Editing Statistics and Statistical Programming (Fall 2020) (section)

=== Weekly (minor) assignments ===

In order to support continuous progress towards the learning goals for the course, I have assigned some textbook exercises or a problem set ahead of every class. These assignments will provide the basis on which the teaching team will assess and provide feedback on your participation and engagement with the course material.

The first week or so of the course is textbook-focused to get us warmed up. Starting in week 2, we will do more statistical programming and apply the textbook concepts using R and RStudio. In general, we will cover the problem sets in the first session of the week and the textbook materials in the second session. 

==== Textbook exercises ====
The focus is on self-assessment of your understanding of the textbook material and you do not need to hand in anything. I expect that you will work on the exercises, review and discuss solutions, and submit any questions ahead of or during class. Please note that solutions to odd-numbered problems appear in the back of the book. The teaching team will distribute solutions to even-numbered problems as well.

==== Problem sets ====
The course will include problem sets and these may incorporate several kinds of questions:

* '''Statistics questions''' about statistical concepts and principles.
* '''Programming challenges''' that you should solve using R.
* '''Empirical paper questions''' about other assigned readings. 

For the problem sets, I ask that you submit your work [https://canvas.northwestern.edu/courses/122522/assignments via Canvas 24 hours before class] (i.e., Monday afternoon for our Tuesday class sessions). Details of exactly how this will work will be elaborated during the first class. For the programming challenges, you should submit code and text for your solutions (again, more on how later). If you get completely stuck on a problem, that's okay, but please provide whatever you have.

Problem sets will be evaluated on a complete/incomplete basis. Although the problem sets will not be assigned a letter grade, they are a central focus of the course and completing them will support your mastery of the material in multiple ways. Working through them on schedule will also make it possible for you to participate in the synchronous course meetings and online discussions of course material effectively. Your ability to do so will figure prominently in your participation grade for the course (see the section on grading and assessment below).