This page serves as the syllabus for PSU 16, Section 550: First-Year Seminar-Statistics/Data Science (ECoS) course in Fall 2024. Feel free to scroll through the page and/or use the navigation links I've provided. If you find something that doesn't work, please let me know so I can fix it.

Last Updated: 8/31/2024

Course Description

The officially this course is meant to facilitate student's adjustment to the high expectations, demanding workload, increased academic liberties, and other aspects of the transition to college life.

Return to top

Course Meeting Info

Our course meets once a week, in person, all semester with the exception of university holidays and closures. Each meeting is 50 minutes in length.

  • Location: Business 104
  • Time: Mondays, 2:30pm to 3:20pm (ET)

Changes of venue (as needs arise) will be announced via email as soon as possible.

Return to top

Instructor Contact Info

The instructor for this semester is Neil J. Hatfield. I use he/him/his pronouns and am readily reachable via Penn State email. You can also connect with me through Microsoft Teams and by phone--(814) 863-7664.

I also encourage students to come visit with me in person when possible. My office is Thomas 425A. I have an open door policy.

As the semester gets underway, I will announce when I have Student Hours scheduled for this course. Student Hours will be held either in Thomas 424/425 or Thomas 425A.

Return to top

Course Materials

Required Texts
You will not need to purchase any texts for this course. Any required readings will be posted in Canvas.
Technology
Students will need access to a computer, the internet, and some application for preparing documents (e.g., Microsoft Office, Markdown, LaTeX, etc.) Keep in mind that you can use any of the computer labs located around campus.

Return to top

Course Goals and Objectives

Course Goals

PSU 16 is a one-credit seminar/discussion course designed to introduce ECOS students to educational, diverse, and meaningful life experiences available at Penn State, as well as introduce students to expectations related to their major, provide guidance for personal and academic success, and prepare students for future professional opportunities.

Learning Objectives

ECoS Faculty have developed the following learning objectives for this course. These objectives apply to all members of our class community.

Class community members will...

  • Practice time management as part of their learning strategies, course planning and career planning. We will space out our work and turning in all of our assignments on time.
  • Examine the expectations of academic, and professional conduct and use these as the basis for our personal and professional development. We will produce a set of responsibilities and expectations that will guide our class interactions.
  • Achieve fluency in a variety of resources to help us with our academic growth and personal wellness.
  • Develop an awareness of and appreciation for campus diversity. We will use opportunities to reflect on how our perspectives, privileges, prejudices, and purposes of thought and actions impacts our interactions with others.
  • Establish a perspective for the professional and career development opportunities related to our programs of study. This perspective will be developed by engaging with faculty and reviewing information shared by professional societies.
  • Practice engagement and create an engagement plan that includes activities across the university at multiple levels (major, department, college, university) and with academic, social, and cultural perspectives and begin to enact the plan this semester.
  • Develop skills that will allow us to each become a self-directed learner. Our skills will be developed through practice, and we will seek feedback and reflect on our progress.

Return to top

Teacher and Student Responsibilities

All members of our class community have responsibilities.

Shared Responsibilities--Rules of Engagement

  1. Speak with Meaning: Everything that a person says should carry meaning to others. Each of us needs to do our best to avoid vague phrases and pronouns without clear antecedents (i.e., what the pronoun refers to). Explain and justify your reasoning, statements, arguments, etc.
  2. Exhibit Intellectual Integrity: Base your statements on what you understand and what you're still wrestling with. There is courage and power in admitting to where you are struggling. Avoid making statements that reflect what you believe are what someone else wants to hear. Each of us should feel empowered to express your confusion and/or struggles with the material. This will help make the class much more productive for everyone.
  3. Strive to Make Sense: There are underlying threads of coherence between various ideas we'll talk about throughout the course. As your instructor, I'll do my best to raise your awareness of these threads. However, I can't do your learning, thinking, or growing for you. Thus, you must take the lead in your education throughout the course. Each of you has a powerful support system you can make use of: your peers and your instructor. You may encounter ideas that run counter to what you understand--do not dismiss them out of hand; seek to understand the nature of those ideas.
  4. Respect the Learning Process of Others: Allow people the opportunity to think, reflect, and construct their understandings. When assisting your students or your peers, pose questions to help them construct meaning rather than show them how to get an answer.

