Tag: masters

Data mining

So I’m playing around with Ohio’s data on school performance and lots of variables to see if there are any correlations for my statistics class’s final project. And to my (pleasant?) surprise I found out that there is correlation between teacher salary and the school’s performance indicator (a number the state comes up with for each school based on several qualifying factors). And it’s a positive correlation. OK, so it’s not as strong of a correlation as economic advantage or on percentage of white students (since standardized tests are usually written with the middle/upper class white student) but it’s statistically significant. So yeah, pay me more and my school will do better! 🙂

Here’s the graph:


Graphs are cool! I like graphs!

OK, back to number crunching!

A favor to ask of you…

For our Statistics class, we’ll be doing a statistical research project. One of my classmates is doing research on home schooling and has a survey that she needs respondents for. I did the survey myself and it didn’t take very long at all (she specifies 3-5 minutes, but it seemed shorter to me). If you’re willing and able, would you please fill out her survey to help with her project? The survey is completely anonymous (and she probably doesn’t know any of you anyway, heh).

http://homeschoolsurvey.questionpro.com/

Thanks in advance to those of you who’ve taken the survey!

(In my own project, I decided I’d wade through all of the Ohio Graduation Test/Ohio Achievement Test data and see what I could find. Should be, um, fun?)

Glad I got *that* out of my system!

For my Masters program this semester, I had to make a presentation either on Science & Religion or on Science & Policy. I’d been meaning, for some time, to tackle the so-called controversy over evolution but didn’t think I was ready for it. However, last week during our class’s discussions on science & religion, I decided I would do it. So I made a presentation on Impress (StarOffice/OpenOffice.org‘s presentation software) and uploaded it to Slideshare (sort of a YouTube for PowerPoints). And then posted it on my science blog for my classmates and anyone else to read it. Check out the entry with slide show here.

I’ve actually been updating my science blog each Wednesday since early February, which I’m very pleased about. I hope it’s something I can keep up. (I have two more misconceptions I want to cover in the next two weeks, so that’s April covered for the most part.) If you’d like to see the posts as they show up, I have created an LJ feed for the syndication: tls_scienceblog.

Spring Break ’08!

Although I had today off (being Good Friday and all that jazz) I didn’t feel like I’d started Spring Break until just a few minutes ago when I finally finished the third Data Analysis Exercise for my stats class. But it’s turned in, my proposal for my statistics final project is turned in (though originally I turned in a StarOffice file instead of Word document – whoops!) and I can now think a bit more about Spring Breaking!

I did sleep in today (well, til 8am – went to bed at the usual time last night since I was so tired) and talked dad in to buying Chinese Buffet for my lunch today. We also had a short stop at Walmart after lunch. But for the most part I’ve been in my library working on statistics. I’d been putting it off to get teaching stuff done last week and this week. The third quarter ended yesterday, so I’ve been trying to get caught up on grading. However, I have all of the quarter exams to grade and several retests for chemistry to grade (I had an Amnesty Day since some of the test scores this quarter were pretty low on average – I blame all the days off due to weather – or maybe lousy teaching, heh). Hopefully I’ll actually do them rather than let them sit there until Sunday night of next week. Heh. (One of my seniors predicted that and I suspect he’ll be right, procrastinator that I am.)

Anyway, back to statistics. I actually like doing the Data Analysis Exercises – number crunching has always been good to me. Indeed, I understand the exercises more than I understand the reading assignments. Well, at least I can use the tools to do the exercises and maybe understand what the numbers mean once they’re crunched. StarOffice Calc has been a godsend to me (as MS Exel would have been had I had it installed on any of my computers, which I don’t – ha!) but so have some nice websites which do statistical calculations which Calc can’t do. OpenEpi has been wonderful for ANOVA and t-test results. And today I found an Effect Size Calculator to calculate Cohen’s d. Joy joy. 🙂

I usually like to visit judiang during Spring Break since it always falls close to her birthday, but with my college work (much of which needs completed this next week) calling to me, I’m having to bow out of the visit. 🙁 Judi’s making me feel guilty, which she doesn’t need to since I already feel guilty. But all that guilt will probably result in a nice present for her, so she wins in the long run. Heh. Anyhoo, I’m sure she and elsaf will have a lovely time, if Elsa’s able to make it up there.

