You might prefer the version at
http://www.tc3.edu/instruct/sbrown/stat5008c/outline.htm
because the underlining you see in
print becomes active links on line.
You might prefer the version at
http://www.tc3.edu/instruct/sbrown/stat5008c/outline.htm
because the underlining you see in
print becomes active links on line.
Let’s talk turkey. To do well in this course, you need to be organized, plan your time well, study your notes and handouts outside class, finish all the homework, and pay attention to directions. You don’t have to be a math whiz — good work habits count for more than native math ability. If you want to do well, you’ll do the work. If you don’t, you’re just wasting time.
| Class hours | T 6:30–9:20, room 283B, plus final exam (see schedule) |
| Instructor | Stan Brown, a/k/a Professor Marvel |
| Office hours | by appointment |
| Browns@tc3.edu | |
| Web site | http://www.tc3.edu/instruct/sbrown/stat5008c/ |
Contents:
Math isn’t a collection of formulas to memorize — it’s a way of looking at the world. All your math courses try to train you to see relations among things that can be counted or measured, to draw logical conclusions and make smart decisions about them.
When you tell an employer, “I’ve taken a college course in statistics,” that should mean you can
Those are the skills you should expect to master in this course.
MATH200 is an introductory course in statistics, with an emphasis on applications over theory. We’ll use applications from many fields including business, the social sciences, medicine, and the natural sciences to cover
MATH100 with C or above, or high-school algebra. If you can solve equations like
(x − 11.7) / 4.5 = 2.2
p = 114/1000 + 217/1000
confidently and correctly, you’ll be fine; if not, get assistance as soon as possible.
required textbook: Sullivan, Michael, Fundamentals of Statistics (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008) — Either buy the printed textbook, or if you’re really comfortable reading a whole textbook online you can buy just the Student Access Kit and access course number brown76687 at coursecompass.com. You need one or the other, not both.
The Baker Center has a copy of the textbook and full solutions manual available for your use.
required calculator: any model TI-83 or TI-84. Buy on price; the few additional statistics features in the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition are not significant for our class. (If you have a TI-89, TI-92, or Voyage 200, please see the Web page Can I Use a TI-89 for Statistics Class?)
required Web access: This is not a Web-based course, but you’ll need to access the Web to pick up some handouts, assignments, and solutions to quizzes. Check the Web site frequently, especially when you miss a class.
All three campuses have computers with Web access for your use, and so do most public libraries. If using the Web is a hardship for you, please talk to me about it.
recommended, not required: an email account. This lets you ask questions between classes. Also, I send helpful reminders and announcements to the whole class in email. If you don’t have an email account, visit the class Web site regularly to read these broadcast emails.
When you send me email, please use plain text. (HTML emails may drop into my spam folder and not be seen at all; and to prevent virus infections, I never open attachments.) If you need help fixing your mailer’s settings, please see the separate page Configuring Your E-Mail Program.
The College provides reasonable accommodation to students with disabilities that may affect their ability to participate fully in course activities or meet course requirements. Please contact Carolyn Boone, Coordinator of Access and Equity Services, at 844-8222 x 4283 or boonec@tc3.edu to discuss your needs. Course material is available in alternative formats.
You need to attend class to understand the material. (If you think you don’t, talk to me about independent study.) Therefore, attendance doesn’t count directly in your grade. You’re an adult, and I expect you to use your head and not miss unless you absolutely have to. When you are truly sick (especially when contagious), or if weather makes the roads too dangerous, stay home.
When you miss any class time for any reason, look at your schedule and check the class Web site for any announcements. Be sure to make your own copies of that week’s handouts. It’s your job to learn the material that you missed — see the Web page Help! for resources. I’ll answer questions for you as I would for any student, but I won’t teach the class a second time for you.
Math courses have been called relentlessly cumulative, and that’s especially true with this class that meets once a week. If you miss two classes in a row, you’ll probably have a hard time catching up, and for that reason you may be administratively withdrawn from the class (grade of AW). Minimally, you are expected to keep me informed of your situation and whether you still intend to complete the course. If you miss too many classes for any reason, think seriously about withdrawing.
Arriving late or leaving during class distracts other students and will cost you points for professional conduct. If you have a medical condition that keeps you from sitting through class, please let me know privately — otherwise plan to be in your seat through the class. (Translation: go to the rest room before class, not during.)
If weather or similar reasons force the College to cancel evening classes, the decision will be posted on the College Web site www.tc3.edu (not necessarily the course Web site) by 3:00 PM and communicated to local radio and TV stations. You’ll be texted if you’ve signed up for that service. You can also call 607-844-8222 for a recorded message.
If the College is closed or class canceled for any reason, such as weather, do that evening’s work on your own. Any written assignment will be due at the next class meeting and any scheduled quiz or exam will be held at the next class meeting. Later assignments will keep the original schedule unless an announcement is made on the course Web page www.tc3.edu/instruct/sbrown/stat5008c/.
The College reserves the right to schedule additional class time to compensate for time lost for canceled classes.