Updated: Student Responsibilities

Here is what the Fall 2024 class came up with as student responsibilities.

  • Show up/attend class
  • Respect everyone
  • Take class seriously
  • Follow the Shared Responsibilities
  • Engage in the class
  • Converse (as appropriate) during class
  • Participate in discussions and activities
  • Show curiosity
  • Show willingness to learn
  • Be part of the class community

Updated: Teacher Responsibilities

Here are the teacher responsibilities that Fall 2024 class generated.

  • Create a welcoming environment
  • Lead discussions
  • Communicate
  • Respect others
  • Be flexible
  • Allow room for students to share their thoughts
  • Be patient
  • Be understanding

Attendance and Participation Policy

Attendance and participation are vitally important for our class community. Attending each class session is an important part of becoming a professional member of our community. However, attendance alone will not guarantee that each person will get the most they can out of the course. This is where your participation comes into play. I will do what I can to provide a variety of ways for people to participate.

Attendance

Attending class is an expectation that the University has of all students for all courses, regardless of modality (in-person, hybrid, or online). Further, attending class is vital to your learning. Therefore, you will need to attend each class session baring illness, participation in a Univeristy sanctioned event, religious observance/practice, or other legitimate circumstances (e.g., governmental elections). If you need to miss class, please let me know by sending me an email or message via Canvas.

Given the role that attending class plays in your learning, excessive abscences can jeopardize your final course grade. We only meet once a week so each abscence adds up quickly. Just three absences equates to missing 20% of the course.

Updated: Participation

Given that this course is primarily discussion based, your participation is absolutely necessary. Here is what the Fall 2024 class came up with as participating entails.

  • Attending class
  • Raising your hands
  • Engaging in small group discussions
  • Doing your part/share of the work in groups
  • Be attenative
  • Speak up, share your thoughts
  • Use active listening

Eberly College of Science Code of Mutual Respect and Cooperation

Within the Eberly College of Science we have a set of 12 principles meant to capture and convey the values we hope that all members of our community will choose to embody and make the college a rewarding community for all. Please take a moment to look through The Eberly College of Science Code of Mutual Respect and Cooperation.

Return to top

Assignments and Assessment

My Assessment Approach

I've designed this course to be centered around the class community members. While the bulk of the class will center around our weekly discussions, there will be some other assignments. While there is a final grade for the course, I want you to focus on your participation and reflections, not the accumulation of points.

Types of Assignments

For the most part, assignments in this course come in following types/flavors. All assignments are meant to help you get the most out of this course and to support everyone in havinga productive class session.

Readings
Each member of the class community will need to complete the assigned readings ahead of the scheduled class discussion. Readings will be posted in Canvas.
Discussions
Each member of the class community will need to contribute to our weekly class discussions. This can be done through a combination of sharing your throughts in small group settings and whole class discussions.
Wriiting Assignments
I will provide the class with a series of prompts to which you will need to respond. The prompts will be varied in nature. Some might ask you to share your beliefs and opinions about something, others might ask you to summarize a class discussion or an experience you had. Some prompts will ask you to be creative and express your thinking in new ways and some will require you to engage in self-reflection and introspection. Unless otherwise announced, you'll submit your writing via a Canvas assignment.
Activities and Projects
Throughout the semeseter there will be a number of activities and projects that I will ask you to each complete. Please make sure that you review the details of each activity or project.

Late Submissions

Generally speaking, late submissions can have a negative impact not only on yourself but the rest of our class community. Given the discussion-centered nature of this course, not completing reading assignments ahead of class will greatly harm our community. We want to be the best community members that we can be and support everyone.

This also means that we need to be able to show and give grace to each other. We must all acknowledge that sometimes unexpected things occur and can cause problems. To this end, we need to keep open lines of communication. Reach out to me and keep me informed of external pressures.

