MATH 301 – Applied Statistics

MATH 301 is the class I took to satisfy the Quantitative or Scientific Perspectives aspect of the Civitae Core Curriculum. This course was taught by Dr. Sharon Emerson-Stonnell. In this course, we took the skills we learned in MATH 171, expanded them with new tests and applications, and really focused on real-world application of statistics. The class was separated into three sections, one where we worked on our calculators with quantitative data, one where we moved onto computers and used the program SPSS from IBM to perform much more advanced statistical analyses, and one where we moved back to our calculators and analyzed categorical data. Outside of class, we were assigned daily practice problems, where we would only submit one or two of them to receive homework credit. I like this format of homework because if I feel like a have a strong handle on a concept, I am not required to do as much practice. On the other hand, if I feel that I am weak on a concept, I always have more problems to practice with. Similarly to MATH 171, Dr. Emerson-Stonnell did an amazing job ensuring that we were prepared for all of the tests in the class. Even after we moved to an online format, Dr. Emerson-Stonnell always asked us to email her questions and she would post a lecture video to Canvas to address all of the questions that were submitted. Much of the content covered in the first and the third sections of the class had been introduced in MATH 171, but there were also quite a few new tests taught. For example, in the first section of the class, we covered linear regressions and in the third section of the class, we covered chi-squared tests, neither of which were introduced in MATH 171. However, without prior knowledge from MATH 171, it would be impossible to perform these new tests. For example, it would be near impossible to run chi-squared goodness of fit tests f you did not understand how to run a basic test on categorical data. I feel that this is a common theme between math courses, as earlier concepts tend to lead up to new, more advanced techniques. On the other hand, the second section of the class was almost completely new. While the idea of ANOVAs was mentioned briefly at the end of MATH 171, I had no idea how to run the test.

Because of this class, I have a new perspective on asynchronous learning. After having to leave campus due to COVID-19, this class moved to an asynchronous format. When I had first heard this, I was quite worried. I feared that having all day to watch a lecture was going to promote procrastination, something that I tried to avoid this year. However, I found that it was quite easy to stay on task if I continued to work on the same schedule that I had while I was on campus. I would always log into Canvas and watch the lectures at 11am. By doing this, I forced myself to remain focused on the task at hand and never really felt the need to procrastinate. In addition, I appreciated how Dr. Emerson-Stonnell kept us all accountable by having very short participation quizzes to go along with the lectures. All of our lecture videos were separated into two parts, with a short participation quiz in the middle to ensure that we all watched and understood the first half of the lecture. I feel like this was very beneficial to me because, again, it helped me remain on task and helped me fight the urge to procrastinate.

Linked above is the first individual paper that I wrote for MATH 301. Over the course of the semester, we wrote four papers, two that were group papers and two that were individual papers. These papers were great ways to apply the concepts that we learned in class to practical, real-world problems. In the paper linked above, I used a multiple linear regression test to see if there was a correlation between a student’s final grade in MATH 301 and a variety of other factors. I enjoyed writing these papers because they presented me with the opportunity to use statistical analysis to find a solution to a question that would directly affect me. For this paper, in particular, I found myself becoming more invested in it the further along I got. I feel that this is because I wanted to see if there was any way to correlate the results of my test with what I was doing in the class. I feel that this assignment helped me become aware of things that I could do to help improve my performance, not only in this class, but in all of the classes that I have taken or will take during my time at Longwood University.