Barbara-
I agree with you completely. I insist that students learn to hand
calculate all of the basic statistics (up to t) before going on to
SPSS. I want them to have a real understanding of what the computer is
doing before it spits out those tables. An additional benefit is the
respect students have for high speed computing. After they have hand done
a couple of Pearson correlations they are in awe when they see how quickly
SPSS can compute a 50 X 50 correlation matrix. The one thing that I don't
stress, however, is rote memorization of the formulae. I provide a sheet
containing the ones they'll need (plus some that they won't). Their task
is to choose the correct one and calculate the correct answer. I find that
this approach has two advantages: 1. It reduces anxiety in
math-phobes. 2. It saves the student the trouble of writing the formula on
cuffs, hems, ball caps etc.
All best,
-Don.
On Fri, 22 Dec 2000, Barbara Watters wrote:
>
> Oh goodness...you really touched a nerve with that one! In a former
> position, I had the pleasure of teaching statistics--and I mean that; I
> love teaching that course. But I also had the burden of convincing
> students that to understand statistics fully, one must compute the
> statistics "by hand," at least early on in the course.
>
> For example, I assigned frequent problem sets for homework, which we graded
> in class and discussed both the solutions and the errors. But I always
> insisted that students showed all of their work, rather than just using a
> calculator to obtain the answers and then simply recording those answers on
> their papers. I gave only partial credit to students who showed final
> answers but not the intervening steps. The common reaction was, "how dare
> you give us such _busy work_!"
>
> I firmly believe that asking students to show their steps in the
> computation of descriptive stats, correlations, and t-tests is _not_ too
> much to ask. Later on, when we begin the more difficult statistics, I find
> that students are much more likely to be able to comprehend them, and more
> importantly, communicate verbally and effectively about their meanings. I
> teach students how to use SPSS later in the course; reading and
> interpreting the printouts is a challenge for many students.
>
> I am very interested in other TIPSters views on this. "How dare I ask
> students to show their work on math problems!" Indeed...
>
> Barbara Watters
> Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
>
> At 08:20 AM 12/22/2000 -0500, Beth Benoit wrote:
> >For the first time that I can recall, I had quite a few students who were
> >unable to fully answer this question:
> >
> >"Using Terman's formula, what would be the IQ for a child who is seven years
> >old, but is able to answer only those questions we would expect a
> >six-year-old to answer?"
> >
> >Answer: "I don't have a calculator, but I know it would be 7/6 X 100."
> >
> >We are raising a generation of college students who can't divide 7 into 6
> >without a calculator? I've long become accustomed to handing a sales clerk
> >$1 for a 99� item, and watching as he/she looks at the cash register display
> >a second time to be sure that the appropriate change should be 1�, but in
> >college??
> >
> >God help us.
> >
> >Beth Benoit
> >University of Massachusetts Lowell
>
>
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Don Allen email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dept. of Psychology voice: (604)-323-5871
Langara College fax: (604)-323-5555
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Vancouver, B.C.
Canada, V5Y 2Z6
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