Syllabus: Stat 202 Spring 2015 - Revision history

Carver at 03:03, 18 May 2015

2015-05-18T03:03:38Z

Carver at 20:31, 12 January 2015

2015-01-12T20:31:02Z

Carver at 20:15, 12 January 2015

2015-01-12T20:15:01Z

Carver at 20:13, 12 January 2015

2015-01-12T20:13:42Z

Carver at 18:13, 11 January 2015

2015-01-11T18:13:47Z

Carver at 17:03, 11 January 2015

2015-01-11T17:03:07Z

Carver at 13:59, 11 January 2015

2015-01-11T13:59:56Z

Carver at 13:58, 11 January 2015

2015-01-11T13:58:54Z

Carver at 13:55, 11 January 2015

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Carver at 13:51, 11 January 2015

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← Older revision		Revision as of 03:03, 18 May 2015
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	<big> '''Basic Statistics (Stat 202) Section 001''' </big>		<big> '''Basic Statistics (Stat 202) Section 001''' </big>
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		+	[[Materials:_Stat_202_Spring_2015\|('''Class materials''')]]

	'''Instructor:''' <big> Sean Carver, Ph.D., </big> Professorial Lecturer, American University.		'''Instructor:''' <big> Sean Carver, Ph.D., </big> Professorial Lecturer, American University.

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 '''Academic Integrity:'''  ''Cheating is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.''  Consider this:  in subtle ways, cheating to get a better grade on an exam can result in ''lowering'' the grades of some of your classmates.  Certainly this is true when a specific curve is used to assign grades.  Even when I don't use curves explicitly, they can be implicit in decisions about writing and grading exams.  As required by the policy of American University, I will report '''all''' suspected cases of cheating to the Dean's office who will proceed to investigate and adjudicate the issues.   Cheating is giving or receiving unauthorized assistance on exams, from other students or other people, from notes, from books, or from the web.  When inappropriate copying between students is caught, both parties may be culpable.
-'''Homework, Attendance and Participation Policy:'''  Usually I award a maximum of 10 points for each homework set, due one week after it is assigned.  Additionally I award 5 points per day for class attendance.  I like to give the solutions to homework problems at the same time I assign the problems.  Conscientious students, who wrestle with problems before looking at the answers, benefit from having instant feedback about their solutions, right, wrong, or incomplete.  Less conscientious students who use the answers to easily complete the assignments often do poorly on exams.  The responsibility for your education rests in your own hands.  Don't be one of the outliers who use shortcuts to avoid preparing for the exams.    Concerning homework, you are encouraged to work with your classmates, if you find that helpful.  In fact, you are encouraged to do whatever you find most helpful with the homework, but by turning in a solution to a problem, you pledge that you understand the solution, or that you talked to me in office hours or during or after class and made a good faith effort to understand how to do the problem.   If it looks like you got the full benefit from the assignment, I will award you a perfect 10 points.  I may mark you down if it seems that you have copied the answers without including any of the required calculations.  You must include your work.  One more thing about homework: you can turn in your homework by showing me your solutions during office hours or during active-learning periods of class, or after class.  Some students prefer to turn in their work this way because they prefer not to tear pages from their notebooks.  I prefer this method, too, because I can interact with students as I look over their assignments.
+'''Homework, Attendance and Participation Policy:'''  Usually I award a maximum of 10 points for each homework set, due one week after it is assigned.  Additionally I award 5 points per day for class attendance.  I like to give the solutions to homework problems at the same time I assign the problems.  Conscientious students, who wrestle with problems before looking at the answers, benefit from having instant feedback about their solutions, right, wrong, or incomplete.  Less conscientious students who use the answers to easily complete the assignments often do poorly on exams.  The responsibility for your education rests in your own hands.  Don't be one of the outliers who use shortcuts to avoid preparing for the exams.    Concerning homework, you are encouraged to work with your classmates, if you find that helpful.  In fact, you are encouraged to do whatever you find most helpful with the homework, but by turning in a solution to a problem, you pledge that you understand the solution, or that you talked to me in office hours or during or after class and made a good faith effort to understand how to do the problem.   If it looks like you got the full benefit from the assignment, I will award you a perfect 10 points.  I may mark you down if it seems that you have copied the answers without including any of the required calculations.  You must include your work.  One more thing about homework: you can turn in your homework by showing me your solutions during office hours or during active-learning periods of class, or after class.  Some students prefer to turn in their work this way because they prefer not to tear pages from their notebooks.
 '''Public Service Announcement:'''  A representative of AU's Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) approached me and asked me to include on my syllabi a list of resources available for survivors of sexual assault and their friends.  While sexual violence is by no means the only challenge faced by students, I agree that this issue merits particular attention.  All faculty and staff at AU are legally bound to help students who disclose Title IX violations, which includes sexual violence, harassment, stalking, and sex discrimination.  Most of us are not trained therapists and we are not supposed to give counseling.  Instead, we are supposed help connect survivors with the people who can help them, by, for example, providing a list of resources, such as the one provided below.  While the law I mentioned concerns only students asking for help with Title IX violations, it strikes me that the principle should apply more broadly.  If there is anything that is negatively affecting your academic performance in my class, and you ask for help, I will try to connect you with the people and resources that can help you.  I probably won't know these things off the top of my head, but I can ask the people who do.  If you come to me for such help, I will treat you with compassion, without judgment, and with respect for your privacy.  On the other hand, if you are struggling in my class for whatever reason, you shouldn't feel like you need to explain: I'm here to help you reach your goals and dreams, to teach you statistics, and to assess how well you learned the material in my class.

