Chevron Left
Back to R Programming

Learner Reviews & Feedback for R Programming by Johns Hopkins University

4.5
stars
22,170 ratings

About the Course

In this course you will learn how to program in R and how to use R for effective data analysis. You will learn how to install and configure software necessary for a statistical programming environment and describe generic programming language concepts as they are implemented in a high-level statistical language. The course covers practical issues in statistical computing which includes programming in R, reading data into R, accessing R packages, writing R functions, debugging, profiling R code, and organizing and commenting R code. Topics in statistical data analysis will provide working examples....

Top reviews

MR

May 11, 2020

Really interesting course. The interactive coding sessions with swirl are especially useful. Would be great, if you provided sample solutions for the programming assignments, in particular for week 4.

JM

Aug 11, 2019

Very challenging, but good course. I've been programming in R for over a year, but there were still some things for me to pick up in this class. Assignments were a challenge, but satisfying to tackle.

Filter by:

101 - 125 of 4,720 Reviews for R Programming

By Konstantinos L

Sep 2, 2021

I learned a lot of things in this course, but I can't say that I'm pleased with the course overall. First of all, I found really frustrating that there was no connection between assignments and each week theory with a huge difficulty leap between them. Secondly, videos was kind of useless as the tutor was just reading the slides, and thirdly there was no consistency between each week curriculum, it lacked coherence. Even so, I learned a lot of things, and after all this frustration I find myself more confident in using R language. In addition, the tutors are present in the discussion forum and they are really really helpful, answering questions and provide extra material for the assignments, which in my opinion should be integrated in the main course. If this course was a couple of weeks longer, and there was consistency between theory - assignments, I think that it would be much better.

By Jesus A P G

May 1, 2020

In short, I learned a lot in this cocurse but I would not consider it for beginners with little programming experience. I spent at least 3-5 times more doing the assingtments. The information presented was very valuable but the pedagogical part was not well done. The chunks of information were poorly connected between themselves, making the learning process tidous and hard to achieve. The visuals were very sloppy with only white slides and a font too small. For these reason the lectures were boring and unappealing. My suggestion is to take more care of the didactic aspect of the course. Many times I had to watch YouTube videos on the same topic that I had just seen, and I can say that a colored diagram made all the difference between understanding everything and not understanding nothing at all.

By Manish A

Jun 2, 2020

There is an incredibly wide gap between the lectures and the exercises presented on Swirl and the coding needed to pass the assignments. So much so that I didn't have to tools to approach the assignments with what I feel comfortable using. This is a huge detriment to the learning objectives of the course.

At several points, I contemplated quitting because of this consideration. I imagine it is a huge hurdle. I have no coding experience, but I am traditionally a good student so this is frustrating. This is my first Coursera sequence, though I have taken online classes before through more traditional universities.

By Danielle D C

Feb 18, 2021

For this second course installment of the Data Science Specialisation, there is an immense gap between the lectures and the assignments. I completely understand not being "spoon fed", which is a critical aspect of learning anything on your own. However, the jump in expectations between Programming Assignment 2 and Assignment 3 was incomprehensible. You could work your way through #2 but with #3, it felt as though you had a plethora of information thrown at your way, adding to the confusion, which you then had to stare at for what felt like "light years" to fully decode, in order to get through the quiz.

By Ankita D

Feb 18, 2017

Even though the video lectures, discussion forums, swirl & reading resources are informative, there is a huge disconnect between the assignments & what is taught. It is impractical for people who have just been introduced to R(with no background in programming) to take up this course.

The graded assignments should be made simpler or should be preceded by smaller ones which help first-timers get used to coding in R. I do not think Swirl; even though a valuable resource; achieves this task remotely.

By Kylie A

Jun 15, 2021

The level of teaching does not match the level of the assignments. They teach you like you're just going to be quizzed on the vocab and some really simple functions, but then the programming assignments are WAY more complicated than anything they actually taught you. I get that in data science we are supposed to learn how to solve problems, but the instructors shouldn't be intentionally creating problems where we have to go and spend many hours teaching ourselves the material just so we can pass.

By Jill M W

Nov 17, 2016

It was a little difficult grasping functions as I didn't have much programming background. The swirl practice modules were great but I wish they constructed some lessons that would build a function from top to bottom like we were asked to do in the programming assignments. The lectures, swirl practice modules, and quizzes were great but they all re-iterated the same basic information. I wanted to learn and practice building more functions by applying the basic information to do complex tasks.

