Math/Stat 442 Daily Content
This is a subpage of the Math/Stat 487/442 Course page. If you need overall syllabus info about Math/Stat 442, click here.
This course meets in Morken 26
M, W, F 9:30 - 10:30 AM
Student hours are
M, W, F 10:30-11:15am
Th 11:30-12:15pm;
& by appointment! (in person or virtual)
Dr. Sklar: I need TAs for my Spring precalc (140) class. My TAs will be in class helping my students work on these Desmos Labs, and running review sessions. Anyone interested should contact me via email (sklarjk@plu.edu). Thank you!
What prizes do you all prefer for DataFest?
Frisbees? Reuseable Bags? More Socks? Hats? Mugs? Stickers?
Must be an object (not gift cards), must last a long time (tumblers don't last).
New groups coming soon; please don't assume I remember any requests for seating arrangements.
Epidemiology talk Dec 5! See flyer below
Nov 19: Brown bag (bring your lunch) talk about internships
Econ/Environment Interest? Come listen to Derek Nixon, Nov 21, 12:15-1:15pm in Admin 101.
To Do
Activity 13 due today
HW 8 due Friday
Agenda:
Discuss Activity 13
What was the hardest question for you/ what questions do you still have about the activity?
How do we interpret an interaction term with respect to two categorical variables? (Hint: your answer should include mention of main effects!)
What is a nested F test all about?
What are other main takeaways for the activity?
If time: discuss "added variable plots," OR
If less time: discuss this class moving forward.
Possible topics:
Hierarchical linear modeling
Bayesian Analysis
Path Analysis
Logistic Regression
New groups coming soon; please don't assume I remember any requests for seating arrangements.
Coffee, Fruit & Donuts on Friday
Nov 19: Brown bag meeting about internships
Econ/Environment Interest? Come listen to Derek Nixon, Nov 21, 12:15-1:15pm in Admin 101.
To Do
Activity 13 due date is Monday. (Anything not finished today becomes HW. We will discuss it at the start of class on Monday.)
Coffee, Fruit & Donuts on Friday
Nov 19: Brown bag meeting about internships
Now is the time to be applying for summer internships!
Equitable Data Science in Adolescent Development paid internship
Keep an eye on SIBS (not updated for 2026 yet):
Meghan recommends this opportunity at UW Madison
Begin thinking about project data/groups
Link to slides from Wednesday is posted (see below, on the agenda from Wednesday).
Activity 12 due date is Wednesday, Nov 12
Agenda:
Work on Activity 12
Whatever you don't finish today is Homework
We will discuss Activity 12 at the start of class on Wednesday
EUSR online conference TODAY! I highly recommend the talk by Xiao-Li Meng @ 11am Pacific
Now is the time to be applying for summer internships!
Equitable Data Science in Adolescent Development paid internship
Keep an eye on SIBS (not updated for 2026 yet):
Meghan recommends this opportunity at UW Madison
Begin thinking about project data/groups
Link to slides from Wednesday is posted (see below, on the agenda from Wednesday).
HW 07 due today
Activity 12 due date probably Monday, depending on how it goes today
Begin thinking about project data/groups
HW 07 due Friday
Activity 12 due date TBA
Agenda:
Follow up to decisions in statistical modeling:
This is why CI's are getting more attention.
Making fun of significance: https://mchankins.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/still-not-significant-2/
NJ Intro to factors in R (slides)
Activity 11 due today
HW 07 due Friday
Agenda:
~30 min: try to finish Activity 11
Last half of class: Discuss to Wrap up: Activity 11: Intro to Interactions
HW 06 due today
Activity 11 due Monday evening. Please complete through #20 before class Monday.
Mole Day Nov 3.
Activity 10 due today
HW 06 Due Friday
Agenda:
Reminder how to look at comments in Google Classroom
HW 06 questions
Check in/ Review main ideas from Activity 10
If time: Activity 11: Intro to Interactions
NJ out sick today
Office hours and other meetings with NJ cancelled today
Math Pre-Registration Party Today (see flyer @ right)
Bring your questions on Activity 10 to class Wednesday
HW 05 Due today
Bring questions on Activity 10 to class Wednesday, due Wednesday night
HW 06 Due Friday
On your own time:
Please finish Activity 10.
(Discussion/Summary on Wednesday)
Advising: NJ is happy to answer questions!
Monday: Advising Party (see flyer @ right)
Mole Day Nov 3.
Activity 09 due today
HW 05 due Monday
Activity 10 opened this morning; due next Wed
Agenda:
NJ's responses to Reflective Report #2 (see below)
Discuss Activity 09
What were your main take-aways from the Activity?
What questions were the most difficult to answer / what questions do you still have?
If time: Activity 10 (opened this morning on G.C.)
Things students feel confused about:
Confidence/Prediction intervals.
When to transform variables.
What to do and be aware of with correlated predictors.
Things Students can do:
Things NJ can do:
Interested in statistics minor, Data Science major or minor, Math major or minor, and Applied Math major? NJ is happy to meet with you!
