Spring 2014 Comment Report - Scot McNary - 6/4/2014

Spring 2014 Comment Report

SCOT MCNARY
Course Sections
A

EDUC 715 (101): STATS/RESRCH DESIGN& ANA

EDUC 761 (101): RESEARCH IN EDUCATION / ISTC 685 (101): RESRCH IN ISTC

ISTC 685 (211): RESRCH IN ISTC

What did you like about this course?

A

Dr. McNary did a fantastic job explaining all of the concepts in class.
Dr. McNary is clearly an expert at this 700 level of quantitative statistics. He is approachable and provides the necessary support in
a timely manner. Opportunities to improve grades by re-doing assignments is a way to reduce math anxiety. The learning
environment is very positive. I feel proficient in the following areas: Probability Distribution The Normal Distribution/ Sampling
Distributions Estimation Hypothesis Testing Effect sizes; Sample Size Estimation One way ANOVA Two way ANOVA
Focused on why statistics were used rather than just how the formulas work.
It is clear that the professor wants us to learn the material, and it is unimportant whether we learn it the first time, or on subsequent
attempts. As a learner, this allowed me to relax and feel comfortable taking risks and making attempts at work, even if I didn't quite
understand it on the first attempt. Scot's easy going and gentle demeanor helped transform intimidating material into manageable
concepts.
My favorite part of this course was the opportunity to learn about the SPSS software while simultaneously learning new statistical
concepts through our lessons and homework. The software was not only integrated in our homework assignments, but also in our
classroom activities and discussions. It allowed us to actively engage in statistical analysis of real world data and, as class
,interpret the meaning and significance of our findings. This not only helped me to learn the concepts, it also allowed me to learn
about new topics and concepts in the field of education. For me, when it comes to math, it's critical for me to see the real world
purpose and value to truly maintain interest in it, and the professor far exceeded my expectations.
The overall connection to real-world and relevant interests.
We had opportunities to do assignments and fix them so that we could ensure we understood the material. Dr. McNary is great
about giving feedback and taking time to explain concepts until we all understand it.

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Spring 2014 Comment Report - Scot McNary - 6/4/2014

What did you like about this course?

B

Dr. McNary was so knowledgeable and engaging!

Great instructor, very knowledgeable and helpful with assignments.
I liked many things about this course. First, I found Dr. McNary to be funny and engaging. His real-world examples made the text
book easier to understand. On the first night of class, he told us that the class would be a lot of work and I appreciate his honesty
about the work-load. We really dug deep into the research process and I have a new understanding of research methods, designs,
etc.
Instructor was extremely helpful and guided everyone in understanding how to create a research proposal.
It has helped to shape my understanding so that I may be able to perform my own research in the future.
It was very well structured. Personally it was a tough course for me. But Dr . McNary was very passionate of teaching this course
and explained the concepts very well. His teaching method was appropriate and helpful.
N/a
The instructor was EXTREMELY excited about his area of expertise and his attitude was infectious (in a good way)
The openness between the professor and the class when discussing assignments and when needing help.
While it may have not been the most interesting topic initially, the professors enthusiasm and content knowledge made it a great
course. I am almost done my major now but wish I would have had more professors like him along the way that truly cared about
what they taught and seeing that I progressed as a student.

-Applicable to my current job -Teacher was highly knowledgeable, approachable, and personable. -Enthusiastic about his content
and communicated that enthusiasm to the students.
Flexibility in working with a partner/group on proposal project.
He was helpful.
I had taken this course a couple years ago for another master's program with Scot. He was willing to work with me to create an
independent study so that I wouldn't have to take the exact same class over again. I was able to complete the requirements, but
extend my knowledge because he went above and beyond to allow me to do a special project.
I learned information I have not learned before.
I liked that the assignments challenged me but allowed me to work with a partner of my choice to create the final proposal.
I liked the demonstrations in class the best, like the one with the marbles and the one about ranking food preferences. For me,
those were what made it easier to understand all of the technical terms and concepts. I think that there should be more of those.
Nothing, absolutely nothing

What could be improved about this course?

