Professor
James Sidanius
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Most Helpful Review
although his voice is quite boring and monotone, his lectures weren't all bad. i went to most lectures but also fell asleep a few times. he posts his powerpoint presentations the night before class so i usually printed them and wrote notes on them during lecture i started reading the book during first week but stopped because it seemed like he just repeats material from the book. i must admit that his multiple choice exams are quite tricky. it isn't too hard but the curve could mess you up. his grading is quite difficult as he uses zscores to determine your grade. the second half of the course is much harder though. i did not read anything and seemed to fall asleep more during his lectures. but just as long as you read his reader before the final you will be fine. the final is worth 50% so it is smart to at least cram anything you know. i had a B- going into the final and came out getting an A in the class. there are 3 quizes (highest two count), 1 midterm, and final. i learned that the harder the exam, the better chance you are going to get a better zscore and grade.
although his voice is quite boring and monotone, his lectures weren't all bad. i went to most lectures but also fell asleep a few times. he posts his powerpoint presentations the night before class so i usually printed them and wrote notes on them during lecture i started reading the book during first week but stopped because it seemed like he just repeats material from the book. i must admit that his multiple choice exams are quite tricky. it isn't too hard but the curve could mess you up. his grading is quite difficult as he uses zscores to determine your grade. the second half of the course is much harder though. i did not read anything and seemed to fall asleep more during his lectures. but just as long as you read his reader before the final you will be fine. the final is worth 50% so it is smart to at least cram anything you know. i had a B- going into the final and came out getting an A in the class. there are 3 quizes (highest two count), 1 midterm, and final. i learned that the harder the exam, the better chance you are going to get a better zscore and grade.
Most Helpful Review
Sidanius is great!!! I cannot believe how much more worthwhile his advanced statistics course was compared to the Statistics 100 series (not Psych 100 series, but Stats 100 series)!!!! Any student who takes this course, regardless of interest level, or mathematical ability, will leave the course with a much deeper understanding of statistics, and more importantly, how to use stats properly. The only thing I questioned about his teaching style was the calling on students thing. On the negative side, it is intimidating, and there were times when I was having a bad day and made myself look dumb by not being able to answer a basic question...but oh well. On the upside, it really helped me understand how well I was performing compared to the class, and also responses from students helped solidify concepts in my mind. Also, it's not a bad way to keep me on my toes ;-) The final exam was difficult, but fair. It is all a blur to me as I think about it now... At first glance, the midterm will look ridiculous...but when I think about it, it was well constructed for real-world application. He gives you pages and pages of SPSS output. He pretends that his computer is "broken" and blanks out numbers. You are then expected to come to a conclusion of the data by using basic concepts taught in the course. It really isn't that bad. I am sure next year he will be more specific about what he is asking. The reader is great, but does contain a lot of typos and mathematical errors. After completing this course, you will know how to compute and interpret multiple regressions in a variety of different contexts. You will also learn how to use SPSS which is a valuable asset. There were other topics that we unfortunately didn't cover (they were not in the syllabus) such as reliability, factor analysis, and basic non-parametric tests, but with the knowledge that I now have, I can easily learn that material. Also, the students in the class were very friendly. I have never taken a Psychology course before, and I was shocked at how different psychology students are (in a good way of course!) from math majors. Gerhard is also an excellent TA...not sure if he will TA the course next year, but he seems to know stats far better than any of my Statistics department TAs. I HIGHLY recommend this course to students interested in statistics, or students interested in pursuing graduate school in a social science. I also highly recommend taking this course with Sidanius. I laugh at how ironic it is that the Psychology department offers a statistics course more worthwhile than one offered by the Stats department. Kudos psychology department...shame on you stats department...
Sidanius is great!!! I cannot believe how much more worthwhile his advanced statistics course was compared to the Statistics 100 series (not Psych 100 series, but Stats 100 series)!!!! Any student who takes this course, regardless of interest level, or mathematical ability, will leave the course with a much deeper understanding of statistics, and more importantly, how to use stats properly. The only thing I questioned about his teaching style was the calling on students thing. On the negative side, it is intimidating, and there were times when I was having a bad day and made myself look dumb by not being able to answer a basic question...but oh well. On the upside, it really helped me understand how well I was performing compared to the class, and also responses from students helped solidify concepts in my mind. Also, it's not a bad way to keep me on my toes ;-) The final exam was difficult, but fair. It is all a blur to me as I think about it now... At first glance, the midterm will look ridiculous...but when I think about it, it was well constructed for real-world application. He gives you pages and pages of SPSS output. He pretends that his computer is "broken" and blanks out numbers. You are then expected to come to a conclusion of the data by using basic concepts taught in the course. It really isn't that bad. I am sure next year he will be more specific about what he is asking. The reader is great, but does contain a lot of typos and mathematical errors. After completing this course, you will know how to compute and interpret multiple regressions in a variety of different contexts. You will also learn how to use SPSS which is a valuable asset. There were other topics that we unfortunately didn't cover (they were not in the syllabus) such as reliability, factor analysis, and basic non-parametric tests, but with the knowledge that I now have, I can easily learn that material. Also, the students in the class were very friendly. I have never taken a Psychology course before, and I was shocked at how different psychology students are (in a good way of course!) from math majors. Gerhard is also an excellent TA...not sure if he will TA the course next year, but he seems to know stats far better than any of my Statistics department TAs. I HIGHLY recommend this course to students interested in statistics, or students interested in pursuing graduate school in a social science. I also highly recommend taking this course with Sidanius. I laugh at how ironic it is that the Psychology department offers a statistics course more worthwhile than one offered by the Stats department. Kudos psychology department...shame on you stats department...
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