Welcome to statistics class! As we progress, we will be learning something
new about statistics, and I'm going to give you all of the resources that you
need to learn the topic for that week, and then do the assignments. Of course,
with all of that material available, it is good to know what you need and make
sure that you did not miss anything. So let's get an overview of what you will
need to know to be successful in this class. Each week, you can check everything
that is required for that unit by reading the Course Overview. This
synopsis is the place to start. Each topic has its own class notes. These
notes will follow with what I'm teaching you in class or in the videos. Notes are
in a PDF format, so you can either print them and bring them to class with you, or
all of the fields in the notes are fillable, so you can type directly into
your PDF notes. So here is hint number one for being successful in statistics
class. Read your notes before class. Just having seen the material once before we
talk about it will make a huge difference in your comprehension. I also
provide what I call "handouts" sometimes (abbreviated "HO") the handouts are copies
of the PowerPoint presentation slides for that week. Handouts are optional, and
that the material in the slides is already in your notes, so you do not need
to print them. Some people like to have them pulled up on a computer monitor to
follow while listening to the lecture. You may also notice that sometimes there
are slides or pictures in the class presentation or the video that are not
in the handouts, and I do that for the sake of file size. Many weeks you will
have datasets, and we will use those in class or for illustration purposes.
Although the datasets are posted with the notes for each week, there is also a
folder that you can download containing all of the datasets for the entire class. The ".sav" files are for SPSS, ".xlsx" files are for Excel, and
the ".csv" (or comma separated values) files will open in Excel, JASP, R, or SPSS.
So here is hint number two for success: always download datasets to your desktop
before opening them, fewer software errors that way. The homework will be
assigned at the end of each class period and will be due at the start of the
following week. I will have some additional guidelines about homework in
a moment. So here is another hint for success: come to class prepared. When you
get to class, I will have the presentation pulled up for that week. Be
sure to check out the first slide; it will tell you what to expect for the
lecture. Each slide starts off with the week number and the topic that we will
be learning. In this example, descriptive statistics for week three. You might also
notice some icons in the lower left corner. These icons tell you what
software or tools we will use that week. The first icon is a calculator, and it
means that we will be working some problems by hand, so you might want to
have your calculator handy. The second icon is for SPSS. It means that we will
be using SPSS, and there will be datasets that you need to have ready. The X and
the W are for Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word for data handling or for reporting
our findings. You are also free to use an open source office program like
OpenOffice or Libre Office, and by the way, if you are using an open source
software send them a little love in the form of a small donation for making such
great software freely available. So here are some things to know about the
homework assignments. Homework is assigned at the end of each class period.
If you are in a seated class, then the homework is due at the beginning of the
next class. If you are in an on class homework is due on the assigned
due date in the homework Dropbox. If I have specific information about homework,
I will tell you in class. Next, do your homework
in pencil. Don't do math in pen! You may complete much of the homework on your
computer using the fillable forms in the PDF. Take pride in your work. You will
make mistakes while you are learning. You will have false starts. You will get on
the wrong track. Perfectly normal, perfectly healthy. On
the other hand, your homework represents you. Take pride in it.
Maybe if you make some mistakes and have pen scratch outs (see I told you to use a
pencil!) you may even want to redo some of those problems on a fresh copy of the
homework so that it will look really good.