Updated: Examination Policy

The Fall 2024 class has voted to not have a Final Exam nor any tests.

Grading Policy

While there are different types of assignments, they are all equally important to your growth. Thus, there no category weights.

Final Course Grades
Course Letter Grade Hallmarks
A The student attended all of the classes, completed all assignments in satisfactory ways, and was an active participant throughout the course, providing meaningful contributions.
B The student attended all of the classes, completed most assignments in satisfactory ways, and was an active participant throughout the course.
C The student attended most classes, but rarely made meaningful contributions. While they submitted most assignments, their work was often borderline satisfactory.
D The student attended some classes and/or rarely participated. They completed a few assignments and/or their assignments were mostly at a surface (unsatisfactory) level.
F The student either 1) did not attend any of the classes, 2) attended a few classes and did not meaningfully participate, and/or 3) did not complete any course assignments.

Return to top

Tentative Course Calendar

Tentative Fall 2024 Schedule
Week Date Topic
1 Monday, August 26, 2024 Welcome
2 Monday, September 2, 2024 Labor Day--No Class
3 Monday, September 9, 2024 Meet the Department Pizza Party
Class will meet in Thomas 327
4 Monday, September 16, 2024 Strong Student, Part 1
5 Monday, September 23, 2024 Strong Student, Part 2
6 Monday, September 30, 2024 Strong Student, Part 3
7 Monday, October 7, 2024 Strong Student, Part 4
8 Monday, October 14, 2024 Mid-Semester Check-In
9 Monday, October 21, 2024 Majoring in Stats/Data Science
Guest: Andrea Brandimarte
10 Monday, October 28, 2024 OSE: Careers, Internships, Co-ops, and PD
Guest: Dustin Zettle
11 Monday, November 4, 2024 OSE Undergraduate Research
Guest: Dr. Tiffany Mathews
12 Monday, November 11, 2024 Guest Panel 1
13 Monday, November 18, 2024 Guest Panel 2
14 Monday, November 25, 2024 Thanksgiving Break--No Class
15 Monday, December 2, 2024 Ethics in Stats/Data Science and the Rise of AI
16 Monday, December 9, 2024 Flex
17 Monday, December 16, 2024 Finals Week

Please keep in mind that this calendar can and will change to better meet our needs.

Return to top

Inclusive Practices

As a class community, we need to be respectful and welcoming of all members. Inclusive practices start from day one and are important to me.

Land Acknowledgement

The Pennsylvania State University campuses are located on the original homelands of the Erie, Haudenosaunee (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora), Lenape (Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe, Stockbridge-Munsee), Monongahela, Shawnee (Absentee, Eastern, and Oklahoma), Susquehannock, and Wahzhazhe (Osage) Nations. As a land grant institution, we acknowledge and honor the traditional caretakers of these lands and strive to understand and model their responsible stewardship. We also acknowledge the longer history of these lands and our place in that history.

Gender Identity

Our institution's official policy states that "The Pennsylvania State University recognizes the need or preference for members of the University community to refer to themselves by a first name other than their legal first name as well as self-assert a gender other than their legal gender or their gender at the time of birth (AD 84)." One way we can support self-identification is by honoring the name and pronouns that each of us go by.

Many people (e.g., international students, performers/writers, trans & non-binary people, and others) might go by a name in daily life that is different from their legal name. In this classroom, we seek to refer to people by the names that they go by.

Pronouns can be a way to affirm someone's gender identity, but they can also be unrelated to a person's identity. They are simply a public way in which people are referred to in place of their name (e.g., "he" or "she" or "they" or "ze" or something else). In this classroom, you are invited (if you want to) to share what pronouns you go by, and we seek to refer to people using the pronouns that they share. The pronouns someone indicates are not necessarily indicative of their gender identity.

Visit Trans and Non-Binary Penn State to learn more.

