12  Spin up the next cohort

Tip

Repeat instructor — this chapter is the short version. It assumes you already understand the three-org model (Chapter 7) and have a working gitforsci-dev with templates. If this is your first time, read Parts 2 and 3 in full instead.

You have taught the course before. The templates in gitforsci-dev hold your latest material. Here is the condensed path to the next cohort.

12.1 What carries forward and what stays frozen

Before you start, hold the two rules in mind:

• Templates carry forward. The new cohort is generated fresh from gitforsci-dev, so it inherits every improvement you have made since the last cohort.
• Past cohorts stay frozen. Existing iteration orgs are independent repositories, not forks. Editing the template does not touch them. That is intentional: each past cohort is the archival record of how the course was taught that time.

If you need a template fix inside a cohort that already exists, apply it there as an ordinary commit; it will not flow in automatically.

12.2 The run-book

Replace the iteration tag 002 with the new cohort’s tag throughout.

12.2.1 1. Update the templates first

• Make any teaching improvements in gitforsci-dev (the website template and the material repositories) before generating the new cohort, so the cohort picks them up.

12.2.2 2. Create the iteration org

• Create the gitforsci-002 organization on GitHub (organizations are created in the browser).
• Confirm you are an owner.

12.2.3 3. Generate the cohort website

• On gitforsci-dev/website, click Use this template, then create gitforsci-002/website.
• Clone it in RStudio and fill in _variables.yml and _quarto.yml with this cohort’s dates, URLs, and labels (Chapter 9).
• Render with quarto preview, then publish.

12.2.4 4. Create the per-cohort material repositories

• Use Use this template to copy each exercise and assignment repository from gitforsci-dev into gitforsci-002.

12.2.5 5. Sync the citation

• Copy the canonical CITATION.cff from gitforsci/website into the new cohort’s repositories so they all cite the course the same way (Chapter 13).
• After the cohort runs, create a release of gitforsci-002/website so this iteration gets its own DOI alongside the canonical one (Chapter 13).

12.2.6 6. Invite and verify

• Invite learners (from the new cohort’s survey) to gitforsci-002 with the ghclass scripts in gitforsci-dev/admin (Chapter 8).
• Switch to your test-learner account and verify the member view, a clone, and a commit (Chapter 8).

12.2.7 7. Run the pre-flight

• Work through Chapter 10 for this cohort: pre-work, survey, dry-run, morning checks.

That is the whole loop. The work is mostly generating fresh copies and filling in this cohort’s specifics; the teaching material itself comes along for free from the templates.