Psychology · Columbia University
I would recommend this class if you want an easy A where you learn nothing. If you hope to learn any statistics, I would recommend another class. All of her lectures are 30 minutes long and she just fills in the blanks in a google doc that she shares with the class. She goes so fast, and she just reads off of her google doc.
One of the most straightforward classes I've ever taken. She explains everything very clearly and often let us out of class early. She's also really charming and tells wonderful stories every now and then. You do not have to go to recitation most weeks and even if you do it is NEVER two hours long. Don't bother buying the textbook, her notes are more than enough. The TAs were also really helpful. Exams are open note. If you understand the problem sets, you'll get an A on the exams. She never tries to trick you.
Wonderful course. She wants you to succeed. Great notes, clear instruction, and easy A!
This is the class to take to get rid of the Quantitative Reasoning requirement of the 9 Ways if you freak out when faced with numbers. (That would be me.) (Seriously, I count following the model of "one, two, many, lots.") The notes are comprehensible, Zahner will go over a concept as many times as you need to understand it, the tests come back fast and annotated, and basically if I had not taken this, I suspect I would've had to fall on my sword and die.
Easiest class I've ever taken. Easy A if you apply minimal effort- and I mean minimal. She's a great teacher, very straight forward, and kind of funny..
She's awesome- enough said. Professor Zahner is engaging and entertaining (often sharing personal experiences) while teaching what could be, given the subject, a very boring class. Slides are made available in advance, Professor Zahner types the notes into her projected slides as she lectures, textbook is NEVER used (didn't open mine), and tests are open notes- lectures/hws/etc.. Also, weekly "lab" is used to complete homeworks that require SPSS. Professor Zahner stays around during the weekly lab period to answer any questions about the homework or lectures, but is most easily reached by email for questions during the week (usually replies within a few hours, if not sooner). Zahner's class had a relaxed vibe which she echoed in her open note test policy, cancellation of afternoon Wednesday before Thanksgiving day class, and movement of third exam to the last day of class (instead of the second to last slot of finals week).
The class is not hard at all. 2 midterms which are open book and a take home final. Each are worth 25% of your grade. You will have 10 HW assignments that will also be worth 25% of your grade. This is a hard class. I took AP Statistics in high school and it was harder than this class. It's not the easiest to get an A+ in because you have to do the tests her way (and write her way) in order to get full credit. I learned to do the tests a different way in high school (the better way in my opinion with a p-value and everything) and it took me a while to get used to her six step formula. Basically, as long as you adhere to rules, you should be able to do well. I wish I learned more for a 4 credit class, but I guess it'll pad my GPA.
10 problem sets (25%) 2 Open Note Exams (25% each) Take home final (25%)
Take this class! Professor Zahner is one of the most adorable professors I've had in college, and she genuinely wants students to do well in her class. This is a side job for her (she also works full time), so she's only doing it because she loves teaching. She posts the lectures on Courseworks, and you just print them out and then fill in the information that she purposely leaves out so you can learn it in class. She gives examples and explains concepts that people don't understand. We never took the whole lecture time for class - we usually ended about halfway through, and then we either left or reviewed the homework. The recitation is blocked for 2 hours each week, but it rarely took more than a half hour and didn't actually happen each week (it's only when the homework assignment has an SPSS portion).
ten homework assigments, three non-cumulative tests.