In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
dennis roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>At 07:55 PM 11/23/00 -0500, Herman Rubin wrote:
>>In article <8vk5h2$516l9$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
>>Li0N_iN_0iL <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>>Herman Rubin wrote:
>>>>anyone wanting to learn good statistics should not even
>>>>consider taking an "undergraduate" statistics course
>>>Nonsense.
>>Not only is that not nonsense, but it is quite difficult
>>to get students who have learned techniques to consider
>>what, if any, basis was behind those techniques.
>>Meaningful statistics is based on the concept of
>>probability, not the computation of probabilities, and
>>consideration of the totality of consequences.
>herman ... are you suggesting that we encourage students NOT to take any
>work of any type at the undergraduate level? just go from high school to
>graduate school?
Read what I wrote more carefully. BTW, one should go
from a good elementary school, where concepts are emphasized
instead of drill, to "rigorous" courses in all fields.
The word rigor is what is normally used, but it has nothing
to do with difficulty. It is the use of concepts and proofs,
not "this is how we get the answer".
>don't take calculus
Not as a manipulative course. The more manipulation, the
harder is becomes to understand what it means. To most of
those taking calculus not, a derivative or integral means
nothing more than what one gets by following the formal
procedures.
The problems start early; every additional thousand (no
exaggeration) arithmetic problems makes it harder to
understand that numbers are what have certain properties,
and that one can use them without knowing how to compute
the answers. The same holds for calculus, probability,
and statistics. Knowing how to calculate seems to be a
major problem for all except geniuses to understand, and
it is a problem there.
Why is it that schoolteachers are incapable of understanding
the structures and concepts which go with the various number
systems? Those who understand this can teach children, but
not most teachers or prospective teachers.
... or geography ... or intro humanities ... or english
>lit ... or physics ... or ????
It depends how it is done. If intro humanities starts
with honest history, now generally Politically Incorrect,
this is a good idea. But literature is, except for some
discussion of literary forms, entertainment and even more
so propaganda, and it should be considered such.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
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