Feedback from the students on Stat 4710/7710

What other students said about me and the course...

Here are some quotes from various assessment and feedbacks forms filled in by the students who took the class before. What I learn from those evaluations is that students are all different, and all have their own ways to learn. There are features of my class that some students like a lot, and other students just hate. I am trying to provide the middle ground that would be a reasonable trade-off between the (really voluminous) amount of material we need to learn in this class, the pace at which the fractions of people lost on one hand and bored on the other are about the same, and various forms of educational activities so that the class is not just the lecture/homework ping pong game.

I am presenting both positive and negative comments here. Please try to incorporate both into your expectation of the class, and I will try to address the shortcomings that the earlier cohorts have been identifying!

Winter 2007: Stas taught the course for the first time, and made it reasonably boring, if not for the occasional small group activities.

Great enthusiasm and desire to see students learn and understand material. Very down to earth and willing to help.
Stas is very demanding, but very understanding
He doesn't talk about things right at the point. So quite often we don't know what I need to learn from his class.
Stas is very enthusiastic & the class usually starts on a fun note.
I get bogged down in all the proofs that aren't important as far as grades go.
[I liked] requiring student participation and quick response to emails seeking help.
I felt he was very fair and understanding about the difficulty of the subject.
Stas knew when we were understanding and when we weren't and gave more examples to suit our needs.
Lectures are quite boring. Teaching effectiveness is pretty bad. I learned most material by staring at the book. I learned very little in lecture (even though I went to almost all the lectures).
Many times I am barely able to keep up with writing stuff down from the board, much less understand in class.
Stas goes a little too in depth about certain topics, and with his accent, it gets confusing.
Pretty good use of homeworks and quizzes to reinforce concepts, solving similar problems from the book in lecture is helpful and deriving equations is boring and useless.
I enjoy the course and subject matter. Stas is a good teacher and I like the examples he uses. The course moves a little quick, but there is a lot of material so I see how that is necessary.

Fall 2007: Stas revamped the class: students were required to write term papers (in teams of about four), and statistical software was featuring more prominently in class and in homework problems. Most importantly, the new grading system with specific A/B/C requirements was introduced with the parallel set of rubrics.

[What I like about Stas is] his ability to update the class on what to expect in following weeks. Also, I like the way he always gives us hints on how to study for quizzes and tests.
[What I hate about Stas is that] for some reason I usually end up being called to the board on the days I've had the least sleep and can't focus. (not a real complaint) =)
Since this was such a drastic departure from anything I've ever had for a grading system, adjustment was tough. It took me until about half-way through the semester to feel comfortable with the amount/type of studying that yielded a certain grade level.
The rubrics are great, again they help us narrow down our studying material so we only get the "good" stuff.
Tests are good because we only have to complete some problems. It's a lot easier when there are extra problems and you can chose which ones you do.
Great use of blackboard. The constant updates are very helpful, continue to use them!
I liked going through examples as a class when we worked out of small groups.
I was very happy to see things I had suggested being used (i.e not writing on side board, doing examples, not prewriting)
I liked the tests and the way that they are graded. The A/B/C grading format was extremely helpful.
His lecturing style was hard to follow, I found myself tuning out on a regular basis.
This was one of the worst classes I have ever taken. I have told all students who ask to not take this class with Stas.
Stas is a funny guy.
Use of power point, many board examples, clear, ordered instruction, complete answers, prompt grading, solved homework, quizzes on blackboard
Stas is very enthusiastic; he is interested in the students and always says good morning.
I could tell he really enjoys teaching.

Winter 2008: this class had no term papers, more flexible treatment of the software component... and for some reason, a very strong group of students.

I liked the grading system on the tests. Quizzes were helpful to stay on track.
Interactive examples and examples with food were fun.
Teacher was enthusiastic and flexible. Good amount of practical knowledge.
I liked how Stas brought the students into the problems and had us participate in class.
Slightly more class time review for the tests would be nice.
None of the teaching of content of this course was good. Hire a better professor to teach this course.
Used technology every day.
Stas is a nice teacher and I like that he was always flexible about assignments and quizzes. He always cared about if students were learning and help was easily available.
Much of class time was spent on concepts we didn't need to know for tests and homework, so it felt like I learned everything on my own. Maybe try to stick closer to the important material next time.
The course moved very fast.
Get a new text- current text was really a setback to me for this otherwise good course with a good instructor.
The proofs are easier to follow in lectures than in the book.
I liked making my own quizzes. I think they are helpful in studying because you cannot write a good quiz without a good understanding of the material.
I liked seeing a lot of examples using R software.
The class is really informal and depends on question asked on opposed to a straight lecture.
Stas attempts to make statistics as relevant to Engineering as it possibly can be. He grades pretty fairly too even though it is a new grading system to most people. Might be tough to get a solid A.

A good teacher is the one who provides an all-around educational experience, so I appreciated this comment very much:

I wanted to let you know outside of class and school, that your triathlon story last semester inspired me to train for one. I plan on running a sprint triathlon once I get back [from a study abroad program]. Thanks for a great semester and good luck this year!

... and what they would like to suggest to the new cohort...

A lot of students have taken this class, and this is the wisdom they are sharing about how to get most of this class:

If a student asks a question for homework, they obviously don't know the answer, so I think this would be the best opportunity for another student to explain it at the board because it doesn't discourage questions if the asking student is shy, promotes doing the homework early, and allows for good opportunity to get participation points.
I learn best when I have read the book and am paying attention.
Take the beginning of the semester as serious as you plan to take the end!
Prepare. Sleep. Go to class. Review. 99% of my problems have come from missing class. 99% of (my) missing class has come from lack of sleep due to studying for other classes. Time management is great stuff.
The book is the best way to learn the material. However, when studying for the exams, students should review the blackboard material. Also, improve their reading skills because the exam, you have to read long paragraph questions and you waste a lot of time if you can't solve them.
Drop it.
Don't drop the class because you think it is too hard. The class is not as hard as Stas makes it out to be in the first couple of weeks.
(I like those two -- they came out exactly like that, one after another -- Stas)
Do the homework. Go to the board. Ask questions during class. Go to the review sessions. Prepare good formula sheets. Talk to Stas. Read the blue boxes.
If I have done the reading it is big help. If not, it still helps when I go back and read the book I can reference my notes and it all comes together.
Stay on top of material, don't get too far behind. The tests cover lots of information.
Study his past exams. Visit him if you have any questions.
Buy a TI 89 Titanium if you don't have one. It reduces computations a lot.
Spend lots of time on the homework. Stas chooses problems that are really helpful to do.
Come to class regardless of what else is happening.
Doing the homework will make or break your grade
(that's true -- I had some students who had straight A's through the tests but dismal D's in the homeworks, so they ended up with B's in the end -- Stas)
Focus more on what is discussed in class than the book, because class discussions are very similar to the tests and quizzes.
Reading book before coming to class since that will help you have an idea to do examples in class
Stas is harder than other professors so if they want the challenge then take Stas' section. Otherwise see if you can switch.
Don't freak out, the class appears to be very difficult early on but Stas makes it manageable.

... and the MOST Frequently Asked Question

CAN YOU JUST GIVE US ALL A'S?

I'll answer that in class.

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