MERM Learning Tools Project
http://learningtools.merm.ecps.educ.ubc.ca/
I have organized a Learning Tool Group. Our members are interested in visualizing statistics and developing tools for doing research and learning statistics and psychometrics. We have developed a website, which contains several Shiny R web applications. These applications provide an easy  interface for conducting item analysis, EFA, and CFA with both continuous and categorical variables. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in joining our group.

Learning R

• Install R              https://www.r-project.org
• Install RStudio  https://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/
• Step to step to install R and RStudio  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD07NznguA4
• DataCamp  https://www.datacamp.com/home
• A quick way to update the new version of R: https://www.r-statistics.com/2015/06/a-step-by-step-screenshots-tutorial-for-upgrading-r-on-windows/

To update R on Windows:

1. Install and load installr: install.packages("installr") and library(installr)
2. Call updateR() function. This will start the updating process of your R installation by: “finding the latest R version, downloading it, running the installer, deleting the installation file, copy and updating old packages to the new R installation.”
3. From within RStudio, go to Help > Check for Updates to install newer version of RStudio (if available, optional).

Inspiring or interesting TED Talks

• Adam Grant: The surprising habits of original thinkers
• Judson Brewer: A simple way to break a bad habit
• Sheena Iyengar: The art of choosing
• Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days
• Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
• Robert Waldinger: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness
• Ricardo Semler: How to run a company with (almost) no rules
• Arthur Benjamin: Teaching statistics before calculus
• Lidia Yuknavitch: The beauty of being a misfit

Latent class analysis

• Examples of LCA from UCLA: Introductory examples & example of known class LCA
• An introductory video: What is LCA?

Machine Learning

Machine learning (ML) can be considered as statistical learning as many methods of ML are based on certain statistical methods. The format or the name may be modified or changed, but ML in nature is some sort of statistical methods. ML should not be viewed as “black box”. We should always carefully describe our model, assumptions and limitations. As beginners, you can always start from “An Introduction to Statistical Learning with Applications in R” (2013) by Gareth James, Daniela Witten, Trevor Hastie, and Robert Tibshirani.