This page serves as the syllabus for the STAT 597.005--Statistics Education: From Theory to Practice course in Spring 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: 1/9/2024

Course Description

This course is a collaborative effort with the University of Minnesota & Michigan State University exploring research and practice related to Stochastics Edcuation (Statistics, Data Science, and Probability) intended for graduate students interested in such research. Each week typically includes a discussion of literature on a specific topic and then most weeks include a video conference with a prominent author/expert on the subject, jointly hosted by the combined group at PSU, UMinn, & MSU.

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Course Meeting Info

Our course meets once a week, in person, all semester with the exception of university holidays and closures.

  • Location: Thomas 327
  • Time: Mondays, 4:40pm to 6:35pm (ET)

Changes of venue (as needs arise) will be announced via email as soon as possible. We will leverage the Owl system in Thomas 327 to coordinate with our guest speakers and other remote guests.

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Instructor Contact Info

The primary 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 at (814) 863-7664.

I 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 in Thomas 425A.

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Course Materials

There are no course specific materials that you will need to purchase. For the required and optional readings, I will make the references available in Canvas. Part of becoming an independent researcher is practicing tracking down articles such as using your university's library system, using online databases, contacting the author(s), or individuals who might have a copy. Please do not pay to access any of these articles. If you are having trouble tracking down or accessing any article, please see Neil.

Like many other courses, you will need 1) access to a computer, 2) access to the internet, and 3) some form of document preparation system (e.g., Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, LaTeX, Markdown, etc.). If you are in-need of a computer, there are a few located within the department (Thomas 420, Thomas 425a) as well as around campus (see Student Computing Labs for more information).

I highly recommend that if you do not already have and use a citation management system, that you begin using one. I use Zotero but there are others (e.g., Mendeley, EndNote). Check out the PSU Libraries' Citation and Writing Guide for Citation Tools for more information.

We will use Canvas as a course site in addition to this public Course FAQ (syllabus) page.

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Course Goals and Objectives

Course Goals

The goals of the course are to introduce students to contemporary topics in Stochastics Education Research in order to inform future research interests and/or refine understanding of teaching, learning, and assessment.

Learning Objectives

We have adopted the following learning objectives for this course.

  • Students will develop an awareness of key areas in Stochastics Education Research.
  • Students will become critical consumers of Stochastics Education Research.
  • Students will develop their research skills.
  • Students will engage in self-reflection and self-evaluation in terms of their research skills.

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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.

Student Responsibilities

The Spring 2024 class came up with the following responsiblities for themsleves.

  • Come to class; let people (esp. Neil) know when you will be absent.
  • Read the required readings.
  • Be an active listener and speaker.
  • Keep the conversation flowing.
  • Prepare questions for the guest speaker.
  • Keep track of comments/questions you have as read (i.e., engage in active reading).
  • Be respectful of others.

Teacher Responsibilities

The Spring 2024 class came up with the following responsibilities for the instructor.

  • Encourage participation.
  • Mangage discussion to prevent one dominate voice.
  • Come to class.
  • Pick readings.
  • Provide hints as to how papers connect each week.
  • Provide feedback on posts.
  • Provide guidance on developing as a discussion leader.
  • Bring baked goods.
  • Be respectful.

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

You will need to attend each class session baring illness, participation in a Univeristy sanctioned event, or religious observance/practice. Please let me know if you are going to be absent. Abscences can jeopardize your final course grade.

Students who are absent three or more times throughout the semester may receive a failing grade for the course. (Note: Three abscences is equivalent to missing 20% of the course.)

Participation

Given that this course is primarily discussion based, your participation is absolutely necessary. For this course, we agreed to define participation as:

  • Engaging in active listening,
  • Being engaged in class, even if you aren't the discussion leader or currently talking,
  • Contributing some thought(s) to the current discussion,
  • Being responsive on Canvas as well as in class, and
  • Being respectful of others.

There is intential overlap between student responsibilities and our definition of participation.

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Assignments and Assessment

My Assessment Approach

This course is meant to provide students with an opportuntity to begin and/or continue their journey along the path of Stochastics Education research. To this end, my approach to assessment for this course is pragmatic in nature and focused on your development as a researcher. This said, I want to acknowledge that while this course focuses on Stochastics Education, the vast majority of the research skills you'll develop in this course are transferrable to other areas of research.

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 having a productive class session.

