In-class guide
Throughout class, expect to make mistakes. Embrace it. Take risks and support others as they take risks. This is part of learning.
When you get stuck, speak up.
- As a first step, work through the issue with your group.
- As a second step, chat with the instructor.
- As a very last step, check the partial solutions in the online course manual. Iterating and making mistakes are part of learning, thus you should only consult these solutions once you’ve exhausted all other strategies.
- As a first step, work through the issue with your group.
To maximize collaboration and discussion (which are both critical to exploring the material), your group should try to stay in sync. This does not necessarily mean that you’ll work at exactly the same pace. Each of us has learning strategies, work styles, note taking strategies, etc that will contribute to different pacing. If you’re somebody that works fast, challenge yourself to slow down and explore each question in more detail - this is an opportunity to solidify your learning. If you’re somebody that likes to take your time, do not rush yourself – activities aren’t due at the end of class.
You’re encouraged to slow down to absorb the material. Don’t just go through the motions. Stop and think: “What’s the point here? What patterns are emerging? How does this connect to earlier material? What are the natural next steps?” When you finish an activity, reflect on the core ideas you’ve learned from the exercise and organize your notes.
After the first few weeks, we’ll use RStudio nearly every day in class. Here are some things to keep in mind.
- Our heavy use of RStudio reflects the emphasis that STAT 454 places on being able to apply Bayesian concepts.
- Just like any language, learning computer languages is challenging! Be patient with yourself and remember that making mistakes is necessary to learning.
- It’s neither important nor possible to memorize all RStudio code you might ever want to use. Much of the code we’ll be using is specialized. Rather than trying to memorize this code, there are 2 important skills to master:
- Recognize the general structure of and patterns in RStudio code.
- Know where to find help: Google, stackoverflow, RStudio help files…
Many activities will require the use of a laptop. Please be mindful of the fact that abusing the open laptop policy for non-class related activities detracts from your learning as well as the learning of those around you.