Learning Statistics

1. Learning Statistics Your goals and beliefs about learning statistics are directly related to your grade in STT 215. 1

2. Learning Statistics • Your goals and beliefs about learning statistics are directly related to your grade in STT 215. • Change your focus from thinking that only those who have the ability to do statistics will be successful, to a focus on thinking that successful students put in more effort than unsuccessful ones. Making this simple change in your beliefs about this course will increase your engagement in the statistical material and your understanding of the concepts will grow, which will ultimately improve your grade. 2

3. Learning Statistics • Your goals and beliefs about learning statistics are directly related to your grade in STT 215: • Change your focus from thinking that only those who have the ability to do statistics will be successful, to a focus on thinking that successful students put in more effort than unsuccessful ones. Making this simple change in your beliefs about this course will increase your engagement in the statistical material and your understanding of the concepts will grow, which will ultimately improve your grade. • It's all about being able to solve problems, and the amount of effort spent in doing the preliminary work to problem solving is important and often underestimated by students in a beginning statistics class. 3

4. Learning Statistics • In one semester, to learn elementary statistics you must simultaneously: 4

5. Learning Statistics • In one semester, to learn elementary statistics you must simultaneously: • develop an understanding of the most important concepts in basic statistics; 5

6. Learning Statistics • In one semester, to learn elementary statistics you must simultaneously: • develop an understanding of the most important concepts in basic statistics; • acquire a certain amount of fluency with some simple computations (though technology will do most of this for you); 6

7. Learning Statistics • In one semester, to learn elementary statistics you must simultaneously: • develop an understanding of the most important concepts in basic statistics; • acquire a certain amount of fluency with some simple computations (though technology will do most of this for you); • learn a certain number of facts including some statistical terminology which almost certainly is new to most of you; 7

8. Learning Statistics • In one semester, to learn elementary statistics you must simultaneously: • develop an understanding of the most important concepts in basic statistics; • acquire a certain amount of fluency with some simple computations (though technology will do most of this for you); • learn a certain number of facts including some statistical terminology which almost certainly is new to most of you; • put all the above together to solve problems and learn some general problem solving skills in various statistical situations. 8

9. Learning Statistics • In one semester, to learn elementary statistics you must simultaneously: • develop an understanding of the most important concepts in basic statistics; • acquire a certain amount of fluency with some simple computations (though technology will do most of this for you); • learn a certain number of facts including statistical terminology which almost certainly is new to you; • put all the above together to solve problems and learn some general problem solving skills in various statistical situations. • This seems like a lot, but I have seen hundreds of students be successful in putting all these things together in STT 215. 9

10. Learning Statistics • Things that can help you do the 4 things on the previous slides: 10

11. Learning Statistics • Things that can help you do the 4 things on the previous slides: • Come to class - something new will happen each day. 11

12. Learning Statistics • Things that can help you do the 4 things on the previous slides: • Come to class - something new will happen each day. • Ask questions: in class, to other classmates, to me during office hours, to tutors in the Math Lab, … 12

13. Learning Statistics • Things that can help you do the 4 things on the previous slides: • Come to class - something new will happen each day. • Ask questions: in class, to other classmates, to me during office hours, to tutors in the Math Lab, … • Read the sections of the book and work on the problems as they are assigned - don't get too far behind. 13

14. Learning Statistics • Things that can help you do the 4 things on the previous slides: • Come to class - something new will happen each day. • Ask questions: in class, to other classmates, to me during office hours, to tutors in the Math Lab, … • Read the sections of the book and work on the problems as they are assigned - don't get too far behind. • Practice solving problems, lots of them! 14

15. Learning Statistics • Things that can help you do the 4 things on the previous slides: • Come to class - something new will happen each day. • Ask questions: in class, to other classmates, to me during office hours, to tutors in the Math Lab, … • Read the sections of the book and work on the problems as they are assigned - don't get too far behind. • Practice solving problems, lots of them! • Learn the main concepts well so they can be applied in new problem solving situations. 15

16. Learning Statistics • Things that can help you do the 4 things on the previous slides: • Come to class - something new will happen each day. • Ask questions: in class, to other classmates, to me during office hours, to tutors in the Math Lab, … • Read the sections of the book and work on the problems as they are assigned - don't get too far behind. • Practice solving problems, lots of them! • Learn the main concepts well so they can be applied in new problem solving situations. • My job is to help you learn these important ideas in statistics. I help through the notes I've written and my lectures, in the answers I give to your questions, the problem solving modeling that I do in class, … 16