Educational Equity and Reporting Bias

Penn State University has adopted a Protocol for Responding to Bias Motivated Incidents that is grounded in the policy that the "University is committed to creating an educational environment which is free from intolerance directed toward individuals or groups and strives to create and maintain an environment that fosters respect for others." That policy is embedded within an institution traditionally committed to academic freedom.

Bias motivated incidents include conduct that is defined in University Policy AD 91: Discrimination and Harassment, and Related Inappropriate Conduct. Students, faculty, or staff who experience or witness a possible bias motivated incident are urged to report the incident immediately by doing one of the following:

  • Submit a report via the Reports Bias webpage
  • Contact one of the following offices:
    • University Police Services, University Park: 814-863-1111
    • Multicultural Resource Center, Diversity Advocate for Students: 814-865-1773
    • Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity: 814-865-5906
    • Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs: 814-865-0909
    • Affirmative Action Office: 814-863-0471
    • Dial 911 in cases where physical injury has occurred or is imminent.

Academic Accommodations

One of the greatest things about being human is that we are each our own unique person. As such, there is a whole realm of neurodiveristy in any classroom. What some people need to have comfort and success in our class will be different from those of others. We welcome all individuals from across the neurodiviersity spectrum. I ask that we provide grace and space for all people to be themselves.

If you are feel like you're having problems in the course, please come see me and let's see what we can do to help you. This might include reaching out the Student Disability Resources office (or other offices on campus).

If you currently have academic accommodations, please make sure to talk with me as soon as possible so that we can get everything in place.

If you've had academic accommodations in the past but haven't registered with the Student Disability Resources office, I encourage you to do so. Having the accommodations does not mean that you have to use them but they do provide you with an additional support system. To start the process, please reach out through the Student Disability Resources (SDR) website, which provides contact informaiton for every Penn State campus.

Counseling and Psychological Services

Many students at Penn State face personal challenges or have psychological needs that may interfere with their academic progress, social development, or emotional well-being. The university offers a variety of confidential services to help you through difficult times, including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, consultations, online chats, and mental health screenings. These services are provided by staff who welcome all students and embrace a philosophy respectful of clients' cultural and religious backgrounds, and sensitive to differences in race, ability, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

Military Personnel

Veterans and currently serving military personnel and/or spouses with unique circumstances (e.g., upcoming deployments, drill/duty requirements, disabilities, VA appointments, etc.) are welcome and encouraged to communicate these, in advance if possible, to the instructor in the case that special arrangements need to be made. Check out Penn State's Veterans Affairs and Services website for more information.

Return to top

What is the policy on cheating and/or getting help in the class?

Why is academic integrity important?

A central aspect of education is that you build your knowledge and develop ways of thinking that will support you in your life and career. As one of your educators, part of my role is to assess your learning so that I can help you build the most productive ways of thinking. In order for me to best help you, I need the most accurate and reliable data about your thinking and learning. Academic integrity is a key to this process.

A person demonstrates academic integrity when they engage in any scholarly/educational activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner. This is part of our shared responsibilities.

What are the different ways in which a person might violate academic integrity policies?

There are many different ways in which a person's actions may directly or indirectly lead to violating Academic Integrity. Keep in mind whether a person acts intentionally or accidentaly, that action could still result in violating Academic Integrity. The best advice I can give is to always talk with your instructors before you submit the assignment. Here are a few of the broad categories of actions that lead to violation of academic integrity.

