SasView Tutorials: The Next Generation

Background

We need to replace the dated and monolithic (SasView 2.x) Tutorial ​(here) that presently ships with SasView 4.x with new materials that are fresh, engaging, and modern.

Several existing tickets relating to the provision of 'tutorials' are now captured on this wiki page and the corresponding tickets closed:

• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/387 - Need new tutorial documentation
• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/516 - Add Pr Tutorial module
• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/517 - Add Invariant Tutorial Module
• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/518 - Add 1D model fitting tutorial
• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/519 - Add 2D model fitting Tutorial
• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/520 - Add constrained fit Tutorial
• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/521 - Add simultaneous fitting tutorial
• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/522 - Add Batch Fitting Tutorial

Some of the 'next generation' material will require our SasView documentation build processes to produce PDF files. Tickets relevant to this are:

• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/510 - Build PDF documentation along with HTML
• http://trac.sasview.org/ticket/927 - Add PanDoc to Build Servers

The issue of 'tutorials' has previously been raised on this Wiki at:

• http://trac.sasview.org/wiki/Documentation%20Work%20Package (first created Jan 2015)
• http://trac.sasview.org/wiki/Rework%20Proposal (first created Mar 2016)

Wojciech has made some suggestions regarding frameworks and infrastructure for new tutorial material in ​this document

The Bigger Picture

Any tutorials we produce will be part of a bigger portfolio of 'documentation' comprising:

• the in-program Help (actually called 'Documentation' in SasView itself) - this is invariably the first place any Sasview User looks for answers
• the Tutorials themselves
• the SasView ​Website - which has a good FAQ page created from actual questions from Users & links to other resources
• the SasView ​TRAC site - primarily for the Development Team, but a lot of content should be accessible to advanced Users

Whilst there will be some cross-over between these different strands they should not seek to duplicate material unnecessarily.

So what is a Tutorial?

A Tutorial is self-paced instruction that provides a step-by-step approach to some learning unit. They should be interactive, visual (and/or audio), goal-driven, and provide some form of feedback (such as through question-answer exercises). This definition therefore potentially encompasses a wide range of delivery mechanisms.