Optional software, Math 151 Fall 2002
Activstats is a complete statistics
course on CD developed at Cornell, in a sophisticated computer format.
It contains instruction, examples, demos, short quizzes. It was required
last term, experimentally. People who got into it found it very helpful.
It's a good match to the textbook, philosophically, and a pretty good match
day by day to the material. The new edition is "2002-3". Last
year's is good enough.
Activstats for SPSS (sold/used here) has tutorials teaching
SPSS and runs only on Windows computers. Other versions don't teach
SPSS but run on Macintosh also (Marked M W) (A copy of
each is on reserve.)
You should strongly consider getting and using it if:
1a) You learn better by hearing than by reading: you can
listen to the exposition while watching a "blackboard" demo.
1b) You have difficulty following in class--e.g. a hearing
problem or English is not your native language. The spoken expositions
go slowly, and an option allows you to read the words as he speaks them.
2) You need repetition to get the ideas, and the in-class
experience goes by too fast: The CD will repeat as much as you need.
3) You can't work with helpers or other students much,
but have your own (Windows) computer: It gives another "voice" besides
mine.
The main complaints about it last semester:
He talks too slowly. A student with ADD
was driven twitchy.
It was just "too much" to juggle required
assignments in Activstats + textbook.
You need earphones if you use the program in a public lab; speakers
if
in privacy. Two sharing works.
Please let me know if you plan to use Activstats; I'll help you get
started. sievers@wells.edu
SPSS for your own computer
SPSS is a powerful computer package that does statistical analyses
of data. We will learn how to use some of its features this term.
It is absolutely not required that you get it for your own machine.
The lab copies should be adequate unless you have trouble getting to the
lab in Macmillan 101, or the only time you can get to the lab is always
the busiest time. If you have a Windows computer of your own and
want SPSS for it, read on.
If you obtain SPSS, be sure to get version 11 if your computer
has Windows 2000 or XP. Version 10 works ok on Windows
98, not beyond. I can lend a few v. 10's.
-
All New shrinkwrapped books in the bookshop are supposed to contain
an SPSS student version 11 disk. This software has a "time bomb"
and quits working 13 months after first installation. The bundle
is about $25 more than a new text alone. (About $50 more than
the used text.)
If you buy a new book and open it and it doesn't contain
an all-red CD labeled SPSS in big letters, contact me, and the bookshop,
immediately,
please.
-
You can "rent" the full version of SPSS for a term for $39.99.
Go to www.e-academy.com/spss, then
put SPSS in the Software Search box. SPSS Base is sufficient for
this course.
-
You can buy a "student version" for around $75.
This version should not "time bomb." (It is marketed by Prentice-Hall.
Get version 11. ISBN 0-13-034846-5)
It does pretty much what the full version does, I believe, but won't
save syntax sequences (not important for us.) (I haven't used it--I got
this from Amazon user reviews). As I write this, Prentice-Hall and
Barnes and Noble (bn.com) both mark it as "out of stock." Amazon.com
doesn't seem to have it. SPSS itself says you need a student ID to
obtain it, and to get it from your college bookstore. Cornell bookstore
may have it in stock; I've seen it there in past years.
SPSS changes versions in late September each year.
This creates havoc within an academic schedule, with the publisher unwilling
to get "caught" with obsolete stock, and aftermarket suppliers of instruction
always behind. Infuriating.
SPSSActforyouF02.htm 8/28/02
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