@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 '''Homework, Attendance and Participation Policy:'''  Usually I award a maximum of 10 points for each homework set, due one week after it is assigned.  Additionally I award 5 points per day for class attendance.  I like to give the solutions to homework problems at the same time I assign the problems.  Conscientious students, who wrestle with problems before looking at the answers, benefit from having instant feedback about their solutions, right, wrong, or incomplete.  Less conscientious students who use the answers to easily complete the assignments often do poorly on exams.  The responsibility for your education rests in your own hands.  Don't be one of the outliers who use shortcuts to avoid preparing for the exams.    Concerning homework, you are encouraged to work with your classmates, if you find that helpful.  In fact, you are encouraged to do whatever you find most helpful with the homework, but by turning in a solution to a problem, you pledge that you understand the solution, or that you talked to me in office hours or during or after class and made a good faith effort to understand how to do the problem.   If it looks like you got the full benefit from the assignment, I will award you a perfect 10 points.  I may mark you down if it seems that you have copied the answers without including any of the required calculations.  You must include your work.  One more thing about homework: you can turn in your homework by showing me your solutions during office hours or during active-learning periods of class, or after class.  Some students prefer to turn in their work this way because they prefer not to tear pages from their notebooks.  I prefer this method, too, because I can interact with students as I look over their assignments.
-'''Public Service Announcement:'''  A representative of AU's Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) approached me and asked me to include on my syllabi a list of resources available for survivors of sexual assault and their friends.  While sexual violence is by no means the only challenge faced by students, I agree that this issue merits particular attention.  All faculty and staff at AU are legally bound to help students who disclose Title IX violations, which includes sexual violence, harassment, stalking, and sex discrimination.  Most of us are not trained therapists and we are not supposed to give counseling.  Instead, we are supposed help connect survivors with the people who can help them, by, for example, providing a list of resources, such as the one provided below.  While the law I mentioned concerns only students asking for help with Title IX violations, it strikes me that the principle should apply more broadly.  If there is anything that is negatively affecting your academic performance in my class, and you ask for help, I will try to connect you with the people and resources that can help you.  I probably won't know these things off the top of my head, but I can ask the people who do.  If you come to me for such help, I will treat you with compassion, without judgment, and with respect for your privacy.  On the other hand, if you are struggling in my class for whatever reason, you shouldn't feel like you need to explain: I'm here to help you reach your goals and dreams, to teach you calculus, and to assess how well you learned the material in my class.
+'''Public Service Announcement:'''  A representative of AU's Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) approached me and asked me to include on my syllabi a list of resources available for survivors of sexual assault and their friends.  While sexual violence is by no means the only challenge faced by students, I agree that this issue merits particular attention.  All faculty and staff at AU are legally bound to help students who disclose Title IX violations, which includes sexual violence, harassment, stalking, and sex discrimination.  Most of us are not trained therapists and we are not supposed to give counseling.  Instead, we are supposed help connect survivors with the people who can help them, by, for example, providing a list of resources, such as the one provided below.  While the law I mentioned concerns only students asking for help with Title IX violations, it strikes me that the principle should apply more broadly.  If there is anything that is negatively affecting your academic performance in my class, and you ask for help, I will try to connect you with the people and resources that can help you.  I probably won't know these things off the top of my head, but I can ask the people who do.  If you come to me for such help, I will treat you with compassion, without judgment, and with respect for your privacy.  On the other hand, if you are struggling in my class for whatever reason, you shouldn't feel like you need to explain: I'm here to help you reach your goals and dreams, to teach you statistics, and to assess how well you learned the material in my class.
 ''Sexual Assault Resources''