Tomorrow morning I’ll use one of my 15-day City of Heroin cards I got for Christmas to start up the addiction again. My only concern is that the game will completely sap my break such that I don’t get my college stuff done. I shall try to be strong. However, I’m itching so much to play again that I’ve got to do it. 🙂 I’ve already decided that the first toon I play will be my archer on the Freedom server – Pointed Stick. 🙂 Those 15 days have to last me until the end of the semester (April 28th or so) when I use the 30-day retail code for World of Warcrack. Ah, I’ve missed my little Elf and Dwarf hunters. (Not hunters of elves and dwarves, but hunters who are elven and dwarven.)

If I can tear myself away from CoH long enough tomorrow, I also intend to go to Fairborn for my Indian Fud/DWM run. Should be a nice day, even if the weather isn’t nice. (Of course, if the weather is really crappy, I’ll go to Fairborn another day of Spring Break.) Other plans for the break include FINALLY cleaning out closets and getting stuff together to take to auction, cleaning the house completely, reading, doing more college work, hanging out with the kitties, and whatever else I happen to think of doing. 🙂 Should be fun!

‘Tis Monday

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to all!  We actually had to go to work today, although the kids were off.  It was a Teacher Work Day and thankfully, we were left to work on our own most of the day.  Which is just as well, because I finished grades a few minutes after my “go home!” time came (and went).  But yay, first semester is OVAH and my grades are all in.  Feels great to be caught up!

It’s always hard to get my head around the end of the first semester – it always goes quicker than you expect.  And the second semester – I have this fear I’ll blink and it’ll be over.  And as fast as it goes for me, it’s even faster (though for some not fast enough) for my seniors.  They’re so close to “freedom” and “the real world” that they can taste it.  Ah yes, the joy of “freedom” and debt and responsibility and working and all that.  Basically, you know, life.  🙂

My college classes have begun – Statistics for Professionals and a Curriculum class.  Although we have a research project we’ll have to design and implement for the semester, I think (for now) that it’s do-able.  I’d like to do something regarding children’s science books (not text books – things like the Magic School Bus books in the US and Horrible Science books in the UK), but I don’t know yet what I want to do (or if I have the time to do it).  For the Curriculum class we’ll be designing a curriculum.  And I think I’ll be able to use this for a practical purpose.  Next year, I want to dust off dad’s Advanced Problems in Science course and teach it.  The Science and the Public program that I’m getting my Masters in will be a perfect focus for it.  The point of the course was basically to help kids get “science” and be better consumers.  So I’ll work on the curriculum for that class. (I even intend to use children’s science books in Advanced Problems.  Can the HS kids spot the bad science if there is some?  And how would you handle that with little kids for whom the book was written?)

Anyhoo, it’s nice, as I said before, to not be drowning at work.  Heck, I’m not drowning, I’m raving! 😉  (Hint, look at the song currently playing.)

A, eh?

I gotched an A in my Informal Science Learning class! Woohoo! Haven’t gotten the test results back from my Critical Thinking class (nor do we know who “won” the debate) but at least I know I got an A in the other class.

With regards to the Informal Science Learning class, LJ was able to fix my misspelling on my syndicated link for my Science Blog. tls_scienceblog now has an “n” in it! While you check it out, see what you think of my Theory vs Law article. (That one took FOREVER to write and even longer to read.)

Finito!

Yay! Just turned in my final exam to my Critical Thinking class. I felt better about it than I did about the midterm. (I knew there would be a lot of fallacy questions and questions of the criterion of adequacy, so I worked hard on those. And then almost forgot Straw Man. Sheesh.) Here’s hoping the answers I wrote indicate that confidence. (There’s at least one 0-pointer in the lot – maybe a second one that I waffled on.)

