Hey, gang. I'm a pre-nursing student here currently running through my prerequisites before starting an Accelerated BSN program next January at Barnes-Jewish College in St. Louis. (I've already been accepted, pending completion of all the prereqs.)
The one that's making nervous is the elementary statistics class. I'm scheduled to take it this summer. What's got me slightly unsettled is it's been 20 years since I took and passed college algebra -- the prerequisite for this class. I did well enough in math in college, but I'm not exactly a math whiz. I emailed the professor who'll be teaching my stats class and asked him how important it is to have a strong background in algebra in order to succeed in stats. He said as long as I passed college alegbra, even if it was 20 years ago, I'd be fine. I also asked my cousin in Dallas, who's actually a stats major at a college there, how important an algebra foundation is to beginning stats, and he said he didn't think it was all that big a deal.
Question for the group is whether or not this jives with your experience....how much algebra, so to speak, do you use in stats? Any help or insight anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Hi - I took it last Fall and math is not my strong suit.
Our prof was awesome - made us a sheet with all the formulas, which made it way easier to understand than the calculator.
He also gave us his cell phone number and insisted that we call him from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. He helped me many times via phone. There were only 6 students too - that was great.
It is time consuming - some questions take 45 minutes apiece.
You can totally do it! I am a complete mathphobe, and I hate it to boot, hadn't taken math in years and I did it. If I can do it and get an A, anyone can, believe me!
A couple of suggestions:
Learn to use a good graphing calculator (calculators have come light years since you took alg 20 years ago!) The Texas 80-something series all practically do the work for you. I got a TI84 and it did everything but spoon feed me!
Many of the texts provide the calc instructions, or get a book like "Intro Stats using the TI 83" (or whatever) that details line by line. Or ask.
Order the "Standard Deviants" educational DVD series on Statistics from Netflix or the library. They are silly, but it is good reinforcement. Sometimes the DVD characters could explain something better than my instructor. They gave little tips and tricks for recalling things.
Seems simple, but do the homework and problems in the book! You would be surprised how many people don't understand. Duh.
Lastly, go for it. Just get it done. Someone mentioned that some instructors allow cheat sheets or notes. My instructor didn't, but I have heard some do. Given that you are taking a summer class, yours might. But you can do it in either case! Don't let it stop you.
I am taking Stats as my "easy A" class this semester. It really is not hard, as long as you can do simple math and use a calculator. Most formulas can be written down for tests, my proffessor just wants to see if we can get the placement of the data correctly. Go for it, you may like it!
vamedic4, EMT-P
1,061 Posts
You're welcome...and welcome to Allnurses.com!