List of video lessons and (nearly) complete transcriptions from each lesson!
EDUCATION 705 Grading
Students taking any statistics course invariably ask the question “How do I earn my grade?”. The grading process for my Education 705 course is very simple and transparent. Students who successfully complete each of the 7 statistical computation assignments discussed in the videos and accessible from Dr.Cook’s website will earn a total of up to 10 points for each. Incomplete or inaccurate computations in any assignment will result in less than 10 points earned. Students may, of course, resubmit revisions of all work completed for assignments (1-7) if less than 10 points were earned for each assignment up until the submission deadline. Assignments 8 & 9 may not be resubmitted and feedback will be given to students online.
The final deadline is noon on
Tuesday, May 8th, 2012. It is a firm and
complete deadline and work received after that moment will not be counted at
all.
The first seven assignments use the same set of 12 numbers that you collect. Collect 12 numbers in the same way from the same source, one a day for 12 days or 12 hours. Use whatever sort of number you like: daily temperatures, stock prices, body weight, etc. but all 12 must be real data, collected in the same way. Record the date or time and that score. The point is to have 12 numbers that have a time order of when they were collected.
(Clicking on the Excel options shown below will cause a download that can be saved on your own hard disk or other storage device for use. See the Note below if you have trouble.)
Assignment 1 / Z scores
Note: If you are prompted for a password, click "cancel". Then, do a right click on the link you want and choose "Save Target As...". Save the file with a name like "MyNameStat1.xls" Look where you are saving it. My Documents would be a good place. Then open Excel and open MyNameStat1 in Excel. Do your work and re-save, not with Save As, just Save. Or, hit the appropriate icon to save your figures to your storage device (ie: flashdrive, floppy, CD, etc.) Then, email the file to me as an attachment.
There are explanatory comments that pop up in any cell with a small red triangle in the upper right cell corner.
Assignment 2-4 / Two Graphs: Size and Time
When you download this Excel file, you can use the "Name Box" immediately above the worksheet columns at the top, in the upper left corner. Click on the word "assignments" and a list of the results of the Assignments 2-4 will appear. Selecting a name in the box will zoom you to that part of the worksheet.
Because Excel is so powerful, it seems better to insert the necessary commands into the #2-4 file above for the graphs of the distribution and the data over time. Sending me the #2-4 file completes Assignments 2 to 4. But, you can use the time saved to explore the file to see where all the results are. You can also learn to make Excel calculate for you. The downloads listed below for Assignments 5, 6 and 7 will not do any of the work for you. You can either make Excel do that work or do it with a calculator. Learning to make Excel do the work is the better choice, since that will provide you with a tool considerably more powerful than a calculator. Click here for some tips on making Excel work for you.
(Information only) Probability Statements - Simple statements of probability include "The probability of rain today is 60%." For a little exercise in constructing such statements regarding drawing a score from your set of scores, we have Assignment 3. You do not need to send this to me in the Excel section of the class since both #3 and #4 are covered in Excel download 2 above. This is included here for information only. Note that the third question is helpful in Assignment 5 below.
Assignment 5 / 2x2 Contingency Table Using Chi-Squared
Assignment 5 requires you to sort your 12 scores into 4 groups. The work is based on the number of scores in each of the four groups. Click here for help if you are perplexed by Assignment #5.
Assignment 6 / Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
Use the Assignment 1 data in the same order of occurrence used in that assignment for this one. (Note: Excel '97 and more recent versions include an "add-in" called "Data analysis." You can add it by selecting "Add-ins..." under Tools and choosing "Data Analysis." Once added in, the last choice on the Tools menu will be Data Analysis. Data Analysis includes many statistical operations, including one-way ANOVA [Excel labels this "single factor anova"], correlation and regression plus many other techniques.. Excel's Data Analysis can do Assignments 6 and 7 and much else besides.)
This statistical technique compares the variation within 2 or more groups with the variation between them to evaluate the statistical significance of any differences between the group means. Click here for a Statistics Table for finding the critical F that your data must surpass to be statistically significant.
Assignment 7 / Correlation and Regression
Correlation is a statistical procedure to evaluate the fit of a well-chosen straight line to the points on a scattergram type of chart. The points each show the values of 2 variables for one individual. Regression is the further step of calculating the equation of the best straight line and the evaluation of the errors of prediction made by assuming a linear relation between the two variables being studied.
Assignment 8 / Statistics Application
For assignment 8 students are required to identify appropriate research journals from their field of study. Students must choose two QUANTITATIVELY conducted studies, or at least quasi-experimental in nature, to report on. Students will read the articles, identify the types of research methods used, describe no less than two statistical computations that were made in each study, discuss the use of statistics in the studies, and describe how they used their newfound knowledge of basic statistical methods to analyze and interpret the studies. The write up for each study must be between 2 and three pages in length with appropriate statistical language and formal APA or MLA narrative. You may choose two studies from the same journal or use different journals for each study. This is a pass/fail assignment. If you do the assignment you receive full credit if you do not you receive no points. This assignment is due at the beginning of the last week of class.
Assignment 9 / D2L Discussion Points
Assignment 9 D2L discussion participation
Students must participate in at least 10 online discussions of the statistics taught in the EDUC 705 course. Students viewing the video lessons that may accompany the course may discuss any of the statistical computations as well as the concepts that are addressed in each. This is a non-directed discussion assignment meaning Dr. Cook will not intervene to steer the flavor of comments or to provide discussion direction. This is not intended to serve as a Question and Answer forum between student and instructor however, students may discuss assignments, elicit advice or assist each other if desired. Grading for Assignment 9 will be straightforward. If a student makes a minimum of 10 meaningful entries to the discussion board throughout the course timeframe the student will earn a total of 10 points. Nine entries means nine points, etc..
Final Note
This course is designed to be an introduction to basic statistical methods in a variety of disciplines. I hope you find each assignment very meaningful and the concepts explored to be applicable to your life and career path.
Dr. Perry A. Cook