Using Version Control for Data Analysis through GitHub - Online Course
A 4-Hour Livestream Seminar Taught by
Aaron GullicksonWednesday, April 22, 2026
10:30am-12:30pm (convert to your local time)
1:00pm-3:00pm
Git is a free and lightweight distributed version control system that is used by programmers and data analysts to track project progress efficiently, code without fear of error, and collaborate sanely. Data scientists and researchers have adopted version control to facilitate efficient project management and to easily disseminate research materials (such as code) to broader communities.
GitHub provides online open-access Git repositories and has emerged as a leading choice for data analysts and researchers seeking to collaborate and share projects using Git. GitHub provides a variety of additional features and workflows that improve the experience of using Git.
This seminar will familiarize you with using Git through GitHub. While it may seem intimidating, the basics of Git are easy to learn and integrate into your existing workflows. The seminar will focus on teaching you the basic Git workflow and how to use Git and GitHub to transform research collaboration.
This seminar will be presented as a 4-hour synchronous, livestream workshop via Zoom. It will consist of two lecture sessions with hands-on exercises, separated by a 30-minute break. Live attendance is recommended for the best experience. But if you can’t join in real time, recordings will be available within 24 hours and can be accessed for four weeks after the seminar.
Closed captioning is available for all live and recorded sessions. Captions can be translated to a variety of languages including Spanish, Korean, and Italian. For more information, click here.
More details about the course content
The course will introduce you to the basic workflow of Git, including how to commit, push, and pull changes to underlying research material, how to create and clone repositories through GitHub, and how to avoid some common “gotchas” when using Git and GitHub. You will also learn how to create separate branches of code for efficient collaboration and how to merge branches using GitHub pull requests.
The principles of using Git developed in this course can be applied broadly to any statistical software package that uses scripting. In this course, you will primarily learn how to interact with Git using GitHub Desktop, but you will also learn command line tools to accomplish the same tasks done by GitHub Desktop.
The seminar will be very hands on and you will learn how to create and manage your own remote repositories through GitHub. You are welcome to bring projects to the course for which you would like to construct GitHub repositories.
Blog Post
Check out Dr. Gullickson’s blog post, Making Your First GitHub R Project, where he gives a brief introduction to creating your first R project repository using GitHub.
The course will introduce you to the basic workflow of Git, including how to commit, push, and pull changes to underlying research material, how to create and clone repositories through GitHub, and how to avoid some common “gotchas” when using Git and GitHub. You will also learn how to create separate branches of code for efficient collaboration and how to merge branches using GitHub pull requests.
The principles of using Git developed in this course can be applied broadly to any statistical software package that uses scripting. In this course, you will primarily learn how to interact with Git using GitHub Desktop, but you will also learn command line tools to accomplish the same tasks done by GitHub Desktop.
The seminar will be very hands on and you will learn how to create and manage your own remote repositories through GitHub. You are welcome to bring projects to the course for which you would like to construct GitHub repositories.
Blog Post
Check out Dr. Gullickson’s blog post, Making Your First GitHub R Project, where he gives a brief introduction to creating your first R project repository using GitHub.
Computing
In order to participate in the hands-on exercises and to follow along in the class, you will need to have Git installed on your computer. Git is free, open source, and available on Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. Windows users will also need to use the Git Bash application (installed automatically with Git) for command line operations. You will also need to create a free account on GitHub.
We will also make use of additional GUI clients that can make it easier to work with Git. You should install GitHub Desktop, as this will be our primary method of interacting with Git.
In order to participate in the hands-on exercises and to follow along in the class, you will need to have Git installed on your computer. Git is free, open source, and available on Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. Windows users will also need to use the Git Bash application (installed automatically with Git) for command line operations. You will also need to create a free account on GitHub.
We will also make use of additional GUI clients that can make it easier to work with Git. You should install GitHub Desktop, as this will be our primary method of interacting with Git.
Who should register?
This course is for anyone who wants to improve their statistical research workflow and learn to easily collaborate on research and share the products of that research. The principles learned in this course can be applied broadly to working in any statistical or coding environment.
This course is for anyone who wants to improve their statistical research workflow and learn to easily collaborate on research and share the products of that research. The principles learned in this course can be applied broadly to working in any statistical or coding environment.
Seminar outline
- What is version control?
- Cloning a repository
- Cloning from GitHub
- Cloning to GitHub
- Learning the fundamental workflow
- Committing locally
- Pushing and pulling to a remote repository
- Collaborating with GitHub
- Dealing with conflicts
- Branching and pull requests
- Using GitHub like a pro
- Undoing changes
- Ignoring things (in Git)
- Working with large files
- Using templates
- What is version control?
- Cloning a repository
- Cloning from GitHub
- Cloning to GitHub
- Learning the fundamental workflow
- Committing locally
- Pushing and pulling to a remote repository
- Collaborating with GitHub
- Dealing with conflicts
- Branching and pull requests
- Using GitHub like a pro
- Undoing changes
- Ignoring things (in Git)
- Working with large files
- Using templates
Payment information
The fee of $295 USD includes all course materials.
PayPal and all major credit cards are accepted.
Our Tax ID number is 26-4576270.
The fee of $295 USD includes all course materials.
PayPal and all major credit cards are accepted.
Our Tax ID number is 26-4576270.