  • Plagiarism: This action occurs when someone presents someone else's work as their own, including their own. This can describe situations from forgetting to cite a source to copying someone's work without their knowledge. Avoid plagiarism by citing your sources (for figures, images, code, etc.) and giving credit to the ideas and work of others.
  • Self-Plagarism: Self-plagiarism occurs when a person submits work that they've submitted elsewhere; for example, taking a paper from one class and submitting that paper (even with minor changes) for a grade in a different class without prior authorization. Avoid self-plagarism by talking with your instructors about whether improving a past assignment might be work for the assignment's learning objectives.
  • Collusion: This action is similar to plagiarism but rather than one person being at fault, multiple people are working together. If one person gives another the answers to an assignment, that person is violating Academic Integrity just as much as the person submitting the assignment. Keep in mind that collusion can happen between students who aren't enrolled in the same section or even the same course. Avoid collusion by verifying with your instructor from the start whether you can work with others; then be sure to give credit to who did what.
  • Ghost Writing: This action is a more consequential form of collusion. Here someone does and submits work the behalf of someone else, by pretending to be this other person. Typically, the ghost writer is getting some benefit (e.g., a payment) to do the work, but not always. Avoid ghost writing by doing your own work; if you need assistance (e.g., typing assistance) be sure to talk with your instructor and the Student Disabilty Resources Office.
  • Improper Technology Use: What qualifers as proper and improper technology usage will vary from course to course. Generally, this captures any actions where technology plays a central role in the violation. This spans actions such as (but not limited to) using devices that aren't allowed on the assignment, using artificial intelligence systems (e.g., chatbots), using messaging groups to share answers, and getting/posting answers online (e.g., sites like Chegg, CourseHero, etc.). At the core of all these actions lies a person presenting someone else's work as their own. Avoid using technology improperly by seeking clarification about when, how, and what technologies are allowed on assignments.

The best advice I can provide is to talk with your instructor before you submit any assignment. Once you submit, you've solidified your action and there isn't anything your instructor can except to report the violation.

A person violates academic integrity when they act in a way either (dis-)advantages themselves or (dis-)advantages someone else that is not explicitly allowed ahead of time. While people have a variety of reasons for choosing to act in such ways (e.g., stress, lack of time, perssure to perform, etc.), we need to keep in mind that choosing to violate academic integrity impacts everyone. The person violating academic integrity weakens their own academic growth--they do not receive the feedback that is actually necessary for their growth. The class community suffers as such cases delay giving feedback, and erode the sense of trust in the community.

In order for me to best help you learn, each student needs to submit their own work. Class members may work on assignments in groups, but each student must write up answers in their own words and submit their own answers unless otherwise announced.

What are the differences between collusion, people working together, and group work?

The major distinction between collusion, working together, and group work comes down to what has been explicitly allowed by the instructor. Collusion is never allowed.

I encourage students to work together on assignments. However, when students work together, each person is individually responsible for their own work. Having one person answer the questions, write the code, etc. and then pass the results to the other person is not working together. Rather, each person should be engaged in the problems, sharing ideas, thoughts, and approaches. The individual differences in how we each write and talk should be present in the answers and work each person submits. Working together can enrich the learning of all those who are actively participating.

Group work occurs when the instructor gives an activity or assignment that is meant to be completed by a group of students together with a single submission for the group. This is not a violation of academic integrity due to the specifications the instructor has set up for the assignment.

Where can I get help for this course?

Part of learning involves running into situations where you don't instantly have a solution. Rather, you have to think about the problem, try a few things, and then pieces fall into place. You do not have to engage in such struggles alone. Getting help is a great way to help you engage in productive struggle that leads to better learning. However, not all sources of help will actually support your learning and growth. Here are my suggestions for places to seek help.

  1. Check your course notes.
  2. Talk with your classmates.
  3. Make use of Student Hours.
  4. Email your instructor.

When you are getting help be sure that you are not crossing the line and having someone else do your learning for you.

Can I use ChatBots/Generative AI in this course?

Chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Perplexity AI, Anthropic's Claude, or Microsoft's Copilot appear confident in the answers they provide. However, their answers are not always logical nor stand up to scrutiny. If a person relies upon chatbots to do their work, they will miss out on critical opportunities to develop the ways of thinking necessary to detect problems with AI generated answers.

An important part aspect of this course is to help you develop foundational ways of thinking about teaching so that you can create your own lessons. Using tools such as generative AI to design, create, prepare lessons plans for you not only cheats yourself of an invaluable learning opportunity, but it also cheats your students. Therefore, unless explicit permission is given for a particular assignment, the entire class community (the instructor, the students, TAs, etc.) should actively refrain from using generative AI tools. When such use is explicitly authorized, that work should be properly documented. Direct usage of output from chatbots should be treated much like a direct quotation; derivations of such output should be treated as paraphrased text.

