of the topic, a ‘suggested solution’ to the problem you worked on and some resources and guidance for further learning.

     

    Outline

    On successfully completing the workshop tasks you will be able to:

    • Import a text file into Excel
    • Format cells appropriately according to their content
    • Apply multiple level sorting to a dataset
    • Apply filters to a dataset
    • Apply subtotals to a dataset
    • Freeze rows
    • Hide and show columns
    • Create custom views
    • Re-arrange columns
    • Duplicate worksheets
    • Delete rows
    • Transpose data from columns to rows or vice vers

     

    Delivery

    This is a facilitated one hour session.

    Pre-requisites

    You must have completed Excel Essential Skills - WORKSHOP 1 before participating in this workshop.You will be able to book onto this workshop once you have completed the tasks in Workshop 1."

    Excel Essential Skills - WORKSHOP 3

     

    Our workshops take a new approach to learning by presenting you with a problem to be solved and encouraging you to use your prior experience, web searches, in-application help and fellow participants to find a solution to the task.

    By the end of the session you will have improved problem-solving skills, an increased knowledge of the topic, a ‘suggested solution’ to the problem you worked on and some resources and guidance for further learning.

     

    Outline

    On successfully completing the workshop tasks you will be able to:

    • Name a cell or range of cells and make changes to names
    • Use conditional formatting
    • Use aggregate functions to find minimum, maximum and average values
    • Use Excel's Quick Analysis tool
    • Use the IF and AVERAGE IF functions
    • Use Excel's Insert Function wizard
    • Perform calculations involving dates
    • Use a function to round values up or down

     

    Delivery

    This is a facilitated one hour session.

    Pre-requisites

    You must have completed Excel Essential Skills - WORKSHOP 2 before participating in this workshop.You will be able to book onto this workshop once you have completed the tasks in Workshop 2."

    Introduction to Visualising Data with Matlab

    This course introduces attendees to the basic function of 2D and 3D plots in Matlab. This is a follow-on to the course Introduction to Matlab. It is designed for those with little or no knowledge of Matlab plotting function, but have understood the basic elements of the Matlab programming language.

    Outline

    By the end of the course you will be able to:

    • Understand and create the basic features of plots: simple 2-D plot; line and marker properties; multiple lines; label, title and legend; adding text; controlling axis; figure handling; saving figures
    • Create 2D plots: scatter plot, histograms and heatmap
    • Create 3D plots: mesh and surface

     

    Delivery

    This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

    Pre-requisites

    Knowledge of basic elements of the Matlab programming language and programming environment is essential but experience with plotting function is not required. We strongly suggest that you attend the Introduction to Matlab prior to attending this course."

    Advanced statistics with Excel 2016

     

    This is not a statistics course. Participants must already have adequate statistical knowledge.

    The purpose of this course to introduce you to more built-in Excel statistical functions, the functions in the analysis tool pak and to consolidate your skill in building complex formulae by hand. The course covers major descriptive measures, some parametric tests, chi-square testing of association and linear regression.

    Note that this course can be attended by people using Excel 2010 or 2013. There are some differences between the two versions but most features are the same.

    You may wish to enrol on our Moodle ISD Digital Skills Development course and download course materials to your N drive prior to attending the course.

    "

     

    Outline

     

    • Activating the analysis tool-pak
    • Descriptive statistics
    • Comparing means (for two groups)
    • The chi-square test
    • Computing regression coefficients
    • Regression using the tool-pak

     

    Delivery

    This is a trainer-led 3 hour session.

    Pre-requisites

    In order to benefit fully from this course you need to be able to:

    • Select non-adjacent data
    • Create and using basic formulas
    • Utilise basic functions e.g. SUM, COUNT
    • Use of sort/filter
    • Naming ranges
    • Using the fill handle
    • Relative vs absolute cell referencing

    Please visit our ISD Digital Skills Development Moodle course for details.

    These skills are covered in Excel Essential Skills Workshops 1

    An Introduction to R with RStudio

     

    This course is designed to help you to use R and R-studio to import, manipulate, describe and analyse categorical and continuous data and to produce plots and tables to support analysis. Participants will also be introduced to literate programming in R as a method supporting reproducible research.

    Please note that this is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) course, therefore you will need to bring a laptop with R and RStudio installed. You can download R here and Rstudio here

    If you don't own a laptop, you can borrow a laptop via the UCL Laptop Loans for Students service By the end of this course you will be able to: