Week 1 Success Kit

Week 1 Success Kit

College courses move quickly, and getting off to a good start is an important way to prepare yourself for success. Read this page carefully and you'll have all you need to start this course on the right foot.

A gif of Professor Spoon from her usual recording spot giving a thumbs up.

Course Overview (AKA What do I need to know about this course?)

  • You will use Canvas to log into the course and all of the course content. There are 16 weekly modules plus an Orientation Module.

  • Our course starts on January 30th, but you'll be able to get into Canvas to start on the Orientation Module on January 23rd. Weekly modules will open and become available to you in Canvas on Fridays at 12:00pm, that means you'll have access to the course content starting on Friday, January 27th!

      • If you're in the partially online class, we will have in-person meetings on Fridays 9-10:50am in MS 213 - I'll get you more information and a campus map before then.

  • Each learning week will have the same structure:

        • 🌱 Pre-Activities due on Monday - these are activities to connect what we're about to learn to what you already know! Occasionally, this will include an ungraded quiz on the material or a Desmos exploration to finish.

        • πŸ“š Learning Activities due Wednesday - these are set up as quizzes in Canvas. You'll see all the content provided in text and video form with some questions to check in on your understanding. These do not count for a grade, but are my recommended way to interact with the course content!

        • βœ… Knowledge Check due Thursday - this is a graded quiz in Canvas to assess your understanding of the material for the week. You can take these as many times as needed until you score an 80% or higher for your βœ” 'Complete' in Canvas. This assignment will remain open until Sunday, but those students in the hybrid class will not get the 80% bump after our class meeting since the quiz will be discussed.

        • πŸ’» Activity due Friday - this is a graded assignment to assess your communication of the material. This can be revised and resubmitted as you get feedback.

        • πŸ’¬ Discussion due Sunday- this is a graded discussion to assess your authentic connection to the material. You will take the week's ideas and apply them to something that is of interest to you. This can be revised and resubmitted as you get feedback.

  • I've spaced the due dates throughout the week so you can leverage learning science! Our brains like to consolidate (which means dump all the things we've learned) while we sleep. By revisiting the material throughout the week, we strengthen our understanding (and those neural pathways) and keep from getting burnt out. We can also have some of those 'aha' moments that only seem to happen when you're in the shower or about to go to sleep. If you want to work ahead based on your schedule, you can! If you need to take an extra day or two, that's OK too! Just be sure to get that βœ… Knowledge Check done before it closes on Sunday.

Course Materials (AKA What do I need for class?)

Short answer - NOTHING. I've written and recorded all of our course content within Canvas, so there's really no materials that you'll need for this course. Statistics is a field where there is a lot of subjectivity (which is to say, books and software packages disagree on some of the most basic things!), so I haven't found a text I truly love. I hate textbook publishers and won't make you buy anything for the course.

  • You do need a way to get online OTHER THAN your cell phone. Mesa has a laptop checkout, so you should be covered. You can visit Mesa Laptop Request Form to apply to borrow a laptop, web cam, or other tech resources.

  • If you have a tablet, you will want to download the Canvas app rather than trying to work through a browser.

Due Dates for Orientation and Week 1 Modules (AKA What do I need to do?)

Put these dates in your planner now and start thinking about when you'll finish them. I put time estimates next to each to try to help you plan.

  • Due by Monday, January 30th: Orientation Module (⌚ 1 hour)

    • The orientation is set up like any weekly module, so you can get a feel for the flow of the class. There a few small activities to ensure you have all the tech tools necessary for success and have connected with me and your peers to start building community. I recommend tackling this before classes start, but totally get it if you'd rather enjoy the last bit of your Winter Break. β›„

  • Due by Tuesday, January 31st: 🌱 Module 1 Pre-Quiz and Pre-Activity (⌚ 30 minutes)

  • Due by Wednesday, February 1st: πŸ“š 1.1 - 1.4 Learning Activities (⌚ 3 hours)

  • Due by Thursday, February 2nd: βœ… Knowledge Check #1 (⌚ 30 minutes)

  • Due by Friday, February 3rd: πŸ’» Module 1 Activity: Sampling Design (Paired Discussion) (⌚ 30 minutes)

    • In the hybrid class, we will do the first step of this together in class so you won't find it available in the module yet.

  • Due by Sunday, February 5th: πŸ’¬ Module 1 Discussion: Stats in My Future (⌚ 30 minutes)