In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Jim Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Hi
>On Sat, 25 Dec 1999, Jerry Dallal wrote:
>> Herman Rubin ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
>> : What is the purpose of homework? It should be to help learning,
>> : and this cannot be combined with being used for a grade. Those
>> : problems which do not contribute to learning are a waste of time.
>Herman's assertion just seems too strong to me. What is it that
>makes it impossible for a task to contribute to both grades and
>learning? Does this mean that studying for a test never produces
>learning?
There is a difference. Nobody grades the studying.
However, it is also true that studying for a test often does
not produce learning; memorization is the least important
part of learning. Doing weak problems to improve technique
does little, if anything, to produce learning, and can even
detract from it. Doing a problem which one knows how to do
never produces learning, but it does contribute heavily to
a grade; students should spend no time on such problems.
....................
>In teaching honours statistics to psychology students,
Why should there be honors (or any other kind) of statistics
courses for psychology students? Mathematics and statistics
are universal; a decent statistics course, at a given level
of mathematical knowledge and ability, does not depend on the
major of the student.
One can have courses on the application of statistics to
psychology, but these should not teach statistics. One reason
for this is Rubin's fifth commandment, for people who are both
clients and consultants. The implications of this are that
the assumptions to be made should come solely from the subject
field, and not from statistical convenience. Much of current
statistical practice violates this, including converting data
to normality.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
