The course isn't a particularly difficult course, that is if the course coordinator had any idea what they're doing. Professors are routinely asked to remove review days to pack in more content before a midterm. All of the largest homework assignments and computer projects are always due the night before midterms, which is just poor coordination and only aids in stressing students out more. My professor's lectures were scattered at times and never any more useful than the $35 online textbook we use throughout the year. The textbook is great and explains things well, it fills in the gaps for the professors.

Not sure I'll apply any of this unless I was studying data science or any other statistical field. Just a bunch of copying and pasting code.

My professor was kind of hard to follow in lectures and seemed scattered at times. I would give them the benefit of the doubt as they're a new professor because they were extremely helpful with specific questions.

I wish I knew the reputation this course has, every student I have ever asked about this course has said "oh that sucked" or something similar. It's just a well-known bad course.

I managed to do better when I stopped going to class. Professor Xing does not lecture in person, instead choosing to structure lecture like a recitation over videos she posts online. I found myself learning more with the videos online (myself) and then using outside resources to supplement the course. It says it is an R heavy course, to which only the first and last 2 units are R-heavy. I personally did not benefit from learning in this “reverse” model where the lecture was online and then her “lecture” was an in-person recitation. Online and in-person sections have the same material, even the same Brightspace and TAs. I would highly recommend just saving some trouble and taking the course online.

Content of the class provided a mix of statistical theory with minimal R interpretation (except for the last few units). Homework is where most of the application-based content is. Quizzes are weighed heavily (so do well on the exam), and are a mix of specificity and application-based problems. Quizzes range from medium-hard level of difficulty. Course content isn’t really too useful except for understanding the statistical tests used in scientific papers. If you’re hoping to get better at coding with R, this is not the course for that. Minimal “useful” coding is done, and R tutorials are not emphasized in most homeworks and quizzes.

Pros: Homework has bonus points assigned, and that is helpful towards the final grade. Professor Xing also is pretty good at answering discussion post questions in a timely manner. Cons: She does not actually lecture in person, and is quite robotic. Her videos are scripted; you can look in the PowerPoint speaker notes to find exactly what she is saying. Lectures in person are literally just a worksheet that is based on the slides, and she tells you all answers can be found in the slides. She will stand up front and just tell you to partner up with someone to figure it out, and that is the entirety of lecture. Hence, I stopped going. Worksheets were only helpful for one assignment; everything else you’re pretty much on your own. She also writes on these worksheets with the sloppiest handwr...read more

This course has a very heavy workload simply because you need to do a lot of work on your own to understand material and do well. Take it in a lighter semester where you have to devote some time to this class. You will be teaching yourself most of it. Save yourself some trouble from an awful lecturer and just take the course online; there is no difference except she would be there in person to answer questions. If you’re worried about this, she keeps a discussion board open for all sections, so you’re not missing much by attending class.

No need to come to class. I managed to do better when I stopped going to class. Professor Xing uses a reverse model where the lecture videos are actually online, and the in-person section is a worksheet that is not graded. The way she runs the worksheets is that, at least the lectures I go to, the worksheet is posted online and she just tells people to partner up and discuss the worksheet. She does answer questions if you have them, but she also runs an online discussion board that is useful if you do have questions. I found myself learning more with the videos online on my own time and then using outside resources to supplement the course. It says it is an R heavy course, to which only the first and last 2 units are R-heavy. I personally did not benefit from learning in this “reverse” mod...read more

Content of the class provided a mix of statistical theory with minimal R interpretation (except for the last few units). Homework is where most of the application-based content is. Quizzes are weighed heavily (so do well on them). The final is pretty difficult and weighted less than the quizzes. Quizzes and the final are a Mix of memorization and application-based problems. Course content isn’t really too useful except for understanding the statistical tests used in scientific papers. If you’re hoping to get better at coding with R, this is not the course for that. Minimal “useful” coding is done, and R tutorials are not emphasized in most homeworks and quizzes.

Pros: Homework has bonus points assigned, and that is helpful towards the final grade. Professor Xing also is pretty good at answering discussion post questions in a timely manner. Cons: If you want an actual lecture, the in-person section is not for that. She is quite robotic and repetitive, and more in-depth explanations are not really given in class. Her videos are scripted; you can look in the PowerPoint speaker notes to find exactly what she is saying. Lectures in person are literally just a worksheet that is based on the slides, and she tells you all answers can be found in the slides. She will stand up front and just tell you to partner up with someone to figure it out, and that is the entirety of lecture. Hence, I stopped going. Worksheets were only helpful for one assignment; eve...read more

I wish I had listened when people said take it in the summer. This course has a very heavy workload simply because you need to do a lot of work on your own to understand material and do well. Take it in a lighter semester where you have to devote some time to this class. You will be teaching yourself most of it. Save yourself some trouble from an awful lecturer and just take the course online; there is no difference except she would be there in person to answer questions. Do not be worried about your ability to ask questions on the online section. She keeps a discussion board open, and she will answer your question to the same ability as she can in person. Professor Xing is not there to actually teach. She just gives material.

For a class that touts itself as being rooted in coding, i.e. RStudio, I have used the program sparingly. In all of the homework assignments, quizzes, and Exams, I can count on my fingers the number of times I have actually had to code. Instead, the class is required to calculate these long, abstract statistical formulas by hand despite R being the supposed focus. In the real world where biological statistics is actually practiced, everything is done through coding instead of by hand. I wish we had actually used R more often because then it would have been conducive to my learning and work experience. The online lectures are slow, painful, and messy. The lectures do not feel like they have a linear flow, instead its like trying to pick and choose pieces of scattered information. The given...read more

I have taken multiple statistics courses over my time at Purdue. I have even already taken a VERY similar course through another department which covered the same material in a more linear, cohesive manner, with competent lectures and slides, and a focus on RStudio and using it to its maximum. My only reason for taking this course was to get the 500-level credits, otherwise I would have never taken this course since I have already learned and applied (both in class and in jobs), the same material.

She seems nice.

Don't take this class unless absolutely necessary. If you have already taken a statistics course specific to your department, stay in it and do not take a course in the STAT department. The manner of learning and application do not overlap nor transfer. Each department wants statistics done their own specific way and it is in your best interest (for mental health and sanity), to not learn it another way when it could jeopardize your GPA, schedule, personal free time, and sanity. Never in my life have I despised a course as much as this one.

Don’t take it! It’s useless

Ridiculous and trivial content which will not assist any students within their work!

I guess she is the only one whom all students agreed that she provides the worst course ever! I am happy that I am done with this hell but if I can bring back time, I would have taken another course instead of it! I heard some rumors about her for being so stiff with students although they understand nothing of her course 😅!

Take another Stat course

Awful course and the instructor knows nothing of statistics! Never imagined to see many texts in a math-based course! Worst thing is that she makes mistakes in teaching, lecture content, even tutorials but she is so harsh in grading! Her TAs are even worse than her!

Basics of statistics which help in nothing but deducting the GPA! I feel sorry that it’s a required course for graduation! I believe its quality is meant for failing students and make them suffer! If she refrains us from her low quality content and leave this course for professionals who know how to deliver information properly, it would be a blessing!

She knows nothing of teaching nor proper communicational skills with students! One wonders how come Purdue approved her being a tutor! All students are complaining about her!

Don’t take this course unless you want to challenge yourself mentally and emotionally!