[nabs-l] Statistics Course

Sat Nov 12 19:34:58 UTC 2011

Hello Arielle,
I am taking an introductory stats course.  Do you know of a good online 
source for the critical value table that reads well with JAWS?  The one 
in my book is kinda hard to follow.  This stats stuff can be confusing.  
I am onto probabilities at the moment now.
Thanks,
Greg Wocher

Yesterday is forever gone, tomorrow may never come, today is the day of all days.

On 11/12/2011 12:49 PM, Arielle Silverman wrote:
> Hi all,
> As I said, I have taken two undergraduate and two graduate statistics
> courses. I agree that Braille textbooks are ideal, but I don't think
> Braille is the only way to learn the material. In fact, due to
> resource limitations at my university and some philosophical
> disagreements I had with my DSS office, I never had a Braille stats
> textbook, and I still did well in the course. For the first course I
> used E-text, and for the second course I used a recorded book from
> RFBD (now Learning Ally) on one of those old analog audiocassettes.
> Believe it or not, I had a better experience with the audio textbook
> than I did with the E-text, because some formulas and equations don't
> read properly with JAWS, but the RFBD reader was great at reading
> formulas and equations and describing diagrams. The secret when using
> an audio textbook is to take detailed notes, preferably in Braille on
> a slate or with a refreshable Braille notetaker like a Braille Note or
> Pac Mate. Copy down all the formulas you hear verbatim, so you can
> make yourself your own Braille equation book or file to study. Don't
> worry about proper Nemeth code; the key is to write it down in a way
> that makes sense to you, and that you can refer back to later. The
> same notetaking method is invaluable to use in class. In
> graduate-level stats, the textbook was optional and almost identical
> to the lecture material. I had a PDF copy of the text, but never read
> beyond the first chapter. (My sighted boyfriend didn't read the
> textbook either, and got a better grade in the class than I did :).
> I did my stats homework assignments on a regular computer in MS-Word,
> but used my Braille Note as a notepad to copy down data sets and to
> perform computations. Doing homework assignments on the Braille Note
> itself is also an option, although making your answers legible to a
> sighted grader requires some computer Braille knowledge, so I
> preferred to write my answers on the computer.
> Regarding an accessible stats calculator: again, I would recommend
> www.graphpad.com/quickcalcs/index.cfm
> It will do most introductory stat functions, is completely accessible,
> and is Web-based, so it can be used on your personal computer without
> having to purchase software. Despite the name, it is not graphical. In
> fact, I learned about it when I was a TA for a research methods course
> and my professor preferred teaching it rather than having our students
> learn a software application. If you are about to enroll in stats, I
> would suggest asking your professor if you can use Graphpad instead of
> whatever software program the rest of the class is using. If you are
> doing more advanced statistics work or analyzing your own data, you
> may want to invest in a software program. Both SAS and R are
> accessible, and R is free. (SPSS is more commonly used, but I have had
> some accessibility issues with it myself and I have heard conflicting
> things about whether newer versions are accessible). As a graduate
> student I got my department to buy and renew my SAS license so I can
> analyze my data, and I imagine most departments should be able to
> provide this accommodation especially if you are on a graduate student
> stipend.
> Finally, regarding those pesky graphs and diagrams: In my experience,
> graphs and diagrams are just one tool for understanding statistical
> concepts. Statistics itself is not a graphical field; performing
> statistical analyses requires the application of mathematical formulas
> but not the interpretation of graphs. Stats is taught to sighted
> students in a graphical way because this is the way many sighted
> people prefer to learn, but it is just one way of communicating the
> conceptual knowledge. Some blind students find the graphs helpful,
> while other blind students prefer to focus on the formulas and the
> mathematical side of things. Once you get beyond the first month of
> the course, it is mostly about doing a calculation and seeing if the
> number you get is greater than or less than another number you find in
> a table (called the critical value). This is relatively
> straightforward and requires no graphical information. By all means,
> though, if you are having trouble following the course or think a
> graph would be helpful, you should talk to your professor or teaching
> assistant in their office hours, or hire a tutor. Most professors and
> TA's would love to get more office-hour visits than they generally get
> in a semester.
> Again, I would be happy to talk one-on-one with anybody who is doing
> statistics or social science research, or to present about techniques
> for stats and research (including online and library research) at a
> NABS conference call or breakout session. Some of this stuff is better
> explained in person, but it is all important and relevant to most
> blind college students at some point in your career.
> Best,
> Arielle
>
> On 11/8/11, Marsha Drenth<marsha.drenth at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> I am currently enrolled in a statistics course. My college brailled the
>> necessary parts of the book that I needed. I could have not done it without
>> the book being brailled. So if I were to say the things that will make you
>> successful in a statistics course, are: brailled book, accessible statistic
>> calculater, and perhaps a tutor that can help you understand the graphics,
>> diagrams and the like. I would say, you will need to push your college or
>> university to Braille the book. Don't give up, because they will and can do
>> it. Mine said they could not, but I made a good case in that it would help
>> me understand the materials better.
>>
>> Good luck!
>> Marsha
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>> Of Miranda Morse
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2011 2:13 PM
>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nabs-l] Statistics Course
>>
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> For those of you have taken statistics, what is the best way to go about
>> doing that?
>>
>> Should I get the book in braille, hire a reader, or has anyone successfully
>> used a PDF format for this course.
>>
>> Miranda
>>
>>
>>
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