ALEKS Statistics and textbook?

[seanmathews]

So i am about to sign up for ALEKS and take Intro to Statistics, they have a list of textbooks that are possible to use with this course.

Anyone have feedback on a textbook that they liked? One thats a decent price and did a good job at explaining the content?

Or also, anyone use a textbook they hated and would not recommend?

While we are on the subject,
anyone have feedback on their experience taking Intro to Statistics?


Any feedback is appreciated!
Thanks!

[cookderosa]

you don't need a textbook for ALEKS. When you study, you can click on the "explain" button, and you'll get an elaborate step-by-step of how to solve the problem. You can print those out or write them down in a binder. Keep them on hand for your assessments. For additional study, you can watch the free Against All Odds series over at learner.org or you can watch free individual stats/prob videos over at Khan Academy.
The more that I think about it, I think that you'd probably be wasting your time with a text book, but if you want something to refer to, there are Dummies Guides or Idiots Guides that you can grab at your library to keep handy.

[seanmathews]

Thats exactly what i needed to hear! Thank you!
I would have only wasted like 5-10 bucks on an international addition, but like you said it's not necessary.

Lastly.. Calculator?

Specific kind?

[Daithi]

You don't need a calculator either. They have a software calculator built into their website, and they show you how to use it to solve the specific problems they are covering.

I'd also 2nd Jennifer's advice about not bothering with a textbook. I bought a Dummies Guide to Statistics, and then I came across a condensed Dummies Guide to Statistics and bought that one too. They were both a waste and extremely boring. I just used the explanations on the website.

[cookderosa]

You don't need a calculator either. They have a software calculator built into their website, and they show you how to use it to solve the specific problems they are covering.

I'd also 2nd Jennifer's advice about not bothering with a textbook. I bought a Dummies Guide to Statistics, and then I came across a condensed Dummies Guide to Statistics and bought that one too. They were both a waste and extremely boring. I just used the explanations on the website.

Yes, really the likelihood that a text book is going to be line-by-line helpful is unlikely. I think if you spend a bit of time in your class, you'll see what we mean by the explanations. That's really the "textbook" of sorts. If you find stats to be hard (you can search hear and you'll find lots of belly-aching threads about getting into the 50's and starting to get stuck- mine included) you can turn to those resources mentioned.

[JBtesc]

How long would you say it takes someone who is terrible at all math and has zero prior statistics education to get through it on Aleks?

(I want to only be on there for 1 month, and was thinking of doing the algebra there too. I'm also already doing some TESC courses and want to take at least one CLEP and maybe a DSST next month too, so have to do some studying for them as well, lol.)

...And you know, there's always room for F.E.M.A.S ...

[Daithi]

I'm not a complete dunce when it comes to math, but I'm not Leonhard Euler either. It took me about a week to do Intermediate Algebra, about ten days to do College Algebra, two weeks to do Statistics (I'd started knowing nothing), and about two weeks to do PreCalculus. I often worked 6 to 8 hours an evening and even longer on weekends to finish. On occasion I'd skip a day as well.

[ConflagrateCarl]

How long would you say it takes someone who is terrible at all math and has zero prior statistics education to get through it on Aleks?

(I want to only be on there for 1 month, and was thinking of doing the algebra there too. I'm also already doing some TESC courses and want to take at least one CLEP and maybe a DSST next month too, so have to do some studying for them as well, lol.)

...And you know, there's always room for F.E.M.A.S ...

I would like to say I'm not a complete dunce either when it comes to math. However, I can say it took me nearly 6 weeks to complete Intro to Stats. I had not been in school for a while, and hadn't completed any math courses for over 3 years, so a lot of it was new to me. I did not spend 4-6 hours a day doing it though. I imagine if I was doing that it would have taken a lot less time. I would get about an hour in at work throughout the day, and about an hour or so in during the evening at home. I would also try to get about 3 hours in on Saturday, and 2 hours on Sunday. I imagine if you do 4 hours a night during the week and 6-8 hours on Saturday, you could probably do it in 2-3 weeks. I personally was working Advanced Comp, and some other small courses, while studying for another IT certification, so that wasn't really doable for me! It just depends on your schedule and how much time you can invest!

[dposborne]

Lastly.. Calculator?

Specific kind?

Although the built in ALEKS calculator works, my TI Nspire CX CAS Graphing Calculator helped out immensely since it has a large number of Stat Templates and is completely programmable to do whatever else you need... I wouldn't buy one of these if you were only taking Statistics though due to the high price tag (I needed it for Calc I & II and Linear Algebra and it was a godsend for these classes as well). If you plan on taking other math, then this Calculator may be a worthwhile investment...