Teaching: Loyola Department of Political Science
PLSC 101: Introduction to American Politics (Syllabus, Fall 2018)
PLSC 392: Environmental Politics and Policy (Syllabus, Fall 2018)
Students can find course materials, resources, and assignments on Sakai.
Dr. Condon's Tips For Success in Statistics
Chance favors the prepared mind. – Louis Pasteur
Acquiring professional-level expertise in quantitative methods is a challenging undertaking. Quantitative methods courses in the social sciences are about critical thinking at their core, but you will use some math. For many students, that can feel daunting because of unpleasant experiences with quantitative learning in the past or a gap of several years since a last quantitative course. While not all students feel this way, these reactions are very common, and success will come from dealing with them head-on and using some basic strategies and best practices. Here is my advice:
PLSC 101: Introduction to American Politics (Syllabus, Fall 2018)
PLSC 392: Environmental Politics and Policy (Syllabus, Fall 2018)
Students can find course materials, resources, and assignments on Sakai.
Dr. Condon's Tips For Success in Statistics
Chance favors the prepared mind. – Louis Pasteur
Acquiring professional-level expertise in quantitative methods is a challenging undertaking. Quantitative methods courses in the social sciences are about critical thinking at their core, but you will use some math. For many students, that can feel daunting because of unpleasant experiences with quantitative learning in the past or a gap of several years since a last quantitative course. While not all students feel this way, these reactions are very common, and success will come from dealing with them head-on and using some basic strategies and best practices. Here is my advice:
- If math gives you a bit (or a lot) of anxiety, think about this course as a chance to overcome it. You should know that numerous studies show very little relationship between math ability and math anxiety. In fact, often, students with great potential have a great deal of anxiety about math and end up avoiding it for that reason. Like anything (spiders, heights, or public speaking) avoidance leads to more anxiety. Think of this class as a way to stop avoiding something that makes you nervous (and come talk to me about it!)
- Ask your questions when you have them, and think of asking a question as an important service to your classmates. No matter how basic, someone else in the class probably has the same question. If not, everyone will benefit from taking a second to clarify a new idea or something that was gone over too quickly. Helpful questions can be as basic as: “I think I need an example.” or “I didn’t catch that. Could you go over it again?”
- The public service sector is in great need of leaders who can deal with quantitative data and help use it to make wise decisions. Think of the hard work you are doing to acquire these skills as a form of public service in itself.
- For quantitative material, it can be extremely helpful to study in groups AND alone.
- Read the material and write down a few questions before each class session.
- Review as you go prior to the midterm and final. Saving all of your studying for the week before the exam works in some subjects, but in a statistics course it can be overwhelming and unproductive.
- Be aware that reading a statistics textbook should take you significantly more time than reading the same number of pages in another kind of book. Give yourself time, and don't be discouraged if you move slowly. Take that as a sign that you are doing it right.
- Think like a musician – how nervous would you be on concert day if you’d spent all of your practice time at a desk reading over sheet music? When you study, re-work problems and re-do tasks, don’t just read over your notes.
- Think like a musician #2 - mastery of these skills only happens when you put in the work and practice. Set yourself up for success by building regular time to do coursework in your busy schedule.
