CEDU 549 - Week 4

In stats this week we learned more about correlations and had some guided practice on reading correlation tables. Being a visual learner, and typically finding the reading of graphs and charts a strength of mine, my initial struggle with interpreting the tables was frustrating. After some review of the tables this week I became much more confident - it seems so easy now! We also were introduced to the Pearson and Spearman correlation formulas in class and discovered the Pearson formula is available on Excel...nice!

CEDU 549 - Stats 3

1. I sucked at the benchmark last week due to simple errors - subtracting by hand incorrectly and repeating the same formula for the mean as what was used in the prior column. Argh! I could hear the words I use with my students repeating over and over in my mind, "Always double-check your work. Always look at the big picture - does your answer MAKE SENSE considering the numbers given?" A humbling night...and one in which I have been reminded to be especially empathetic with my students who make similar mistakes.

2. As a special education teacher, learning more about standard deviation has been very helpful because I can better explain test scores of formal assessments that I use for re-evaluations to my students and their parents. Good stuff....especially since I have two Re-eval IEPS this week.

3. That's it. On the verge of burning out right now. What else do I say to my students? "Every situation that gets you out of your comfort zone and challenges you is an opportunity for you to grow as a person. Growth is good." Arghhh....must I really embrace my own advice? :)

CEDU 549 - Stats 2

Things to Remember:

* Two ways to figure out an average (mean) in Excel: =(B1+B2+B3)/3 or =average(B1:B3)

* A population consists of all members of some specified group. A parameter is a measure of a characteristic of an entire population.

* A sample is a subset of a population. It has the same characteristics as the population. A statistic is a measure of a characteristic of a sample.

* Scales of Measurement: Nominal (ex. social security#), Ordinal (in order - rank), Interval (IQ Scores), Ratio (ex. height and weight)

* Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, Mode

* Measure of Variability: Range, Standard Deviation

* Negatively Skewed: tail points to the left, median is to the right of the mean, there are more higher scores

* Positively Skewed: tail points to the right, median is to the left of the mean, there are more lower scores

CEDU 549 - Stats 1

There was something comforting about stats class last week. Believe me, I am no math whiz...but it was nice for this old lady to not have any new technology thrusted upon her to stumble through - a pen in my hand and paper in front of me.....nice.