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 * Use sampling techniques to test hypotheses for means and proportions--one and two samples, contingency table, and goodness-of-fit.
-'''Office Hours:'''  Students are strongly encouraged to come to office hours if they need or want help.  I love having visitors during office hours, so drop by.
+'''Office Hours:'''  Students are strongly encouraged to come to office hours if they need or want help.
 My office is Gray Hall, Room 107.  Office hours are tentatively scheduled as follows:  (may be adjusted throughout the semester)
@@ Line 74: / Line 74: @@
 |}
-'''Academic Integrity:'''  ''Cheating is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.''  Consider this:  in subtle ways, cheating to get a better grade on an exam can result in ''lowering'' the grades of some of your classmates.  Certainly this is true when a specific curve is used to assign grades.  Even when I don't use curves explicitly, they can be implicit in decisions about writing and grading exams.  This situation is not fair.  As required by the policy of American University, I will report '''all''' suspected cases of cheating to the Dean's office who will proceed to investigate and adjudicate the issues.   Cheating is giving or receiving unauthorized assistance on exams, from other students or other people, from notes, from books, or from the web.  When inappropriate copying between students is caught, both parties may be culpable.
+'''Academic Integrity:'''  ''Cheating is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.''  Consider this:  in subtle ways, cheating to get a better grade on an exam can result in ''lowering'' the grades of some of your classmates.  Certainly this is true when a specific curve is used to assign grades.  Even when I don't use curves explicitly, they can be implicit in decisions about writing and grading exams.  As required by the policy of American University, I will report '''all''' suspected cases of cheating to the Dean's office who will proceed to investigate and adjudicate the issues.   Cheating is giving or receiving unauthorized assistance on exams, from other students or other people, from notes, from books, or from the web.  When inappropriate copying between students is caught, both parties may be culpable.
-'''Homework, Attendance and Participation Policy:'''  I like to give the solutions to homework problems at the same time I assign the problems.  Conscientious students, who wrestle with problems before looking at the answers, benefit from having instant feedback about their solutions, right, wrong, or incomplete.  Less conscientious students who use the answers to easily complete the assignments often do poorly on exams.  The responsibility for your education rests in your own hands.  Don't be one of the outliers who use shortcuts to avoid preparing for the exams.  Usually I award a maximum of 10 points for each homework set, due one week after it is assigned.  Additionally I award 5 points per day for class attendance.  The participation grade is subjective, although I may plan some activities that you can earn points for.  Concerning homework, you are encouraged to work with your classmates, if you find that helpful.  In fact, you are encouraged to do whatever you find most helpful with the homework, but by turning in a solution to a problem, you pledge that you understand the solution, or that you talked to me in office hours or during or after class and made a good faith effort to understand how to do the problem.   If it looks like you got the full benefit from the assignment, I will award you a perfect 10 points.  I may mark you down if I suspect that you did not get the full benefit from the homework---for example, if it seems that you have copied the answers without including any of the required calculations.  You must include your work.  One more thing about homework: you can turn in your homework by showing me your solutions during office hours or during active-learning periods of class, or after class.  Some students prefer to turn in their work this way because they prefer not to tear pages from their notebooks.  I prefer this method, too, because I can interact with students as I look over their assignments.
