STAT 2120

Lecture involves Abdelbaki reading from the slides that are posted on collab. It is not very helpful because practice problems are not done during lecture. There are multiple "help labs" for the moderately difficult webworks that are taught by the TAs. The labs (done in groups of four) usually do not take the whole lab time and are easy, as are the group projects. The exams, however, are pretty hard.

He makes a lot of basketball references and tells stories. Not the best professor, but he knows what you need to know. Lectures aren't very useful, but do a bunch of practice problems from the book and you'll be fine.

Not very good at explaining things. The lectures were very redundant. Spent half of the lecture going over what was explained last lecture--IN THE EXACT SAME WAY. I could almost recite what he was going to say. The homework was alright and the labs are now (new this year) mandatory. That was especially annoying because some of the labs were extremely frustrating. So were the projects. Very short notice on the projects and really tedious. It isn't necessary to do the projects before you do the lab assignments in lab, but sometimes it is helpful so that way you actually might know what you are doing. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you need it. I think the only reason I knew anything in that class was because I took AP stat in high school. With that being said, I believe this class was easier than my high school AP class. Both were very unenjoyable.

Good class, good professor. He is funny so that's always nice. They added a lab section recently so an extra two hours a week, but labs are extremely easy and lab projects are easier than the homework (online homework). That being said, the class did become a 4 credit hour class instead of 3. Midterm 1 was easy, second midterm was harder, final was pretty difficult I thought. I didn't do much work for the class so maybe that's why. If you go to class, pay attention, do the homework (understand the homework not just get it done), and attend labs then you're golden.

He's a great professor. I went to class and understood the material as he put them in layman's terms. I asked questions, studied frequently, etc. The midterms were fair; however, the final was ridiculous. Apparently, this semester was the first time using calculators and cheat sheets, and although they were somewhat helpful, they didn't help on the final for the most part. I would take this class if you are interested in learning statistics, but not for a grade. You'll be pulling your hair out after the final - not stuff taught in class, but rather, "i want to confuse the heck out of you". The practice finals from past years were much easier. Overall, I do understand statistics much better and will be using the basics in my research. I'm hoping for a big curve!

Abdelbaki is a cool guy and has a good sense of humor. That being said this was my least favorite class; even though normally I enjoy math. Lectures were very redundant. Although I attended all of them I really didn't get anything out of them. Group projects were pretty pointless. The most helpful part were the homework and the labs. I would suggest getting the most points out of those as possible. The first midterm was easy. The second was devastating and I don't even want to know my grade for the last one.

This class has been reworked, and although it probably needed it, the reworking still doesn't make it work. Honestly, if I didn't have to take this class for my major, I would never recommend taking it. Abdelbaki does not lecture well; he just reads off of slides. Homework, labs, and projects are all very manageable. The first midterm is easy, second midterm was incredibly hard, and the final was just made to confuse you. All were harder than the practice exams that he provided. Absolutely no curve, even though the majority of people did terribly on the final and second midterm. Calc II was easier for me than this class. The incompetence of Abdelbaki and the overall lack of communication of how grading will work is pretty frustrating. You will learn the basics of statistics through homework, labs, and projects, but the tests have the potential to tank your GPA. Don't take it unless you have to, and if you do, make sure to understand above and beyond what is required to complete assignments.

Ala is a very entertaining guy, but there are several problems with this class. The lectures are just him reading off slides and doing practice problems on the projector. While this means it is easy to touch back up on lectures, it also means that class can be quite dull. Additionally, the difficulty of the tests was maddening. The first test was quite easy (low-80s class average), while the second exam was significantly harder (low-70s average), and the final was again hard, but slightly easier than the second midterm. Ala told our class that we were to make up the bad test grades with high scores on the HW and Lab sections of the class, but even with near 100s in those sections and above-average test scores on every exam I only scored a B. The Lab period is a joke, and it seems like the TAs even know it, but everyone still has to go and do the group projects. All told, take this class if you need it, but have low grade expectations. That said, the material and examples were entertaining and Ala works in lots of sports anecdotes.

Ala is a really cool teacher! He is a young, nice and funny teacher who really wants his students to learn. He does not make the tests, however, which doesn't work in his students favor. He makes everything seem so simple but the tests are impossible even when you think you know what you're doing. This is frustrating sometimes. However, there are many sources of aid for homework and tests.

I stopped reading the book after the first exam, and never learned anything in the lectures. If you haven't taken stats in high school or a math genius, this course will be just you teaching yourself. I don't remember how many times I've googled calculator commands, because Ala rarely goes over them in practice. He's a very good and entertaining person, but not a good lecturer, mainly because he doesn't look like he has got prepared for the class or he has significant knowledge over the topic. In the end, if you're not a stat major, you will memorize question types before the exam, get something around B- and B+, and not learn anything at all.