Math 445—Guidelines for Class Discussion

When reading the articles (or specific textbook sections) for class discussion, I expect you to dig in, take notes (which you can easily reference in class), ask questions, and think carefully about the information presented. It’s a good idea to read the article twice—once to get the big-picture idea(s) and another time to ensure you understand the details.

Here are some examples of things to think about when doing the reading:

• What big issues are raised?

• What is the practical importance of these issues?

• What questions do you have? (Note—you should think hard, on your own, about how to answer the questions you have. If you’re still left wondering, then your question is a good one to raise in class discussion.)

• What was something surprising or interesting that you learned?

• Can you think of additional applications of these concepts (beyond the examples mentioned)?

When you’re done with the article, besides being prepared to discuss specifics (as mentioned above), you should also be prepared to give a general summary of the article—how would you summarize the main point(s) in just a few sentences? Are you prepared to answer questions asked by other students or by me?

We are a small class, which is conducive to interesting class discussion. I want the discussion to be not simply between each student and me—I want you to discuss things amongst yourselves (and answer each others’ questions). To encourage this, I might look away from you as you talk (not because I’m not interested in what you have to say, but because I want you to look around the circle at everyone as you talk). Furthermore, it’s important to not only think carefully about what you want to say, but to attentively listen to other students.

Some specific guidelines for the “Assumptions of Statistical Inference” article

First, read the general guidelines just listed (these should be applied to all reading assignments). Listed below are some specific examples of things to think about (but our discussion will not be limited to these). You should make notes about each of these items (that is, you are not prepared for class discussion if you don’t have an initial few summary sentences before referring specifically to the paper).

• What are the differences between confidence, tolerance, and prediction intervals? When should each be applied? (Do you think these distinctions are made by most people who use statistics as a data-analysis tool?)

• What is the difference between an “enumerative study” and an “analytical study”? Within your sub-discipline at Lawrence (e.g., economics or political science) or simply gauging from courses you’ve taken in other disciplines, which type of study (enumerative or analytical) is more common?

• What are the particular issues to consider when planning an enumerative study?

• What are the particular issues to consider when planning an analytical study

• In general, what are the authors’ suggestions in terms of planning and carrying out a study? Does implementing a well-designed study seem easy to do in practice?

• What questions do you have after reading the article?

• What did you find most interesting about the article?