A

I would have liked to have more examples used that are based in education.
Syllabus is in Word format only. Suggestion: Offer syllabus in HTML and make it display in the online classroom on a Syllabus
page. Suggestion: Identify assessment criteria for assignments. In this way, students can use the criteria as a guide when
completing assignments. Consider opportunities to improve the use of online course management system for the course. For
example, list the title and a description of each of the resources; rather than only including the file name as the hyperlink to the
content. Some course assignments were taken directly from the course texts. That was the only purpose for the course texts for
those who do not use SPSS. Suggestion: Write assignments that do not rely upon course texts.
Reference guides. A step-by-step guide analyzing which statistical methods are appropriate given different experimental methods /
priorities.
It would have helped me if, included in the "assignments due" column of the syllabus, the professor also included the online
discussion boards (for the weeks that we had them).
I would rather have had this as 2 classes per week, rather than a single 2.5 hr class. It would have been better to space out the
lessons and that would have given me more time to process the new lessons and concepts.
It's just a difficult class with the content.

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Spring 2014 Comment Report - Scot McNary - 6/4/2014

What could be improved about this course?

B

Nothing.
Previous research courses did not prepare you for this course well enough, a great amount of new and challenging information.
Too many assignments along with a large final project. Some discussion boards posts were very helpful and some were not.
I wish we did not have so much work. I spent so much time working on assignments for this class that I feel I have not spent
enough time with my family during this semester. One less article review would be perfect!
Midterm was quite difficult.
I think there should be a statistics prerequisite prior to taking the class. Understanding stats was very challenging.
I liked it as is.
N/a
The textbook was very expensive.
Nothing.
There is a lot of work at the end of the quarter. I wish the summary of resources was checked in the middle of the course.
I would assign the research summary earlier in the semester, it would be more helpful during the research process.

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Spring 2014 Comment Report - Scot McNary - 6/4/2014

What could be improved about this course?

C

-Article Review #2 seemed excessive and unnecessary. But the time we completed it, we already needed to demonstrate mastery
of those skills in order to complete the final research project. The skills were redundant, and the assignment greatly increased our
workload at the time we needed to/wanted to be putting all of our focus on completing the big project. As a group, we tried to
negotiate this assignment with Scot, unsuccessfully, on several occasions. Our cohort consists of all full-time teachers who are
graduate students and have families and other responsibilities. It's the year of Common Core curriculum implementation and
MAJOR changes in our school system, and this assignment seemed to serve no purpose other than to load up our already full
plates.
The discussion boards are time consuming and too frequent.
I think for the future each section of the final proposal should be gone over. It was very difficult to write the proposal because I
didn't understand what all the sections meant. I had to spend more time researching what to put in each section then actually
writing the proposal. We didn't discuss the data analysis section until the 3rd to last class. By that point we had to have our
proposal written for a peer review. All the sections should have been gone over much sooner than that. The other thing that should
be improved is the Midterm. We learned about reliability and validity in this course and his midterm was neither. It was impossible
to complete the test with the help of the book or notes. Several questions were no where in the text or the notes. I had to Google
certain questions because they were never discussed in class or read in the book.
Don't require the book by Patten-not useful. Have teacher notes on the PowerPoint slides to benefit visual learners who want to
review class presentations of material.
I felt that I didn't use the Patten textbook as much as I had hoped to for the money I spent on it. I felt that the Gay textbook was the
only one that was truly necessary to use. I also thought that some of the midterm questions were not covered as clearly in class as
I would have liked. Article #1 literature review should have been later in the semester after we covered some of the content. It was
difficult to write because it was asking us to answer questions that I hadn't learned yet.
I think that the second article review should be moved to earlier in the semester- maybe just before the midterm. I understand why
it is a valuable assignment, but there were too many things due at one time at the end of the semester. I felt that the expectation to
get everything done near the end was a bit unrealistic. Also, I did not like that people working in groups ended up with a lighter
work load. I felt that something should have been done to compensate for people working alone so that they didn't have a higher
workload than people who were dividing everything. I chose to work alone because no one else was interested in my topic.
where to begin...this course has absolutley nothing to what we will be doing in professional practice. Instead it should be about
teaching kids how to conduct research. Essentially, this course is Thesis part 1.The instruictor was inflexible. Those of us working
solo has 2 to 4x the work of others working in groups! No modifications were made. That is ridiculous and antitheitical to good
teaching. Fair does not mean same.
The assignment due date schedule needs to be readjusted. There are way too many assignments due at the end of the semester.
Also, the grading for the Article Review seem very subjective. There should be a clear rubric stating your expectations. The review
for the midterm is unnecessary. I spent many, many hours completing the review and it did not help me at all on the actual
midterm. During the semester I attended every class, took notes, and read the text; however, I still found I had to literally utilize
Google in order to answer some of the midterm questions. Some of the content on the midterm was not covered in class or in the
text.
There were two texts needed and they were very costly. One book was never used and the other book helped me teach myself.
The instructor spoke above my head so I needed to look up everything. Also what he did discuss was not on assignments or not
spoken about when needed for an assignment so I had to read the text for everything as well as use the internet to look things up!

