[Blindmath] [Blind math] Statistics Courses

Tue Apr 23 00:08:46 UTC 2013

Arielle et al.,

I agree with the main point in your message. Yes a student taking a single
course in statistics should be using whatever gets the job done the easiest.
If that means using Excel then so be it, but many of the add-on packages
that university courses use are not so easily used in practice.

With respect to your comments about learning curves, I think the steepness
of any learning curves must be linked to the person's own experiences. I
just finished teaching a statistics module to engineering students with R as
our main software. The effort required for those students was fairly minimal
because they have had experience with similar software and some programming
coursework to call on. I would have struggled to teach them much had we
tried to use SAS instead. I see many instances where a postgrad student is
told to use a particular software tool by their supervisor and end up
wishing they hadn't. All too often I see the damage done when people use SAS
when a simpler option would have served them better. 

As yet, I don't see many people in the same boat having been forced to use
R. Time will tell of course because I believe that once the supervisors
start to use R instead of other options, the same problems will eventuate.

The problem for any intending statistics student is that we meet every
access problem students can ever face. Courses use printed texts,
inaccessible online teaching environments, inaccessible software, and blind
students who lack sufficient braille will struggle to write anything down
for themselves that their lecturers can read. Much of our work is conveyed
in non-textual form and reading the work of others and checking our own is a
nightmare. I could go on... 

Jonathan

-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
Silverman
Sent: Tuesday, 23 April 2013 11:18 a.m.
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Statistics Courses

For an intro-level course I would recommend either using Excel or using a
free online calculator called GraphPad Quickcalcs:
http://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=1696&d=pcX10cmJJAGxxtf_ZvCX-Q-Jg0WwZS_zQVhx
b6EDQw&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2egraphpad%2ecom%2fquickcalcs%2f

Both Excel and GraphPad will be able to perform all but the most advanced
procedures used in an intro-level course, and at least for psych stats,
calculations are usually done by hand at the intro stage anyway. GraphPad
also includes some built-in educational materials which will help you
interpret the statistics it gives you.
If you are taking multiple stats courses or planning to analyze your own
data, then it might be wise to learn R, SAS or SPSS. R is both free and
accessible, but it has a steep learning curve. SPSS is easier to learn, but
less accessible and it is not free. SAS is fully accessible, moderately easy
to learn and is not free.
If you are doing your own research you can probably get disability services
or your department to buy the license for SAS or SPSS, or you can learn R.
Anyway, I don't recommend using specialized software unless you are planning
to study statistics for more than one semester or doing your own research.
If you are just taking one course for a requirement, and not getting past
the intro level, then Excel or GraphPad will be fine.

Arielle

On 4/22/13, Greg Wocher <icewolf2011 at gtwebdesign.us> wrote:
> Hello,
> When I took my stats for business decision making I was able to do the
> class with Excel.    I found it to be a bit easier than some other forms
> of math.  My biggest problem was that the school I attend uses 
> Piersons Math Lab for there online courses.  I had to have a reader for
that part.
>
> Greg Wocher
>
> Follow me on Twitter @GWocher
>
> On 4/21/2013 2:11 PM, Chasity Jackson wrote:
>> Hello. My name is Chasity and I am new to this list. I joined because 
>> I will be taking a statistics course soon, and I was wondering, for 
>> those of you who have previously taken one, what were your 
>> experiences? Did you find it relatively easy or more difficult? What 
>> were the challenges for you as a blind person in that course? I am 
>> looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks.
>> Chasity
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