Updated: Generative AI Policy

Based upon the input I received from the class, I have put in place the following policy around using generative AI tools in this course (PSU 16, Sec. 550).

Allowed Usages
We (i.e., members of the class community) may use a spelling/grammar focused genAI tool such as Grammarly to offer assistance in addressing spelling and grammar errors. The tool must be explicitly built for such usage. Important to note here is that the re-writing of your work beyond fixing spelling/grammar is NOT allowed.
Potentially Allowed Usage--Ask for permission first
This is a a case-by-case catchall. There are certain skills (e.g., creating a schedule, writing a challenging email, writing a letter) that we need to practice developing without the assistance of a genAI tool. For things of this nature and related to PSU 16, you need to ask first.
Disallowed Usages
We shall not use genAI tools to conduct research nor summarize any articles we are to read for the class.
We shall not use genAI as a substitute for coming up with our ideas nor as a replacement for doing our own brainstorming.
We shall not use genAI to write any responses for us to any questions posed as part of any course assignment or class discussion.
Citation Required
In the event that a genAI tool is allowed (other than instances of spelling/grammar checks), we shall dutifully cite 1) which genAI tool(s) was/were used (including version information), 2) the exact prompt(s) we used along with any subsequent prompts, and 3) the exact response we received from the tool. This information must be provided as an appendix to the submitted work.

Any use case of genAI not explictily mention should be handled under the philosophy of "Ask First". Using genAI tools during the course in ways that are inconsistent with this policy shall be violations of Academic Integrity.

Consequences

Any instances of academic dishonesty will be pursued under the University and Eberly College of Science regulations concerning academic integrity. For more information on academic integrity, see Penn State's statement on plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

University Policies

Important Dates for the Fall 2024 Semester

  • Classes Begin on Monday, August 26, 2024
  • Regular Drop Deadline is Saturday, August 31, 2024
  • Regular Add Deadline is Sunday, September 1, 2024
  • Labor Day-No Classes-Monday, September 2, 2024
  • Final Exam Conflict Filing Period is September 30 to October 20, 2024
  • Late Add/Drop Deadline is Friday, November 15, 2024
  • Thanksgiving Holiday-No Classes-November 24-November 30, 2024
  • Withdrawal Deadline is Friday, December 13, 2024
  • Classes End on Friday, December 13, 2024

University Closings

Should the university close due to weather or campus emergencies, please be sure to follow any directions included in the University's official announcement. You can stay up to date on such announcements by signing up for PSUAlert (https://psualert.psu.edu/psualert) and/or following Penn State on social media.

In the event of university closure, we will not meet in person. Please check your PSU email and Canvas for further course announcements.

Deferred Grades

If you are prevented from completing this course within the prescribed amount of time for reasons that are beyond your control, it is possible to have the grade deferred with the concurrence of the instructor, following Penn State Deferred Grade Policy 48-40. To seek a deferred grade, you must submit a written request (by e-mail or U.S. post) to the instructor describing the reason(s) for the request. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested before the beginning of the final examination period. It is up to the instructor to determine whether or not you will be permitted to receive a deferred grade. If permission is granted, you will work with the instructor to establish a communication plan and a clear schedule for completion within policy. If, for any reason, the coursework for the deferred grade is not complete by the assigned time, a grade of "F" will be automatically entered on your transcript.

Return to top

Additional Information

Instructor Absence

In the event that I'm not able to attend class, I will send out an annoucement for what the plan will be. This may include having a guest speaker/instructor (a substitute), for work time (independent or in groups), or cancel the session. Such information will be announced as needed via PSU email/Canvas.

Syllabus Changes

The syllabus for this course (and all other course syllabi) does not constitute a legal contract. Further, I intend for this syllabus to change to reflect the decisions we make as a community on several areas listed above as well as adapting to our needs throughout the semester. Changes to the syllabus will be announced in class and updated here.

Return to top