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| MEMO FROM: M. Millman TO: Math Faculty DATE: 1/5/98 RE: "Reform" of Statistics I You may recall my memo of 3/20/97, which criticized the "reform" of Statistics I by pointing out the impossibility of completing its syllabus in one semester. This new syllabus contains all the material of the old Statistics I plus all the material of Statistics II, with no increase in class time. The new course has now run for three semesters. Let's try to see what has happened in the classroom. If you look at the files that contain the ( cumulative ) final exams instructors are required to submit, you can review the final exams of the 44 sections of the new course taught thus far. Here is a quick summary of what you'll find: 1. 19 of the 44 final exams are missing ( including those of the course chairman ). 2. One quarter of the existing exams make no reference to any syllabus topic beyond Normal Distribution, which is lesson 17 out of 36. These instructors have apparently omitted lessons 18-36 due to lack of time. They seem to have completed substantially less than half the course. 3. Half of the existing exams do not show a syllabus topic beyond Confidence Intervals, lesson 21. This is where the old, unreformed, Statistics I used to terminate. These instructors have apparently omitted ALL of Hypothesis Testing ( lessons 22-36, i.e., roughly half the course ). Hypothesis testing is the heart of the subject, for those Math faculty not familiar with Statistics. 4. No exam shows a syllabus topic beyond t-test ( lesson 24 ). The vitally important topics of Correlation, Regression, Chi-Square tests and Analysis of Variance all appear to have been omitted by EVERY instructor. The new Statistics I syllabus and catalog description advertise the course content to be that of the old Statistics I plus all of Statistics II. But the final exams indicate that our classes have covered little more than half the course, and in many cases even less. What is still more regrettable is the fact that the course has been allowed to continue in this fashion for three semesters, to the detriment of some 1300 students. This is commonly referred to as FRAUD. It would thus appear to be our ethics, and not our curriculum, that is in need of reform. cc: Dean of Academic Affairs |
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