Instructor Notes
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Introduction to Data Management
Instructor Note
Do not assume learners regularly use desktop file systems.
Some participants may primarily use mobile devices and may have little experience navigating folders directly.
Spend a few minutes explicitly demonstrating how files and folders are organised.
Instructor Note
Suggest links for equivalents at your own institution are substituted in here.
Choosing the Right File Structures
Instructor Note
Encourage learners to identify problems rather than immediately propose solutions.
The goal here is to help learners recognise why poor organisation causes difficulties before introducing best practices.
Instructor Note
Learners often find drag-and-drop easier initially.
However, introducing Cut and Paste provides a useful alternative when folders are not visible on screen simultaneously.
Instructor Note
Emphasise caution.
Deletion should only occur when learners are confident a folder is
unnecessary. For real research projects, moving to archive/
is often safer than immediate deletion.
Naming Files Well
Instructor Note
Encourage learners to focus on whether filenames communicate useful information.
Avoid discussing “perfect” filenames. The goal is consistency and clarity.
Instructor Note
Demonstrate both Windows methods.
The keyboard shortcut is often significantly faster once learners become confident.
Documenting Your Data
Instructor Note
Many learners will have experienced poorly documented datasets.
Encourage them to connect their frustrations as data users with their responsibilities as data creators.
Instructor Note
Demonstrate each step live.
Some learners may never have manually created a text file before.
Pause between steps to allow learners to follow along.
Choosing Where to Store Your Data
Instructor Note
This discussion helps reveal existing practices within the room.
Learners often have good reasons for their current choices, but may not have considered backup, sharing, governance, or long-term access implications.
Instructor Note
Adapt this section to local institutional policies.
Learners often assume that “being in the cloud” automatically means data is accessible to everyone who needs it.
Instructor Note
Replace this section with your own institutional storage recommendations if delivering the lesson elsewhere.
Storing and Transferring Data Efficiently
Instructor Note
Learners often jump immediately to deleting files.
Emphasise that deletion is usually the last option.
Compression and improved organisation often reduce storage requirements significantly without losing information.
Instructor Note
Demonstrate both approaches.
Learners often find folder-size properties particularly useful because they rarely realise the information is available.
Instructor Note
Demonstrate compression on the cleaned project directory.
Show both the original folder size and the compressed archive size.
Instructor Note
Skip this if your institution does not have a file drop-off service.
What to Store and When to Remove
Instructor Note
After a few minutes, gather responses from the room.
Best Practices for Tabular Data
Instructor Note
Emphasize preserving the original raw file! Always save your cleaned
dataset under a new filename (e.g.,
Incidence-Data_clean.csv) or work on a copy.