+'''Homework, Attendance and Participation Policy:'''  Usually I award a maximum of 10 points for each homework set, due one week after it is assigned.  Additionally I award 5 points per day for class attendance.  I like to give the solutions to homework problems at the same time I assign the problems.  Conscientious students, who wrestle with problems before looking at the answers, benefit from having instant feedback about their solutions, right, wrong, or incomplete.  Less conscientious students who use the answers to easily complete the assignments often do poorly on exams.  The responsibility for your education rests in your own hands.  Don't be one of the outliers who use shortcuts to avoid preparing for the exams.    Concerning homework, you are encouraged to work with your classmates, if you find that helpful.  In fact, you are encouraged to do whatever you find most helpful with the homework, but by turning in a solution to a problem, you pledge that you understand the solution, or that you talked to me in office hours or during or after class and made a good faith effort to understand how to do the problem.   If it looks like you got the full benefit from the assignment, I will award you a perfect 10 points.  I may mark you down if it seems that you have copied the answers without including any of the required calculations.  You must include your work.  One more thing about homework: you can turn in your homework by showing me your solutions during office hours or during active-learning periods of class, or after class.  Some students prefer to turn in their work this way because they prefer not to tear pages from their notebooks.  I prefer this method, too, because I can interact with students as I look over their assignments.
-'''Public Service Announcement:'''  A representative of AU's Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) approached me and asked me to include on my syllabi a list of resources available for survivors of sexual assault and their friends.  While sexual violence is by no means the only challenge faced by students, I agree that this issue merits particular attention.  I learned from a recent training course that all faculty and staff at AU are legally bound to help students who disclose Title IX violations, which includes sexual violence, harassment, stalking, and sex discrimination.  Most of us are not trained therapists and we are not supposed to give counseling.  Instead, we are supposed help connect survivors with the people who can help them, by, for example, providing a list of resources, such as the one provided below.  While the law I mentioned concerns only students asking for help with Title IX violations, it strikes me that the principle should apply more broadly.  If there is anything that is negatively affecting your academic performance in my class, and you ask for help, I will try to connect you with the people and resources that can help you.  I probably won't know these things off the top of my head, but I can ask the people who do.  If you come to me for such help, I will treat you with compassion, without judgment, and with respect for your privacy.  On the other hand, if you are struggling in my class for whatever reason, you shouldn't feel like you need to explain: I'm here to help you reach your goals and dreams, to teach you statistics, and to assess how well you learned the material in my class.  I deeply want my students to do well, but even when a few students don't, I always assume there was a good reason why they didn't have the time or focus for my class.
+'''Public Service Announcement:'''  A representative of AU's Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) approached me and asked me to include on my syllabi a list of resources available for survivors of sexual assault and their friends.  While sexual violence is by no means the only challenge faced by students, I agree that this issue merits particular attention.  All faculty and staff at AU are legally bound to help students who disclose Title IX violations, which includes sexual violence, harassment, stalking, and sex discrimination.  Most of us are not trained therapists and we are not supposed to give counseling.  Instead, we are supposed help connect survivors with the people who can help them, by, for example, providing a list of resources, such as the one provided below.  While the law I mentioned concerns only students asking for help with Title IX violations, it strikes me that the principle should apply more broadly.  If there is anything that is negatively affecting your academic performance in my class, and you ask for help, I will try to connect you with the people and resources that can help you.  I probably won't know these things off the top of my head, but I can ask the people who do.  If you come to me for such help, I will treat you with compassion, without judgment, and with respect for your privacy.  On the other hand, if you are struggling in my class for whatever reason, you shouldn't feel like you need to explain: I'm here to help you reach your goals and dreams, to teach you calculus, and to assess how well you learned the material in my class.
 ''Sexual Assault Resources''