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Spring 2014 Comment Report - Scot McNary - 6/4/2014

Would you recommend this course to others?

A

(Yes (please explain why)): I've had undergrad research stats courses. This course clarified a lot of concepts that I vaguely
understood from my undergraduate experience.
(Yes (please explain why)): Scot managed to convince me of the potentials of quantitative research in Education. Considering the
large bias I tend to hold against it, that was a rather significant feat :) . Thanks, Scot!
(Yes (please explain why)): The class was interesting because it applied statistical concepts to real world situations, which makes it
interesting even to people who don't have a strong passion for math (like myself). The professor broke down the concepts in easy
steps, which helped all of us to understand the more complex topics. He encouraged participation and was always willing to
answer questions during the break, after class, or in an appointment. His enthusiasm for the subject matter, and for teaching it to
us, made the class enjoyable and worthwhile.
(Yes (please explain why)): It's required and Dr. McNary tries to make it as easy as possible.
(Yes (please explain why)): Dr. McNary is extremely knowledgable and helpful. You can tell he loves what he teaches and wants to
share that love. He was fair to all students and attempted to provide course instruction at a level which was appropriate for the
learners,

(Yes (please explain why)): It is interesting and helpful. More importantly, the things I learned could be generalized to most fields of
study.
(Yes (please explain why)): Yes, for the reasons why I liked this course listed above.
(Yes (please explain why)): I enjoyed my time in this class, despite the overwhelming amount of work. This is one class where I felt
is was necessary to have on-campus meetings because Dr. McNary's real-world examples and our in-class discussions really
helped me understand the concepts. I do not think I would have gotten as much knowledge/understanding out of the class had it
been strictly online.
(Yes (please explain why)): It was interesting and professor was helpful.
(Yes (please explain why)): You learn valuable skills in understanding and conducting research.
(Yes (please explain why)): It is a required course and helped me in understanding how to conduct good research.
(Yes (please explain why)): Great course for learning how to form a research proposal.
(Yes (please explain why)): I would recommend this course only if they had this professor

(Yes (please explain why)): This class wasn't in my comfort zone as far as content, but if I had to take it, I'm glad Scot McNary was
my teacher.
(No (please explain why not)): This course was not necessarily related to elementary and middle school school students. It was
difficult to see its application in my career.
(Yes (please explain why)): It's a good course to teach you how to do a full research report. Although it's not a common skill
needed for teaching or for library media, it's a good skill to know.
(Yes (please explain why)): If you like reasearch or statistics, you will like this course.
(Yes (please explain why)): I would recommend it, but only if you are prepared to work your ass off.
(No (please explain why not)): See above

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