Why Swipe Right? Upper Divison Math Course Teasers today 11:45 in Morken 214. (See flyer below right, PLEASE COME!)
Mole Day Nov 3. I've heard it's awesome. (See flyer below)
HW 05 postponed—due Monday
Activity 09 due Friday
Agenda:
Another quick example of how looking at things from a multivariable perspective can completely change the story (see below).
Chaos's great communication on HW 04
Answered the question first, provides code and evidence later.
a.Find a 95% confidence interval for the mean weight for Savannah sparrows with
We are 95% confident that the average weight of Savannah sparrows with a wing length of 20 mm is between about 10.15 g and 11.28 g.
<<then provided code>>
b. Find a 95% prediction interval for the weight of a Savannah sparrow with a wing length of 20 mm.
We are 95% confident that the weight of an individual Savannah sparrow with a wing length of 20 mm will fall between about 7.9 g and 13.5 g.
<<code went here>>
Continue Activity 09
From Zieffler, A. Statistical Modeling and Computation for Educational Scientists. Retrieved 2023-09-29 from https://zief0002.github.io/modeling/02-03-correlation.html.
Please take care of yourself and your community
NJ's source of support: https://lc3.com/
I'm happy to chat about non-statistics stuff or point you to resources
Advising week: reach out to your adviser to schedule a meeting!
NJ is happy to meet with anyone interested in statistics minor, Data Science major or minor, Math major or minor, and Applied Math major.
Why Swipe Right? Upper Divison Math Course Teasers Oct 22. 11:45 in Morken 214. (See flyer above)
Another biostats program doing an info session: Columbia U... (see below)
Please Read Chapter 3 of STAT2
Activity 08 due today
HW 05 due Wednesday
Complete Reflective Report #2
Includes mid-term feedback for NJ
Agenda:
Questions on HW 05
Discuss Model-level inference
Motivation: Why the F-statistic is important
Calculating the F-statistic from anova output
Briefly Explore the F-statistic using simulation methods
https://www.isi-stats.com/isi/applets.html
Geometric Interpretation of the F-statistic (see images below)
Null and Alternative Hypotheses for F-statistic
Ho: restricted model
Ha: full model
If time: Start Activity 09
Images above and below are from Kaplan, D. (2011) Statistical Modeling: A Fresh Approach.
Navigate multiple regression for centered predictors
Connect bivariate regression to multiple regression output where applicable
Identify issues with anova for co-linear predictors
Agenda:
10-15 min to finish up summary of Activity 08
Discuss Main ideas of last two sections of Activity 08 / Take-Aways
Agenda:
Discuss Activity 08
Agenda:
In Groups:
Agenda:
Activity 08 - through Part 5
Develop an understanding of the role of orthogonality and centering in determining appropriate predictors.
Agenda:
New groups
How to refer to you
Favorite TV show when you were a kid
Develop fluency with interpretations of the summary (lm()) output.
Agenda:
Finish Activity 7 (submit a hard copy, one per group.)
data link is here.
Discuss Activity 7
Then switch to new groups
How to refer to you
Favorite TV show when you were a kid
Develop fluency with interpretations of the summary (lm()) output.
Agenda:
HW 03 comments...
Questions on HW 04
Activity 7 (submit a hard copy, one per group.)
data link is here.
Develop fluency with interpretations of the summary (lm()) output.
Agenda:
New Groups:
HW 03 comments
More Questions on HW 04?
Activity 7 (submit a hard copy, one per group.)
data link is here.
Seating Chart link for new groups
Electronic Undergraduate Statistics Research Conference (eUSR) is on Nov 7
Activity 06 due today
HW 04 due Wednesday
Make sense of prediction & confidence intervals.
Agenda:
New Groups:
Share how your group should correctly refer to you.
If you were to give a TED talk right now, with no preparation, on a topic, what would it be?
Warm up question: Which would you feel more confident predicting: the mean gpa of PLU students, or the gpa of one randomly selected student that you know nothing about?
Discuss any HW 04 questions in groups
Questions on HW 04
Review of z/t* (slides we probably won't use)
Postponing new groups to Monday
HW and Activity deadlines postponed
Due soon
Activity 6 (on G.C. ) due Friday?
HW 04 (on G.C.) due ... TBD?
Develop fluency with the anova() function in R.
Calculate and interpret the coefficient of determination
Agenda:
Continue NJ's lecture on Degrees of Freedom & ANOVA, this time with attention to R^2, the coefficient of determination. (see NJ's code here)
Revisit deadlines depending on time & questions.
Seating Chart link for new groups starting Friday
Please let me know if I'm not referring to you correctly!
https://databsconf.com/ today!!!
Due soon
Activity 6 (on G.C. ) due Wednesday?
HW 04 (on G.C.) due Friday?
Develop fluency with the anova() function in R.
Calculate and interpret the coefficient of determination
Agenda:
NJ's lecture on Degrees of Freedom & ANOVA
Revisit deadlines depending on time & questions.
Seating Chart link
Due soon
Activity 6 (on G.C. ) due Wednesday
HW 04 (on G.C.) due Friday
Develop fluency with the anova() function in R.