@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 '''Homework, Attendance and Participation Policy:'''  I like to give the solutions to homework problems at the same time I assign the problems.  Conscientious students, who wrestle with problems before looking at the answers, benefit from having instant feedback about their solutions, right, wrong, or incomplete.  Less conscientious students who use the answers to easily complete the assignments often do poorly on exams.  The responsibility for your education rests in your own hands.  Don't be one of the outliers who use shortcuts to avoid preparing for the exams.  Usually I award a maximum of 10 points for each homework set, due one week after it is assigned.  Additionally I award 5 points per day for class attendance.  The participation grade is subjective, although I may plan some activities that you can earn points for.  Concerning homework, you are encouraged to work with your classmates, if you find that helpful.  In fact, you are encouraged to do whatever you find most helpful with the homework, but by turning in a solution to a problem, you pledge that you understand the solution, or that you talked to me in office hours or during or after class and made a good faith effort to understand how to do the problem.   If it looks like you got the full benefit from the assignment, I will award you a perfect 10 points.  I may mark you down if I suspect that you did not get the full benefit from the homework---for example, if it seems that you have copied the answers without including any of the required calculations.  You must include your work.  One more thing about homework: you can turn in your homework by showing me your solutions during office hours or during active-learning periods of class, or after class.  Some students prefer to turn in their work this way because they prefer not to tear pages from their notebooks.  I prefer this method, too, because I can interact with students as I look over their assignments.
-'''Public Service Announcement:'''  A representative of AU's Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) approached me and asked me to include on my syllabi a list of resources available for survivors of sexual assault and their friends.  While sexual violence is by no means the only challenge faced by students, I agree that this issue merits particular attention.  I learned from a recent training course that all faculty and staff at AU are legally bound to help students who disclose Title IX violations, which includes sexual violence, harassment, stalking, and sex discrimination.  Most of us are not trained therapists and we are not supposed to give counseling.  Instead, we are supposed help connect survivors with the people who can help them, by, for example, providing a list of resources, such as the one provided below.  While the law I mentioned concerns only students asking for help with Title IX violations, it strikes me that the principle should apply more broadly.  If there is anything that is negatively affecting your academic performance in my class, and you ask for help, I will try to connect you with the people and resources that can help you.  I probably won't know these things off the top of my head, but I can ask the people who do.  If you come to me for such help, I will treat you with compassion, without judgment, and with respect for your privacy.  On the other hand, if you are struggling in my class for whatever reason, you shouldn't feel like you need to explain: I'm here to help you reach your goals and dreams, to teach you statistics, and to assess how well you learned the material in my class.  I deeply want my students to do well, but even when a few students don't, I always assume there is a good reason why they didn't have the time or focus for my class.
+'''Public Service Announcement:'''  A representative of AU's Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) approached me and asked me to include on my syllabi a list of resources available for survivors of sexual assault and their friends.  While sexual violence is by no means the only challenge faced by students, I agree that this issue merits particular attention.  I learned from a recent training course that all faculty and staff at AU are legally bound to help students who disclose Title IX violations, which includes sexual violence, harassment, stalking, and sex discrimination.  Most of us are not trained therapists and we are not supposed to give counseling.  Instead, we are supposed help connect survivors with the people who can help them, by, for example, providing a list of resources, such as the one provided below.  While the law I mentioned concerns only students asking for help with Title IX violations, it strikes me that the principle should apply more broadly.  If there is anything that is negatively affecting your academic performance in my class, and you ask for help, I will try to connect you with the people and resources that can help you.  I probably won't know these things off the top of my head, but I can ask the people who do.  If you come to me for such help, I will treat you with compassion, without judgment, and with respect for your privacy.  On the other hand, if you are struggling in my class for whatever reason, you shouldn't feel like you need to explain: I'm here to help you reach your goals and dreams, to teach you statistics, and to assess how well you learned the material in my class.  I deeply want my students to do well, but even when a few students don't, I always assume there was a good reason why they didn't have the time or focus for my class.
 ''Sexual Assault Resources''

