Math 143 B
Probability and Statistics
Spring 1999

Instructor

Randall Pruim
office: North Hall 284
phone: (616) 957-7113
E-mail: rpruim@calvin.edu

Office hours

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday 10:30-11:30 (after chapel)

Other times by appointment. You can also drop by my office any time. If I am in my office, I will usually be able to see you. I would prefer it if you avoid Tuesdays, howerver. I will keep a copy of my schedule online.

Internet Resources

Email

I will maintain an email list of all students registered in this class and will occassionally use it to distribute information and reminders of various things pertaining to this course. If you do not know how to access your email, please talk to someone at the IT helpdesk. If you prefer to read your email from an account other than your calvin student account, send me email with the email address you prefer.

Web Pages

In addition to this home page, I will also maintain a list of web resources pertaining to this course. Items I have prepared and maintain online include

• a calendar of daily readings, lecture, topics, exams, labs, etc. You are responsible for any information appearing here: February | March | April | May
• a list of homework assignments and due dates. (I may also distribute these periodically via email.)
• information about labs.
• information about tests and exams.
• links to places to find data sets and other statistical information on the web.

Course Description

Important Information

See me

If you are having difficulty with any portion of the course, do not hesitate to see me (during the office hours listed above or at some other time). Do this as soon as possible, certainly well in advance of any deadlines (like tests) so that we can work to fix the problem.

Time & Location

Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri: 9:00 - 10:00 in NH 295

Required Textbook

Introduction to the Practice of Statistics by Davide S. Moore and George P. McCabe.

Additional readings may also be assigned.

Calculators

You are required to have access to a calculator capable of doing basic arithmetic and computing the mean and standard deviation of a data set. It is your responsibility to learn how to use your calculator and to bring it with you to class. Unless instructed otherwise, you may always make use of calculators (or computer software) when doing homework. Calculators will be also be allowed when doing in class work such as quizzes and tests.

Computers

Learning a particular software package is not a primary goal for this course, but we will have 4 to 6 labs using Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet that has some statistical capabilities, to show you the kinds of things computer software can do and to automate certain tasks that are too time-consuming to do by hand or with a basic calculator. You may also use statistical software (Excel or some other package familiar to you) for your homework. Occasionally there may be homework that requires you to use Excel, but most of it should be doable with a calculator. Note: many of the data sets used in the text are on the accompanying CD ROM disc that accompanies the text.

Excel is available on the machines in the computer lab in the basement of the library. If you would like more information about doing statistics with Excel, I recommend the following book, which is designed to accompany a course such as this one and teaches the basics of Excel and demonstrates how to use Excel for the types of statistics we will be doing this semester:

• Statistical Explorations with Microsoft Excel by Lehmann and Zeitz (Duxbury Press, ISBN 0-534-51611-4)

Grading

Grading will be based on the following approximate weighting:

16%

Labs, Homework, Quizzes

18%

Test 1

18%

Test 2

18%

Test 3

30%

Final Exam (comprehensive)

Final exam: Saturday afternoon, May 15, 1:30 pm.

Tests will be given in class on the following dates:

• Friday, February 26;
• Friday, April 9;
• Friday, May 7.

Tests must be taken when they are scheduled. No make-up, alternate or late tests will be given. If you miss one test (for any reason) or if your final exam score is better than your worst test, then your final exam score will be substituted for that test.

Labs. There will be between 4 and 6 labs that will require you to use Microsot Excel. Typically we will spend one class period in a computer lab in the basement of the library for these labs. If you do not finish the lab during the class period, you will be responsible for finishing later.

Quizzes will be unannounced and may cover any of the recent readings, exercises or class activities. Some quizzes will be done individually, others may be done in small groups (one quiz for the group, all members receive the same score).

Exercises. You will not be able to master the material in this course without practice. I will make assignments nearly every day. Some portions of these assignments will collected and others that will not. Please follow the guidelines below:

1. Problems to be handed in should be worked neatly, showing all of your work and explaining your reasoning. The work should be organized in paragraph manner (work left to right and top to bottom,; use English sentences to explain what you are doing, etc.)
2. Any work that is illegible or disorganized will not be graded.
3. Label each page with your name and the problem set number. Each problem should be clearly labeled as well. Leave a little space between problems.
4. Each problem set should be on a separate sheet of paper. If you use more than one sheet of paper, these sheets must be stapled in the upper left corner. If you use spiral bound paper, please remove the fringe along the edge of the paper.
5. Do not hand in problems that do not need to be graded; it just slows down the grader.
6. Any assignments to be turned in are due at the beginning of the class period on the day they are due. Leave them on the desk as you enter the room. Late assignments will not be accepted, but your worst few problem sets will be dropped. (I will drop at least one per test plus one more for the semester. That makes a total of at least four, but they can't be too close together.

Joint Work

You may find it pleasant and useful to work together on many portions of this course. I encourage you to do so. BUT you must abide by the following guidelines:

• Balance. If you work together, do not work in a group that is too unbalanced. Certainly there are times when one person in a group has the key insight that solves a problem, but if the same person is always having all the insights, or if you are not contributing to the group effort, then you should probably seek out a different group.

  Balance also extends to preparation. Do not get answers or hints from someone who has completed the work before you have even begun. Ideally, each member of the group should come with roughly the same amount of background work done.

• Independence. Work that is turned in for a grade (except work explicitly done by your group) should be written up independently. The best policy here is to write solutions to problems, labs reports, etc. physically alone (i.e., not while you are sitting next to or near someone in the course). This will alleviate the temptation to "copy" or to lean too heavily on someone else (neither of which is not allowed), mistakenly thinking that you would have been able to do the work on your own.

Attendance

I will not be recording attendance. Nevertheless, skipping class can have a detrimental effect on your grade in several ways. Most importantly, by missing class, you are missing an important part of the course. And of course, if you are not in class you cannot take a quiz or turn in assignments. (You cannot get get credit for a group quiz if you are not present when the quiz is taken.) Quizzes will not be made up for those who miss class, but I typically drop the lowest quiz or two (the exact number of quizzes dropped will depend on how many there are over the semester).

Preparing for class

You should bring with you each day:

• the homework due that day,
• your textbook,
• any additional readings due that day (or the previous day if we have not finished discussion from the class period before),
• a calculator (see the notes about calculators above),
• and any other materials I announce ahead of time.

Of course, you should have read (and thought about) any assigned readings prior to coming to class. You may want to have your notes handy, especially if you have questions regarding the readings or homework.

Statistics Study Assistance

Beginning February 9, an undergraduate tutor will be available to assist you with questions about statistics every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 6 - 7:30 pm in North Hall 276.

Special Circumstances

Occassionally there are special circumstances that require that the rules and guidelines above be adjusted for a particular student. In such cases, it is the responsibility of the student to inform me of the situation as soon as possible, so that the appropriate arrangements can be made. This includes, but is not limited to, students with documented disabilities.

Page Created: Thu Jan 28 16:39:08 1999
Last Modified: 
Thu Jul 29 19:58:57 1999
Maintained by: Randall Pruim