Stat 185 Transition Plans

after Hurricane Helene

As we all know, things have changed tremendously in Asheville since Hurricane Helene. Nonetheless, we are forging ahead striving to learn our subject matter as best we can. As we do so, we've got to account for the facts that

• Many folks have a changed living situation. Some may not have access to a disruption-free work environment. Some may not be able to make it to campus or (like me) may not be anywhere near Asheville.
• Some folks have a different employment situation. Some might have new familial responsibilities.
• Some might not have reliable internet access.

To account for all of this, UNCA faculty have been asked to shift to an online learning environment that allows the possibility of asynchronous access. Of course, we're hoping to do this within a compressed timeframe and without sacrificing our Student Learning Objectives.

As difficult as that sounds, I'm optimistic that can largely accomplish those goals.

The plan moving forward

Student Learning Objectives

First, let's make sure we understand our student learning objectives. They are essentially the bullet points under the Course Purpose section on our syllabus:

• Learn the qualitative language of data
• Learn how to analyze data quantitatively
• Learn how to make inferences from the data
• Deal with large, real world data in all it's messiness

We've actually made good progress on all of these already. We've effectively completed the first two bullet points.

Modality

We have four full weeks between now and Thanksgiving break. Generally, those weeks will consist of

• One zoom meeting during regular class time to go over the lecture notes. Students are encouraged but not required to attend. Meetings will be recorded and posted so that folks can view them later.
• One zoom office hour 8:30-10:00 for folks to ask HW questions.
• Possibly, an online quiz - which will essentially be a timed homework.

Four week outline

• Week 1: Comparing data sets
  • Mon, Oct 28 Zoom meeting to check in and outline class plans
  • Wed, Oct 30 Zoom meeting to go over presentation
  • Fri, Nov 1 Zoom office hour 8:30-10:00
• Week 2: Electoral polls
  • Mon, Nov 4 Zoom meeting to go over presentation
  • Wed, Nov 6 Zoom office hour 8:30-10:00
  • Fri, Nov 8 Online quiz
• Week 3: Small data sets
  • Mon, Nov 11 Zoom meeting to go over presentation
  • Wed, Nov 13 Zoom office hour 8:30-10:00
  • Fri, Nov 15 No class
• Week 4: Linear models
  • Mon, Nov 18 Zoom meeting to go over presentation
  • Wed, Nov 20 Zoom office hour 8:30-10:00
  • Fri, Nov 22 Online quiz

After the break

I plan to have one more computer lab after Thanksgiving break. How that works exactly depends on how connected we all are by that point in time.

Assessment

Your grade for the remainder of the semester will be based on the four online HWs, the two online Quizzes, and computer lab. I'll average your grade for this post hurricane section with your grade prior.