B.1 Contact me/the TAs

The discussion forum on Moodle is our primary communication platform. If you want to ask a course-related question – about the material, assignments, logistics – I recommend doing so in the relevant forum. That means your question, and my response, will be visible to your classmates, who might have the same question later on. You can attach screenshots and insert links to things (like an assignment or activity) to help explain your question. I encourage you to respond to each other’s questions – this is a space to build that statistical community!

Email () is good if you want to contact me non-publicly, or if you need to cc someone who’s not in our class workspace. (If there’s someone you know you’ll want cc’d on our conversations frequently, like a note-taker, let me know and I can add them as a guest member of our Moodle course.) I check email at 8:00 am and 1:00 pm Eastern time Monday-Friday, and usually 8:00 am Saturday, unless I announce otherwise. If you send me an email later in the day than that, it’s likely that I will see and respond to it the next morning. Because your classmates also see the discussion boards, those are usually the fastest way to get a response!

Live conversations are good for more extended questions. Since I teach another class in the same room right after ours, I’ll be around after class for short questions.

Both office hours and special appointments (see below) can be done over Zoom, but I assume they’re in person by default. If you need to drop in via Zoom, email me in advance to let me know when you’re planning to show up, so that I have the room open!

Office hours are the best kind of live conversation :) I’ll have regular drop-in office hours/help sessions. You don’t need an appointment, and I encourage you to come with your study buddies if you like. You can see my session times as “Prof T’s Open Office Hours” on Pathways. They’ll typically be in my office (Clapp 401A), but some sessions may be remote or in another location: check the details on the Pathways event!

I really recommend going to open office hours if at all possible, rather than making a special appointment. Sharing your questions with your classmates (and hearing theirs) is super helpful, and frankly, the whole experience is a lot more fun.

The other issue is that my time is finite (and, sadly, not all of it can be devoted to this class). If my schedule fills up too much, I can’t do any more appointments that week. So, be considerate of your classmates – try and save special appointments for situations where you just can’t make it to office hours or you need a confidential environment.

If you can’t make the scheduled office hour times, or if you want to be sure of having a one-on-one conversation, you can email me to set up a time for an appointment. When you send your email, please include all the times you’re available over the next few days – that saves us a lot of going back and forth :)

You’re also totally welcome to invite your study buddies along to an appointment, especially if you all have the same question. One of you can arrange the appointment, then send the info to the rest of the study group.

When you’re looking for office hours on Pathways, be sure to double-check the title of the time block! Some times are for drop-in office hours, but some may be for special sessions or limited to a specific class.

If you want to communicate with me anonymously, you can log in to the account using the password IndependenceAssumptionS24, and send an email to me or the TA. (If it’s about an in-class thing, I recommend specifying which section you’re in, so that I don’t think your message applies to the other one.) That said, I do encourage you to talk with me non-anonymously, if you’re providing feedback about the course; I will not penalize you for your opinions, and it’s much more productive if we can have a two-way conversation about your experience. Your feedback is how I make this course better!