By Abigail T

Aug 3, 2021

The course is OK. This biggest frustration was that lectures were quite unhelpful for the programming assignments they give you. They are not engaging and get very technical very quickly. Be prepared to use extra resources/websites to help get better explanations. The swirl activities are optional for the grade, but a MUST for understanding material--do them. I found that I was able to complete most of the pieces of the course in less time than they tell you next to the descriptions.

By Maksym V

Mar 4, 2016

1) This course is NOT for beginners in R programming. Huge gap between lectures and assignments. Swirl lessons are cool, but anyway they don't explain enough.

2) I understand that studying is not always a joy, but lectures of this course are boring. First, slides come with brief comments of instructor. And second, it seems like the instructor speaks with no preparation as there are a lot of stammers, tongue slips, "sort of", "kind of" etc. It annoys a lot...

By Yuli H

Jan 23, 2022

I did learn a lot, but not from the course given and, unfortunately, not from the instructor. I have to google and read through many R docs and articles outside this course to complete the assignments. I know Google is my friend, but I am rating the course :D. The course is somewhat not well-structured. For someone who is really new to R, guidance is extremely important considering there are many paths can be taken to solve data analysis problems using R.

By Alejandro M

May 24, 2020

The course is too ambitious and some themes are explained in a very plain and boring way. I can't say you will learn nothing, the course isn't too bad, but if you have no prior experience with programming o even if you have but not in R, the course programming assignments will be a little difficult and the material. If you want to complete this course you will have to invest a lot of time searching for things and/or waiting for help in the forums. 5/10

By Krystle A S

Nov 10, 2020

I learned a lot from this course. My only concern is that, most of the assignments did not match with what was discussed in the lectures. It became difficult for beginners like myself to catch up. It seemed that the lectures were incomplete. I hope this gap between lectures and assignments will be addressed soon. Nevertheless, I learned a lot from this course and now I can say I know something about R programming. Thanks Coursera.

By Caleb G M

Sep 20, 2022

This course's lectures give a good introduction to R programming. However, good practical exercises are missing from the class. The assignments ask a lot of the students, but the lectures come no where near preparing one to complete one of the assignments. The programming skills talked about in lectures are super basic, and then the assingments are far, far more complex.

By Sarah B

Aug 8, 2023

Ultimately, I did learn a number of skills. Be aware that the actual course materials (lectures and some very basic swirl exercises) do not prepare you adequately for the assignments. One of the mentors has created a repo of 12 exercises that are not a part of the course that are critical to learning the skills if you have no prior programming experience.

By Agop N

Nov 8, 2020

Difficult to follow and course curriculum not fully in line with the quiz. This course could easily span 6 weeks to avoid information overload and unnecessary time pressure while working full time and with family responsibilities. Optional SWIRL exercises should be revisited between Course 2 and Course 3 as there's very little time within each week.

By Suwei W

Jan 2, 2019

I learned something, of course, in this course. But without previous experience in data science, I found it OK to understand the lectures, but always got lost in the coding assignments. I tried to finish it on my own, but it turns out I have to search everything online. I felt that there's a big gap between lectures and assignments.

By Andrea C P

Nov 9, 2020

For me as non programmer, the course resulted sometime hard to follow. Simply adding a pointer when Prof. Peng is showing a slide it would improve the understanding.

By Laura E

Nov 30, 2021

While the lectures were informative, the programming assignments went way beyond what was covered in the lectures.

By Ana L d S P

Aug 24, 2020

This course was not what I've expected. The functions lessons were not achieved, because it was not teached well.

By Bob H

Jan 28, 2022

Presenter uses undefined/unexplained terms regularly which most users would not be familiar with.

By El M

Apr 9, 2019

very good course but you need much more time then announced to finish the assignments

By 邵珏忆

Jan 7, 2019

Tutorials are indispensible for students to complete the assignments.

By Ramesh B

Aug 24, 2020

This course is for programmers.

By Sherif A

Jan 1, 2019

Needs to be more interactive

By Kathleen C

Jun 17, 2022

The lectures themselves were clear and engaging enough and the swirl practice was helpful, but the learning curve between the information we're presented and the assignments is unacceptably steep. I understand that there is always a gap between lecture and application; however, I should not have to sift through a dozen discussion posts to figure out what is going on in the assignments. Students should be able to complete them with just the functions that were covered in the course materials, otherwise, the course materials are insufficient.

My degree is in education and if I had so poorly prepared my students to complete their assignments, then I would get in a lot of trouble. It seems like this has been a complaint for some time and there have been efforts to improve through the resources provided in the forum, but this calls for either rewriting the assessments so they align better with the content that was covered or a fundamental restructuring of the course content so students are prepared to complete the assessments as currently written.