1142 Educational Statistics (I)
This
course seeks to introduce the language, logic and methods of statistics.
Although this course will focus on understanding the role of statistics in
educational settings, its importance and application in everyday life will also
be emphasized in class discussions. Specifically, this course will begin with a
discussion of descriptive statistics, including mean, median, standard
deviation, and graphs. Then, we will move toward ways to explain the
relationship between sets of data, such as correlations. The remainder of the
course will introduce concepts of probability and how these concepts allow us
to make statistical decisions (e.g., to determine whether variations among
individuals are due to “real differences” or “chance occurrences”). The logic
of these concepts is extremely important in that it forms the basis of
inferential statistics. In this course, we will learn the fundamental
assumptions, logic, and math of statistics by hand calculation (of course using
calculators). By doing so, you will be able to more accurately choose which
data and statistical model to use in educational research, and more
appropriately utilize statistical software for data analysis in the future. By
the end of this course, you will be familiar with different forms of
statistical distribution. These statistical tests are crucial for the
understanding of more sophistical statistical procedures you are likely to
encounter in advanced courses and future studies.