Stats Notebook/Journal

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Each student should keep a notebook/journal for the course. As it implies, the notebook/journal has a dual role.

  • The notebook is a place to take notes as you complete the online course content (recommended for content that is new as a way to help you remember it).
  • The journal is a place for writing about interesting uses of statistics and any questions, ideas (e.g., for a stats project), or opinions. You will use the journal to write about uses of statistics for discussion at in-person sessions.

How you keep your notebook/journal is up to you. It can be

  • all paper-based (e.g., a notebook for course notes and musings inside a binder for collecting printed materials)
  • all electronic (e.g., a blog or one or more Google docs or wiki pages)
  • a combination of paper and electronic

What you put in your journal will vary somewhat from person to person; it's a good idea to include the following:

  1. Date each entry.
  2. Cite information that is not your own (e.g., if you summarized someone's review of a particular graph or ideas about a statistical process). It can be simple (a web link) or more elaborate, your choice.

The teacher will review student journals periodically. The journal offers a way for you to demonstrate, document, and enhance your interest and learning about statistics and related areas such as visual presentation of data, use of statistics in the media, history of statistics, application of statistics in particular fields, etc.