2nd week post

As we finish our 2nd week of instruction today (T 9/8), I want to emphasize how important it is to NOT just rely on the textbook and classwork. In particular, the Blitzstein lectures are quite good if a bit challenging. In particular, the numbering I have in Days 1-9 are a bit behind. You should have actually watched the video I have labeled as Blitzstein 5 as part of your preparation for today’s class. I should mention that Blitzstein 4 is quite difficult and you will NOT be able to follow it the first time you see it. However, it is worth seeing several times and I recommend that you pause it frequently and verify all the calculations (he doesn’t actually SHOW the calculations, just the answers). By the way in class, I have emphasized tree diagrams and in Blitzstein 5, he introduces them during his Monty Hall presentation, perhaps validating my use of them. However, the best approach is perhaps to use both the formulas AND the tree, especially when you are using the concepts.

A second item is to note that the math department now has posted its own tutoring (as opposed to what is available in the tutoring centers). Unfortunately, the sessions are in midway, but I encourage you to make the special effort to go there. These are run by nearly-graduated students in the applied math and  math ed programs and many have 2 or 3 statistics classes BEYOND the one you are taking and may know 10 times more advanced statistics than I do (although I have TAUGHT the introductory topics over and over, and so know them probably better than they do).

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