Calculate and interpret the coefficient of determination
Agenda:
Review: correlation coefficients
HW 03 "Due" Friday
Activity 4 on G.C.
Activity 5 on G.C. due Friday
Develop fluency with the lm() function in R.
Transform variables to meet conditions for a linear model
Evaluate whether a linear model is appropriate.
Agenda:
Discuss in groups:
NJ's R tips
HW Questions
Finish Activity 05: Intro to Linear Models.
Check in: how are we doing on HW deadlines, activity deadlines?
Anyone still need help with googlesheets4 package or Stat2Data packages?
How to view comments in google classroom
If time/relevant: R tips
Read Ch. 01 (if not already)
HW 03 "Due" Friday
Activity 4 on G.C.
Email NJ if you have requests for the next groups.
Develop fluency with the lm() function in R.
Transform variables to meet conditions for a linear model
Evaluate whether a linear model is appropriate.
Agenda:
Go through Ch. 01 together.
Activity 05: Intro to Linear Models.
Coffee Donuts Fruit (free!) in ERB on September 15 11:45am-12:15pm
Read Ch. 1 before next class
Due Friday 3:00pm
HW 03
Email NJ if you have requests for the next groups.
Think about different measures of model fit
Import data frames from the web using packages.
Install and load Stat2Data package (and use data from it.)
Agenda:
HW01 remarks
Model fit MEA Presentations
Get started on Activity 04: Packages and Loading Data...
Your choice:
Any remaining HW2 Questions
Continue working on Activity 04
Start working on HW 03
Coffee Donuts Fruit (free!) in ERB on September 15 11:45am-12:15pm
Activity 01: Measure Creation Report Due Friday (one per group)
HW 02 due Monday (postponed)
Activity 02: Intro to R (OPTIONAL)
Activity 03: Data Structures due Friday
(work in pairs; submit individually)
Challenge: try to do it in Quarto?
MEA 3-slide presentations on Monday I hope?
Wrap up your MEA
Get to know Quarto
Agenda:
Check in: A lot of stuff is due; how are you doing?
HW Questions
Finish MEA with your group.
Make a 3-slide presentation of your modeling MEA results using quarto.
Time to finish Activity 03
Reike photo contest! (see flyer)
Time for HW questions on Friday; email NJ in advance if you can
Coffee Donuts Fruit (free!) in ERB on September 15 11:45am-12:15pm
Activity 01: Measure Creation Report Due Friday (one per group)
HW 02 is ready on G.C.... due Friday
Activity 02: Intro to R (OPTIONAL)
Activity 03: Data Structures due Friday
(work in pairs; submit individually)
Challenge: try to do it in Quarto?
Develop fluency working with vectors
Develop fluency working with data frames
Get to know Quarto
Agenda:
Intro to Quarto (notes)
Finish MEA with your group.
Challenge: Make a 3-slide presentation of your modeling MEA results using quarto.
Book is in ERB (Math Center, across from my office).
Update your version of R and R Studio
Skim OPTIONAL Activity 2 for anything you didn't already know about R, and complete it if you aren't familiar with the material.
You do not need to turn in anything for Activity 2.
HW 02 is ready on G.C.
Please submit as a pdf to GC
Create measures to evaluate models
Evaluate measures of model fit
Agenda:
In Groups:
Share/remind us how we should refer to you
Share about your favorite PLU class NOT in your major or minor and why you liked it.
Finish (Hopefully!) Model Selection MEA (in Groups).
Please correct me if I refer to you incorrectly!
in-person or an email nudge is great!
Info sheet concerns:
Yes, you can choose your own group for end of course project
Yes, we will use R extensively but I have a lot of resources, so come talk to me!
Nat Sci opportunity fair today in the grass outside Reike 2-3pm
Reminder! Due by Thursday (yesterday!)
Join Google Classroom
Reflective Report #1 (~15 min)
Read Syllabus
HW 01 due Friday at 3pm (soft). Submit as PDF to Google Classroom
Update your version of R and R Studio
Create measures to evaluate models
Evaluate measures of model fit
Agenda:
In Groups:
Share/remind us how we should refer to you
Share about your favorite pet & why you liked it. (If no pets? Share your Favorite family member or friend)
Discuss HW: what was the hardest question for you and why do you think it was the most difficult?
Discuss remaining HW questions as a large group
Work on Model Selection MEA (in Groups).
Seating Chart link
Welcome! I am Dr. Justice!
Important websites:
How to reach the syllabus
How to reach this Weekly Content Page
Best way to reach NJ is via email
If you have a question about coursework be sure to include the prompt in the email.
Student (Office) Hours:
(See top of this page)
Due by Thursday (7:30pm):
Join Google Classroom
Reflective Report #1 (~15 min)
Read Syllabus
HW 01 due Friday at noon. Submit as PDF to Google Classroom
Get to know some of the course structure, etc.
Get to know two important websites (G.C. and this one!)
Develop measures to evaluate models
Agenda:
Intro to the Course (slides intentionally not included).
Model Selection MEA (in Groups).
Get to know groups/ assign roles...