Anyhoo, it feels good to be done. Now I can get on with my “Winter Break.” Sure, I’m still teaching and all that, but at least now I can read for fun. Heh.

One Down, One to Go!

I have just turned in my final project for my Informal Science Learning class. Basically, I turned in a document directing the instructor to my science blog. In addition to the framing article and the Viral vs Bacteriological article, I finished up an entry on Centrifugal Force today. I hope it makes sense to a non-physics person! (Or even to a physics person.) It seemed clear in my brain after writing it, but I’m not sure how it is for other non-me people.

My other class, Critical Thinking, is also winding down. We’re in the middle of a debate. I’m in Team B of the debate. And although I was really worried if I’d even be able to come up with arguments when it was my turn to respond, I actually did spot some logic holes with which to exploit! I wrote up my argument this morning and afternoon, but I haven’t posted it yet – just waiting on some team members to respond to my suggested rebuttal before I do so. (Will probably post it in the morning.) I wound up with 7 references for the argument! (Thankfully, 3 were suggested by a teammate. But that means I found 4 on my own.) Once we finish the debate, we’ll have the final exam. I got a 74% on the midterm – I intend to do better on the final!

December 7th is the last day for our fall semester. Then we have until mid January until the next semester begins. I’m looking forward to the intellectual break. For one thing, I want to simply read in my library for pleasure for awhile. And I have my Sooper Seekrit Project which I’m working on for Christmas.

It feels good to be almost done. 🙂

Poll: Science Misconceptions – your opinion requested!

For my Masters class on Informal Science Learning, I have to make an informal science learning “thing” as my final project. I created my science blog for this purpose. Now that I’m working on the final project, I want to make some informal science learning posts to it. And I want to cover science misconceptions. Being physical science-oriented, I’ll probably focus on physics and chemistry questions. (However, my first one will be biological, thanks to a question a co-worker asked me recently.)

Since physics is so counter-intuitive, I’ll probably single it out more than the others. Still, I’m open for suggestions from you folks. I’ve created a poll to see what you think about some of my topic ideas. Vote on ones you’d like to see covered, or things that you think OTHER people really need to see covered. And if you have some ideas on what you wish someone would explain to you or to other people, comment on it and I’ll see what I can do.


Thank you for voting in this poll. And please tell friends to come and vote in it – the more feedback I can get, the more useful I can make my science blog (which I intend to keep going after this quarter is over).

The benefits of schooling

One of the benefits I’m discovering with my Masters program isn’t related to knowledge learned or an eventual pay increase. The benefit is quality time with my cats.

I like to work on my coursework on my laptop in my library. I can sit in my comfy chair and listen to quiet music while I read my documents, write in the forums, or work on my papers for class. And while I’m sitting in the comfy chair, I often receive visitors of the four-legged variety.

It’s nearly always Linus coming to sleep on me while I work. He’ll start by trying to sit on the laptop, but eventually the two of them (laptop & Linus) will come to an arrangement and he’ll finally curl up and sleep. Meanwhile, I learn new & exciting ways to type one-handed or with both hands but in uncomfortable positions.

Every so often, however, Lucy deigns to join us as well. Normally when she joins us, both Linus and the laptop have to be rearranged until she’s decided where she wants to sleep. Then Linus figures out where he wants to sleep. Finally, I have to figure out a spot to put the laptop.

I don’t mind their joining me one bit. I love having ’em on my lap while I work. Since most of the time I’m reading rather than writing, it’s not all that uncomfortable. And now, when I’m writing, Linus and the laptop have managed to accommodate my typing rather well. (OK, so my right arm is resting on Linus’s back, but he doesn’t seem to mind the movement of it.)

If anyone is interested, I have added a few more entries to my Science Blog related to my class. Feel free to read & comment. (I’m getting tired of deleting spam – I wanna see real people there! Heh!) Eventually, I’ll be working on the final project part of the Informal Science Learning class where I’ll make that blog into an Informal Science Venue itself. So hopefully soon you’ll have a chance to learn some science from me!

Anyhoo, back to scritching Linus and working on my coursework.