After a four week break from the Master's Education in Instructional Technology (MEIT) program I am well-rested and living in my new digs near
Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. Thankfully the bandwidth is wide and relatively free from interruptions in service. As I knock on wood following that last statement, I reflect on the first week of our latest course
CEDO 540 Decision Making Using Data Collection & Analysis.
In a nutshell we are starting-off by looking at fundamentals of statistics. Over the past years I have been more of a statistics consumer than a creator. Sure, I majored in Economics and have done a lot of work with graphs - but it has been a long time since I contemplated the nitty gritty details of statistics. "Populations", "samples", "parameters", and now I am knuckling down with variance, standard deviation and z-scores.
I must confess to a bit of apprehension but I am taking it slow and steady as I noodle my way towards a solid re-grasp of the fundamentals. In a future assignment I will be taking data from a site and using it for analysis. It may seem strange but I am actually looking forward to collecting data and conducting analysis. Today we are surrounded by statistics regarding the economy, weather and politics and I think this course will help me become an even better consumer of the numbers.
Brian, I can completely relate to the feeling of dusting off memories of what Statistics is all about. I think that each time I have had to revisit the subject, I have learned a bit more and actually understood and applied a bit more. K-12 students aren't the only ones who benefit from a spiraling curriculum. I liked Kris' suggestion to remember that Population goes with Parameter because they both start with P. Gathering our own statistics will be an adventure.
ReplyDeleteBrian,
ReplyDeleteI am also looking forward to gathering our own data to formulate our own statistics. I think it's going to be really interesting. What do you think you will collect data on? I think I'm going to do a technology-related survey or data collection using my students. Any ideas?
Brian,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that I have only been a consumer of statistics and not much of a producer of them. I am looking forward to creating some statistics and analyzing them so I can use it to help students.
It's true - if you don't use the knowledge frequently, you lose it. Buffing up on these skills will help as I am part of a data committee this year tasked with interpreting out standardized test scores. Talk about perfect timing.
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