  • Weekly Reflections: These assignments encourage you to reflect on your holistic experience with the material for the week (e.g., précis, reactions, feelings, thoughts, new insight). Reflections will be posted on a weekly class discussion board to invite comments from one another and to help create a community and conversation in between class meetings. Students must post their own reflections before Canvas will allow you to view other students' reflections.
  • Weekly Engagement: Each student is expected to submit preliminary questions for each guest in advance, and actively engage with guests during our time with them. You are not required to ask a question of every guest, every week, but you should be prepared to volunteer a thoughtful question or follow-up at any point in the conversation.
  • Discussion Leader: Each week a different student will be appointed as the discussion leader. This person will share a very short initial synopsis of the readings to orient the group and then facilitate the class discussion, ensuring the conversation at least touches on each of the assigned readings and promotes balance and plurality of perspectives among students and faculty in attendance (e.g., one or a few should not "dominate" the discussion).
  • Literature Review: An important skill for any researcher is the ability to read and syntheize the literature. Each student will work on a literature review around a Statsitics/Data Science Education topic/issue. Students will need to draw upon both articles provided in the course (required and optional) as well as additional articles that they locate.

    Students will submit an initial, Work-In-Progress draft of their literature reviews just before Spring Break (Friday, March 1, 2024). This will allow Neil to provide feedback on each student's current writing. Students are then expected to incorporate that feedback and continue developing their literature review for a final draft that will be submitted at the end of the semester (Monday, April 29, 2024).

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 me and keep me informed of external pressures. This will help us find submission times that work for people.

Examination Policy

This course will not have any tests or exams. We will not have a final exam.

Grading Policy

In adherence with my pragmatic approach to grading, a core idea to hold onto is that points don't really matter when it comes to grading a course like this. What is important are the experiences you have and the reflections you do. There are no grading categories and thus no weights on assignments. The following table provides some hallmarks that I believe correspond with each letter grade.

Final Course Grades
Course Letter Grade Hallmarks
A The student goes beyond the B description by completing all assignments in satisfactory ways. Their work reflects a commitment to their development as a researcher.
B The student attended all classes and made meaningful contributions. They completed most assignments in satisfactory ways, and were an active participant in the class community.
C The student attended most classes but only occassionally made meaningful contributions to class. They completed most assignments at a boarderline level of satisfaction.
D The student generally did not attend class and/or meaningfully participate in the class. They some assignments at a surface/unsatisfactory level. For the Literature Review assignment they might have only submitted once or had a second submission that was essentially the same as their first submission.
F Any of the following, including combinations:
  • The student did not attend any classess.
  • The student attended a few classes but did not meaningful participate.
  • The student did not complete the majority of weekly assignments (reflections and engagement).
  • The student did not lead their assigned weeks.
  • The student did not submit their literature review.

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Tentative Course Calendar

Spring 2024 Topic Calendar
Week Topic Guest
Jan. 8 First Day of Class No guest
Jan. 15 MLK Day-No Class No guest
Jan. 22 History of Statistics and Data Science Education Andy Zieffler, University of Minnesota
Jan. 29 Overview of Research in Statistics Education Dennis Pearl, PSU, Director of CAUSE
Feb. 5 Reform Pedagogy Samantha Prins, James Madison University
Feb. 12 Teaching Intro Stats using Simulation-Based Inference Catherine Case
Feb. 19 Data Science Education TBA
Feb. 26 Beyond Intro Stats Student Driven Week
Mar. 4 Spring Break-No Class No guest
Mar. 11 Assessment Doug Whitaker, Mount Saint Vincent University
Mar. 18 Accessibility and Inclusion TBA
Mar. 25 Challenges in Teaching Student Driven Week
Apr. 1 Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) TBA
Apr. 8 Landmark Papers in Statistics Education TBA
Apr. 15 Technology TBA
Apr. 22 Statistics Education: Looking Back and Looking Forward TBA

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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 Report 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.

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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.

The Eberly College of Science Code of Mutual Respect and Cooperation embodies the values that we hope our faculty, staff, and students possess and will endorse to make The Eberly College of Science a place where every individual feels respected and valued, as well as challenged and rewarded.

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.

It is expected that any work submitted is your own. Class members may work on homework assignments and lab assignments in groups, but each student must write up answers in their own words and submit lab quizzes and homework assignments separately.

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 and class recordings.
  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 or Google's Bard 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.

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 Spring 2024 Semester

  • Classes Begin on Monday, January 8, 2024
  • Regular Drop Deadline is Saturday, January 13, 2024
  • Regular Add Deadline is Sunday, January 14, 2024
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day-No Classes-Monday, January 15, 2024
  • Final Exam Conflict Filing Period is February 12 to March 3, 2024
  • Spring Break-No Classes-March 3-March 9, 2024
  • Late Add/Drop Deadline is Friday, April 5, 2024
  • Withdrawal Deadline is Friday, April 26, 2024
  • Classes End on Friday, April 26, 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.

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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 as well as adapting to our needs throughout the semester. Changes to the syllabus will be announced in class and updated here.

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