Learn to paraphrase. You may encounter homework questions that refer to
material in the notes. You may be then inclined to copy from the notes into the
homework. Don't do that! The point is not that you can find the answer in the
notes the point is that you pack that information into your brain. Put your
ideas into your own words, or at least different words. The effort will help
your understanding. Do not do homework during the lecture! In a seated class,
sometimes people try to get a head start on the homework as we go along in the
lecture. . . bad idea. When you do that you invariably miss what we are doing in
class while you are writing down answers. Use the lectures or the videos to learn,
and then start on the homework and go back to your notes or the videos when
you are seeking specific information. SPSS output should be formatted in APA
style. The rule is this: never turn in raw SPSS output. SPSS output is never in APA
style. Do not attach printouts of the SPSS output. I want to see you translate
that output into the proper format, to show that you
understand the topic and I will provide you information on how to do that as we
move along in the class. Late work - I know that sometimes you may miss a class (now
honestly I'd recommend you not do that). Everything builds on everything else in
statistics. What we learned this week we will use next week, and the week after
and probably on the final. Missing a class can really set you back. That said,
if you miss a class, you should read the notes and do your best to keep up with
the work. You are allowed two late assignments they will each be minus 10%
for being late, plus anything else that you get wrong. After that assignments
automatically get no more than half credit. So your next hint for success:
come to all of the classes. Keep your homework until the end of the semester,
just in case. Sometimes things go screwy with grading, or something is not
recorded correctly. By keeping your graded assignment, you can show me the
correct grade and I will fix anything that is incorrect. After the final, you
can keep the assignments, throw them away, whatever, but during the class this (or
any class) keep all of your assignments at least until after you have received
your final grade for the course. Help each other, but don't copy. Here's what I
mean - I encourage you to collaborate and even form study groups. Collaboration in
academia is normal and expected. In fact, collaboration is encouraged. Think about
that word "collaboration". It is to co-labor, to labor together. Collaboration is
working together, with the emphasis on "working". Collaboration is vital to
science. I love to collaborate with colleagues it allows me to work with
some wonderful, smart people, to learn from them
help them, to let them help me, and together we become better friends and
colleagues, and collaboration is vital to science for this reason. We know what
we're doing. When you know statistics, people want to collaborate with you. You
bring something valuable to the collaborative relationship. But what does
it mean for you the aspiring scientist, for you the becoming competent
statistical analyst, it means that you don't know what you're doing - yet. You are
becoming the kind of person that others want to collaborate with because you
share what you know and what you learn with others. So let's talk about what
collaboration is. First I encourage you to form study groups. Meet with other
students, talk to each other about the assignments if you're struggling with
something, ask for advice. If you understand the assignment, offer
suggestions and explanations. There is no better way to learn than by teaching
someone else. It forces you to understand the material. It is okay to check final
answers. If you have the same answer as everyone else you probably did it right.
If one of you has a different answer than everyone else, it's probably wrong.
If everybody has different answers then go back and figure out what happened. You
will learn from mistakes. It is also okay to get a tutor.
Lots of graduate students are happy to help you one-on-one with statistics.
Usually there is a fee, but that is why graduate students are happy to help. Find
someone that you like and trust. It can be money well spent.
Finally, it's okay to ask your instructor. I would be happy to help you for free. Now
on the other hand, I expect you to come to me with actual questions, don't just
hand me a blank homework page and say "I don't know what to do". I expect you to
give it a try with the information that you have. Show me what you have tried and
where you got stuck, and I will help you get unstuck.
Now let's talk about what collaboration is not. Certainly it is not
having someone else do your homework assignment for you.
That is not collaboration, that is cheating. Also it is not collaboration to
split up the assignment, where one person does one through five and the other
person does six through ten. If you do not understand the material, it is not
okay to simply take answers from someone who did the assignment. It is also not
collaboration to just give away answers. It is great to collaborate with your
student colleagues, but you are under no obligation to help other students who
are not willing to do their own work at learning. So here is what I suggest for
successful collaboration, first, do as much as you can on your own then meet
with your group. If you need help, ask. If you can offer help it will reinforce
your own learning, and of course all of this assumes that you started the
homework soon after class, not waiting until the last minute or just before the
next class begins. When you collaborate well, you understand what you did, and are
able to explain it to someone else. If you could not show someone else how to
do it once you finish, you are not collaborating. Follow these steps, and you
should have a successful collaboration with your colleagues and you will learn
statistics well. Of course, this is just an overview of the class, and you may
have more specific questions. You may want to know when are the assignments
due? When the tests will be? What is the topic for each week? What's on the final?
Or what book chapters you should read to be prepared? All good questions. Where can
you find those answers? What if I told you that the information you seek is in
the syllabus? The syllabus and the schedule containing answers to specific
details of this course have been posted for you to read - but here is
the final hint for finding the answers that you seek: number one - read the
syllabus. Okay that's it. Follow these ideas and you are going to learn
everything that you can in statistics class. Good luck, and I'll see you in
class!