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Sunny Saturday Afternoon
Apr. 3rd, 2004 02:34 pmI had a really great tutorial on Friday, the only one of the week that felt like it was worthwhile. One of the reasons it was great was that I actually had three people show up, a rarity at this point in the year when papers and upcoming exams tend to overwhelm optional (i.e. no attendance, no marks) tutorials. The other reason I enjoyed it was that I finally figured out what the students don't understand from this part of the course. On the downside, what the students don't understand is how to read and calculate percentages from a contingency table, an important skill that's going to be worth about ten marks on their final exam. They also seem to be a bit fuzzy on regression analysis, but I expected that. Why, you might ask, is regression analysis being inflicted on first year students? I've been wondering the same thing myself. I'm feeling a little guilty now that I didn't go through cross-tabs in more detail with the three people who showed for tutorials earlier in the week. I'll try to make it up for on Tuesday during the review session, but it's hard to quiz them individually when there are nearly 600 students in the room.
The rest of the weekend will be split between writing a paper on the sociology of science, prepping for the Tuesday Night Review (we're really hoping they give us a cordless microphone so that we can wander the audience and play talk show during the question period), and reading through the section in my notes on hierarchical linear modelling once more so that I can decide whether it might be worth tackling the third stats assignment after all. I may also try to slip a little socializing in there. I recently began laying the groundwork for Plan "Re-establish Relationships with the Friends Who Are Convinced I was Abducted by Aliens Several Months Ago" by making tentative contact with a few of the most neglected. It's a bit premature yet since I probably won't have time to see them until next month, but I've been feeling a little impatient lately. I just want to get the current load of work done so that I can have some semblance of a life again (or as much of a life as any grad student can reasonably expect).
The rest of the weekend will be split between writing a paper on the sociology of science, prepping for the Tuesday Night Review (we're really hoping they give us a cordless microphone so that we can wander the audience and play talk show during the question period), and reading through the section in my notes on hierarchical linear modelling once more so that I can decide whether it might be worth tackling the third stats assignment after all. I may also try to slip a little socializing in there. I recently began laying the groundwork for Plan "Re-establish Relationships with the Friends Who Are Convinced I was Abducted by Aliens Several Months Ago" by making tentative contact with a few of the most neglected. It's a bit premature yet since I probably won't have time to see them until next month, but I've been feeling a little impatient lately. I just want to get the current load of work done so that I can have some semblance of a life again (or as much of a life as any grad student can reasonably expect).
