SDS 2020
Elementary Probability and Statistics
An elementary introduction to statistical concepts, reasoning and data analysis. Topics include statistical summaries and graphical presentations of data, discrete and continuous random variables, the logic of statistical inference, design of research studies, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, and linear regression. Students will learn a critical approach to reading statistical analyses reported in the media, and how to correctly interpret the outputs of common statistical routines for fitting models to data and testing hypotheses. A major objective of the course is to gain familiarity with basic R commands to implement common data analysis procedures. Students intending to pursue a major or minor in statistics or wishing to take 4000 level or above statistics courses should instead take SDS 3020 or SDS 3030.
Instructors
Abigail Jager, Brian Blank, Ed Spitznagel, Ivan Horozov, James Pascoe, Liberty Vittert, Lizda Nazdira Moncada Morales, Nan Lin, Nicholas Syring, Nilanjan Chakraborty
Reviews
Dr. Jagger is valid, probably the best in the WashU stats department.
8/25/2026
I took her online summer SDS2020 class and it was incredibly manageable and went at a great pace. She was very helpful with keeping us on track through reminders and was overall so sweet. Her lecture videos were also very well done and the material was not too challenging. I would highly recommend both her and this class.
7/8/2026
Incredible professor. So clear and patient in the way she explains things, very easy to keep up with. I was dreading this class a bit because I have never been a math/stats person, but she had me convinced I would be a math major had I had her as a teacher in the past!!!
3/20/2026
Great professor, super kind and caring. It's clear she wants all her students to succeed. Slides were very accurate and helpful to the test material. No final & extra credit at the end!! Would strongly recommend taking this course w/ her if looking for a good foundational stats class
12/15/2025
I am shocked by how low these ratings are. I love her! She is so personable and made walking through the icy mornings to go to stats lecture bearable. Class is easy and she makes lectures fun
12/6/2025
Slow lecturer, falls behind on content, thick accent.
9/12/2025
I only showed up to 3 classes at the end of the semester for extra points on the final. The lecture slides she posts on canvas are pretty good.
6/19/2025
Great teacher and lectures posted online, pretty straightforward and easy material. She's also super accessible outside of class and tries her best to help students.
4/23/2025
Lizda is a queen and I love her. She is the funniest professor I've had. All of the exams are straightforward and she will not try to trick you at all. If you just show up to class and study for a day or two you will be fine. If you see her as an option for a class, PICK HER!!
4/2/2025
Professor Morales is so kind and truly cares about her students. She is accessible to all students outside of class and during exams for any questions. She made Stats very understandable although there were some challenging concepts towards the end of the course. Would 100% recommend taking with her.
2/13/2025
great professor! clear lectures, straightforward exams, and was accessible outside of class
1/22/2025
Morales is very caring and considerate teacher. For her first time teaching, she did a very good job of teaching intro stats. Class was very manageable and there was a final project rather than exam which is always a plus. Highly recommend.
1/14/2025
Professor Moncada is a great instructor and a really caring teacher. She is ready to help students succeed and did a great job for her first semester teaching.
12/22/2024
This is her first time teaching, and she is fantastic! Lectures are clear and well-organized. Attendance at subsection is the only requirement, but you can drop 3. Exams are straightforward and fair. She is very accessible and enthusiastic about helping students in office hours. Textbook homework is weighted strongly in this class. NO FINAL EXAM!!!
11/12/2024
She's super kind and she's always happy to help. There is a lot of homework and her lectures cover lots of content really fast, but she teaches it very well given the short amount of time. Despite all that homework, it's a pretty easy class.
6/8/2024
2 or less hrs/week
This class isn't as easy as people make it out to be, even if you're good at math. You don't have to attend classes in person but know that you will have ZERO clue what's going on if you don't at least review the lecture slides and try to do the homework on your own (whether that is before or after submission).
5/28/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Jager is a great lecturer. She’s clear and concise and the fill in the blank style is really nice. There’s no final which was great but the final project was annoying if you don’t have great partners. The exams are pretty easy but annoying because there’s not a lot of questions so 1 question is worth a lot. The homework’s took up the most time for me since it’s all textbook problems but you can easily find answers online. Be careful though because they grade homework on accuracy.
5/22/2024