National Pingtung University

Course Syllabus
September 2022 - January 2023

Course: Educational Statistics

Program: International Master Program in STEM Education
Time: Monday 09:00 ~ 12:00 Classroom: STEM seminar room
Instructor: Dr. Lily Chang
Email: llychang93@gmail.com Cell-phone: 0939364673

I. Course Objectives
1. Students will develop an understanding of the basic concepts of descriptive
statistics (i.e., frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, measures of
variability, normal distribution, and standard scores) and inferential statistics
(i.e., hypothesis testing; comparing dependent- and independent sample means;
correlation and regression; chi-square and selected non-parametric statistics;
reliability and factor analysis).
2. Students will be able to use statistical packages (SPSS) to conduct data
analyses.
3. Students will be able to select appropriate statistical methods, interpret the
results, and write the report correctly.

II. Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the statistical concepts and procedures.
2. Apply statistical concepts and procedures in solving research problems.
3. Demonstrate skills in using SPSS to analyze data sets.
4. Interpret and communicate results obtained from data analysis.
5. Know how to write reports based on results obtained from data analysis.

III. Texts and references

SPSS references:
1. IBM SPSS Statistics 28 Brief Guide. (SPSS environment)
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/SSLVMB_28.0.0/pdf/IBM_SPSS_Statistics_Brie
f_Guide.pdf
2. Petrovics, P. (2012). SPSS tutorial & Exercise Book. University of Miskolc.
https://gtk.uni-miskolc.hu/files/11206/SPSS+Tutorial+and+excersise+book.pdf
3. Gabrosek, J. (2013). SPSS manual for introductory applied statistics: A
variable approach. Grand Valley State University, USA.
https://www.gvsu.edu/cms4/asset/4CE39E3F-BF40-0D23-
0D675539A8F525E7/spss.pdf
4. Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th
ed.).Sage.
5. Morgan, G. A., Barrett, K. C., Leech, N. L., Gloeckner, G. W. (2020). IBM
SPSS for introductory statistics (6th ed.). Routledge.
Statistics references:
1. Gravetter, F. J., Wallnau, L. B., Forzano, L. B., & Witnauer, J. E. (2021).
Essentials of statistics for the behavioral sciences (10 ed.). Cengage Learning
2. Healey, J. F. (2015). The essentials of statistics: A tool for social research (3rd
ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
1
 3. Pagano, R. R. (2007). Understanding statistics (8th ed.). Thomson &
Wadsworth.
4. Howell, D. C. (2007, 6th ed.). Statistical Methods for Psychology. Thomson.
5. Kachigan, S. K. (1991). Multivariate statistical analysis: A conceptual
introduction. Radius Press.
Videos: see the video list and the youtube link provided in the course PPT.
Data sets: SPSS sample data sets; data sets provided by the instructor.

IV. Grading
Class participation (including SPSS hands-on practice) 20%
Weekly homework assignment 40%
Mini-project + class presentation 40%

V. Course Schedule
All course materials, including the PPTs, readings, and data sets, will be uploaded to
the school learning platform and the TEAMS platform. The reading list and the
Youtube link are also provided in the PPT. You are required to watch the short
Youtube(s) before class, and we will discuss the basic concepts of statistics and run
SPSS in class. For each lesson, there will be a homework assignment or a mini-project
for you to complete. If you are writing your thesis, I encourage you to use your data set
to replace the instructor’s mini-project assignment (please discuss this with your
instructor in advance).

The following is a tentative schedule; the schedule might be modified according to your
requirements and needs.

Week Content
1 Introduction & Basic concepts in statistics
Reading (Lesson 1 PPT) + Videos (01)

2-3 A brief introduction to SPSS (data coding, entry, and transformation)

Readings: IBM SPSS Statistics 28 Brief Guide (chapters 1, 2, 8, 9);
Petrovics, ch. 1, 2; Gabrosek, ch. 0
Videos (02): “02 SPSS – get started”

4 Examining summary statistics: Frequency distributions, tables, and graphs

Readings (Lesson 3 PPT), IBM SPSS Statistics 28 Brief Guide (chapters 4, 5);
Petrovics, ch. 3; Gabrosek, ch. 1, 2
Videos (03): “03 SPSS frequency distribution (tables/graphs)”

5 Measures of central tendency and variability

Readings (Lesson 04 PPT); Petrovics, ch. 4
Videos (04)

6 10/10 holiday (no class)

7 Z-score, standardized distribution, normal distribution

Readings (Lesson 05 PPT)
Videos (05)

8 Sampling distribution of sample means & Hypothesis testing

Readings (Lesson 06 PPT)
2
 Videos (06)

9-10 Comparing means with t-test (one-sample, two related-samples, two

independent-samples t-tests)
Readings (Lesson 07 PPT); Petrovics, ch. 5; Gabrosek, ch. 5, 6
Videos (07)
Mini-project 1

11 Comparing several means with ANOVA

Readings (Lesson 08 PPT); Gabrosek, ch. 7
Videos (08)
Mini-project 2

12-14 Correlation and regression

Readings (Lesson 09 PPT); Petrovics, ch. 7, 8; Gabrosek, ch. 4
Videos (09)
Mini-project 3

15-16 Reliability and validity (factor analysis)

Readings (Lesson 10 PPT) + Videos (10)
Mini-project 4

17 Association between categorical variables – Chi-square test

Readings (Lesson 11 PPT); Petrovics, ch. 6; Gabrosek, ch. 3
Videos (11)

18 Mini-project class presentation

(students can choose one mini-project to present)