Date:         Tue, 14 Jan 1997 07:36:34 -0500
Reply-To:     Tim Daciuk <T_Daciuk@NETCOM.CA>
Sender:       "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From:         Tim Daciuk <T_Daciuk@NETCOM.CA>
Organization: T. Daciuk Consulting Associates
Subject:      Re: Teaching SPSS
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I think that which version of SPSS you use would depend upon three
considerations:
 
1.  What is available on campus; the full Windows version or a student
version.
 
2.  What you are planning to teach; is it contained in the student
version or on the mainframe (VAX).  For example, if you are planning to
teach Factor Analysis, it may not be available on the Windows version
(depending upon point 1).  I know that your post suggests introductory
statistics, however, I would check to make sure that everything you want
is in the student version (if that is what you are using).  I remember a
user coming to me once, half way through a course, having realized that
the package they were using would not generate two 'critical'
statistical procedures!  On the other hand, if you are looking at doing
graphics as a part of the course, the VAX may not be the way to go.
 
3.  What are you teaching?  Is the focus on the statistics (their
application and interpretation) or on the combination of data
manipulation and access to the appropriate statistics.
 
I have taught SPSS on many different platforms (CMS, VAX, Unix, OS/2,
Macintosh, DOS, Windows and Win95 to name a few).  As many of the other
responders have suggested, I would use Windows if I had the choice and
if it met the requirements; it is easy and powerful and will offer the
greatest probability of being a package type that will be used in grad
school and in industry.
 
 
 
Tim Daciuk