Friday, September 30, 2011

What is the chance a probability instructor will email you back?

In my Probability class we have been working on a difficult conditional probability assignment for two (three?) weeks. The due date for it was extended because so many of us voiced that we were having a tough time with it. The assignment was meant to be a solitary assignment done over just one week, but the instructor felt that since this is an assignment used in the "brick and mortar" classes, we should also have the benefit of discussion. I was really glad for that, because I really struggled with one particular part of the problem.

Because there is just so much to get done trying to work full time and take two classes, I try to stay ahead of the due dates as much as possible. In this case, when the discussion board opened up, I found out that I was ahead of the class as far as my progress on the problem. My excitement over being able to discuss the problem was dampened because the discussion didn't really add much for me; I had worked all the beginning steps out last week, while others waited until this week to get started. (Let me add that I recognize that they are likely very busy too, and they have just chosen a different way to manage their time as far as when they do classwork. I know not everyone can front load their week like I do.)

So where was I to go for help? Email to the rescue! I am so pleased that our instructor decided to take the time to help me through the difficult steps, and I was able to turn the assignment in last night. We probably had at least 5 rounds of back and forth email over the past week. I am now well versed in writing out conditional probability notation. Solving the problem: no problem, just me and a trusty tree diagram, but the notation just killed me!

This isn't the first time an instructor has taken the time to respond to my email queries. In Algebra II I had a lengthy email chain with the instructor over an extension of a topic in the module, something beyond what the class covered.

So the chance you'll get an email back from my probability instructor? Experimental results say it is 100%

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