What are the benefits of GitHub Classroom?

The primary benefit of GitHub Classroom is the structure of student repositories. After the instructor has set up a classroom within GitHub Classroom, each HW assignment gets its own link. When a student clicks on the link, a new repository is immediately created for that student (e.g., called HW1-student1); only the student, the instructor, and possibly TAs (if given access) can see or access the repository. The student will complete the assignment and push their work back to the repository that was created by GitHub Classroom. The instructor can then use shell commands to seamlessly read the assignments and provide feedback. A typical workflow would look like:

1. HW1 assignment link is created, students 1 through N each click on the link, creating N repositories: HW1-student1, HW1-student2, … HW1-studentN.
   
2. Each student completes the assignment and pushes their work to their individual repository.
3. Using a single shell command, the instructor (or TA) clones all N repositories onto their own local machine.
4. Using a single shell command, the instructor opens all the assignment files (possibly called HW1assign-student1.Rmd, HW1assign-student2.Rmd, … HW1assign-studentN.Rmd).
   
5. Instructor (or TA) looks at each assignment separately, grades each one separately, and saves / knits each assignment. [n.b., step #5 is the only step which is not automated, it includes the assessment of the content of the assignment.]
6. Using a single shell command, the instructor commits and pushes all of the graded assignments back to the individual student repositories.

While GitHub Classroom does not grade assignments automatically, it does facilitate the downloading and uploading of assignments from and to students. From the students’ perspective, they work with GitHub Classroom in exactly the same way that they would work with GitHub. But from the instructor perspective, the organization of assignments is seamless.

Where can I get help?

Fiksel et al. (2019) wrote about using GitHub Classroom in both an introductory statistics class as well as an upper division undergraduate statistics class. They motivate the use of the software tool as well as provide extensive instructions on getting GitHub Classroom up and running. In particular, Jacob Fiksel has provided guides for students and teachers with step-by-step instructions for creating, organizing, and assessing assignments for a large number of students simultaneously. His guides include .gif files and videos for students and teachers who might be hesitant to embark on using the tool.