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 ''Sexual Assault Resources''
-It’s never the survivor’s fault. There are many people you can talk to if you or someone you care about have been sexually assaulted:
+* It’s never the survivor’s fault. There are many people you can talk to if you or someone you care about have been sexually assaulted:
 * AU's Sexual Assault Prevention Coordinator Daniel Rappaport (rappapor@american.edu)

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 '''Academic Integrity:'''  ''Cheating is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.''  Consider this:  in subtle ways, cheating to get a better grade on an exam can result in ''lowering'' the grades of some of your classmates.  Certainly this is true when a specific curve is used to assign grades.  Even when I don't use curves explicitly, they can be implicit in decisions about writing and grading exams.  This situation is not fair.  As required by the policy of American University, I will report '''all''' suspected cases of cheating to the Dean's office who will proceed to investigate and adjudicate the issues.   Cheating is giving or receiving unauthorized assistance on exams, from other students or other people, from notes, from books, or from the web.  When inappropriate copying between students is caught, both parties may be culpable.
-'''Homework, Attendance and Participation Policy:'''  I like to give the solutions to homework problems at the same time I assign the problems.  Conscientious students, who wrestle with problems before looking at the answers, benefit from having instant feedback about their solutions, right, wrong, or incomplete.  Less conscientious students who use the answers to easily complete the assignments often do poorly on exams.  The responsibility for your education rests in your own hands.  Don't be one of the outliers who use shortcuts to avoid preparing for the exams.  Usually I award a maximum of 10 points for each homework set, due one week after it is assigned.  Additionally I award 5 points per day for class attendance.  The participation grade is subjective, although I may plan some activities that you can earn points for.  Concerning homework, you are encouraged to work with your classmates, if you find that helpful.  In fact, you are encouraged to do whatever you find most helpful with the homework, but by turning in a solution to a problem, you pledge that you understand the solution, or that you talked to me in office hours or during or after class and made a good faith effort to understand how to do the problem.   If it looks like you got the full benefit from the assignment, I will award you a perfect 10 points.  I may mark you down if I suspect that you did not get the full benefit from the homework---for example if you have copied the answers without including any of the required calculations.  You must include your work.  One more thing about homework: you can turn in your homework by showing me your solutions during office hours or during work-on-homework periods of class, or after class.  Some students prefer to turn in their work this way because they prefer not to tear pages from their notebooks.  I prefer this method, too, because I can interact with students as I look over their assignments.
+'''Homework, Attendance and Participation Policy:'''  I like to give the solutions to homework problems at the same time I assign the problems.  Conscientious students, who wrestle with problems before looking at the answers, benefit from having instant feedback about their solutions, right, wrong, or incomplete.  Less conscientious students who use the answers to easily complete the assignments often do poorly on exams.  The responsibility for your education rests in your own hands.  Don't be one of the outliers who use shortcuts to avoid preparing for the exams.  Usually I award a maximum of 10 points for each homework set, due one week after it is assigned.  Additionally I award 5 points per day for class attendance.  The participation grade is subjective, although I may plan some activities that you can earn points for.  Concerning homework, you are encouraged to work with your classmates, if you find that helpful.  In fact, you are encouraged to do whatever you find most helpful with the homework, but by turning in a solution to a problem, you pledge that you understand the solution, or that you talked to me in office hours or during or after class and made a good faith effort to understand how to do the problem.   If it looks like you got the full benefit from the assignment, I will award you a perfect 10 points.  I may mark you down if I suspect that you did not get the full benefit from the homework---for example, if it seems that you have copied the answers without including any of the required calculations.  You must include your work.  One more thing about homework: you can turn in your homework by showing me your solutions during office hours or during work-on-homework periods of class, or after class.  Some students prefer to turn in their work this way because they prefer not to tear pages from their notebooks.  I prefer this method, too, because I can interact with students as I look over their assignments.
 '''Public Service Announcement:'''  A representative of AU's Students Against Sexual Violence (SASV) approached me and asked me to include on my syllabi a list of resources available for survivors of sexual assault and their friends.  While sexual violence is by no means the only challenge faced by students, I agree that this issue merits particular attention.  I learned from a recent training course that all faculty and staff at AU are legally bound to help students who disclose Title IX violations, which includes sexual violence and sex discrimination.  Most of us are not trained therapists and we are not supposed to give counseling.  Instead, we are supposed help connect survivors with the people who can help them, by, for example, providing a list of resources, such as the one provided below.  While the law I mentioned concerns only students asking for help with Title IX violations, it strikes me that the principle should apply more broadly.  If there is anything that is negatively affecting your academic performance in my class, and you ask for help, I will try to connect you with the people and resources that can help you.  I probably won't know these things off the top of my head, but I can ask the people who do.  If you come to me for such help, I will treat you with compassion, without judgment, and with respect for your privacy.  On the other hand, if you are struggling in my class for whatever reason, you shouldn't feel like you need to explain: I'm here to help you reach your goals and dreams, to teach you statistics, and to assess how well you learned the material in my class.  I deeply want my students to do well, but even when a few students don't, I always assume there is a good reason why they didn't have the time or focus for my class.