If conditions are not safe for travel, you should stay home even if the College is open. This is one reason for the “freebie” quizzes. Yes, you’ll need to study the missed material on your own, but your physical safety is paramount. As always, the Baker Center can help you in person and I will do my best to help in email.
On all written work — homework, labs and projects, quizzes, and exams — you must show your work to receive credit. That means any equations or formulas you are using, moving to your solution in logical steps. See the Web page Show Your Work! for more information.
I recommend pencil and eraser, not pen, for homework, quizzes, and exams. You want to be able to erase if you change your mind.
When handing in a multiple-page assignment, staple the pages in order. Paper clips and other insecure fasteners are not acceptable. Assignments aren’t accepted in email.
You’ll get your graded papers back at the next class after you hand them in. If you miss that class, ask for your paper when you return. Unclaimed papers may be destroyed after two class meetings.
It’s a great idea to study together and even to discuss assignments with classmates. However, the College and I require that any written work you turn in must be your own. If you discuss an assignment with classmates, you still need to do the assignment yourself, not simply copy someone else’s paper. This is the only way you or I can be sure you’ve actually learned the material.
Please see the College Statement of Academic Integrity.
Would you expect to play great basketball after just reading about it and listening to lectures? The only way to learn mathematics is to work problems. The ones listed in the schedule should be considered a minimum: if you have trouble with a problem, you need to do additional similar problems. It’s also a smart move to work the week’s practice quiz (when available) from the class Web page.
Always check your answers: most assigned problems have answers in your book, and the practice quizzes have full solutions. Whenever your answer doesn’t match, figure out why, get help if you need it, and fix what’s wrong. See How to Work a Math Problem.
Since class time for homework questions is very limited, it’s vital to get most of your questions answered before coming to class.
Sometimes, without warning, I’ll collect homework and count it as that session’ quiz. In this case, you must be physically present to get credit, period. The “two freebies” policy (below) includes homework counted as a quiz.
The course includes several labs that give you a chance to gather and analyze data. You’ll also pick a question that interests you and do a statistics field project to investigate it.
If you plan to be off campus on a due date, turn in your paper early or send it with a trusted person to be turned in on time. (This is different from regular homework.) If you leave a paper in my folder, make sure a staff person stamps it with the date and time you turned it in; otherwise it may count as late.
Late policy for labs and projects (unless you have an extension — see next paragraph):
If you miss a due date unexpectedly, through circumstances beyond your control, talk with me as soon as you can about a possible extension. You’ll usually be asked for documentation on letterhead including a phone number, such as a doctor’s note or a tow-truck receipt. Any extension will be at my discretion; in fairness to students who work hard to finish on time, extensions will be rare.
Expect a short quiz at every class. Each quiz will be drawn from recent class work, handouts, and homework. I might decide to give a quiz as a take-home, or collect a homework assignment and count it as a quiz.
A missed quiz or homework counts zero. You can’t make them up for any reason. To allow for emergencies, medical or religious reasons, or any other valid excuse, your two lowest quiz scores won’t count in your final grade. These “freebies” are not in addition to valid excuses; they allow for valid excuses.
We’ll have a final exam after the last class, on a date to be announced. If you expect to miss the exam, discuss it with me a reasonable time in advance by email or in person. If you miss the exam unexpectedly, through circumstances beyond your control, discuss the situation with me as soon as possible by email or in person. You’ll be asked for documentation on letterhead including a phone number, such as a doctor’s note or a tow-truck receipt.
Any opportunity to take an exam at a different time will be at my discretion. You’ll have a different exam from the class — I won’t make it harder on purpose, but I can’t guarantee that it won’t be.
You’ll need your calculator on most quizzes and exams, and pencil and eraser on all of them. Because calculators can recall stored operations, you may not share a calculator during quizzes or exams. For each quiz and exam, you may create and use a crib sheet on two-sided U.S. letter-size paper. This can contain anything you like, in any format, on the front and back of one letter-size sheet of paper, as long as you create it yourself and don’t just buy, photocopy, or reprint from another source. For the Chapter 9 quiz through the final exam, you may also use the Inferential Statistics Cases Web page.
“Cramming” doesn’t work well — better to do a little each day:
| possible points | |
|---|---|
| Quizzes and homework, 15 each | about 150 |
| Labs to do at home | 105 |
| Field project | 100 |
| Final exam | 120 |
| Professional conduct and attitude
(see “Your Responsibilities”, below) |
28 |
| Total | about 503 |
Extra credit can be used to raise a passing grade, as follows:
You can download an Excel spreadsheet or print a paper worksheet to track your grade. Please feel free to discuss your progress with me at any time.
You can get your letter grade through IQ Web within about 48 hours after the final exam. For each letter grade, you must earn at least the indicated percentage of possible points:
| A | 93% | A− | 90% | B+ | 87% | B | 83% | B− | 80% | C+ | 77% |
| C | 73% | C− | 70% | D+ | 67% | D | 63% | D− | 60% | F | <60% |
If your performance on the final exam is substantially better than on the quizzes, I will give the final exam extra weight. However, if you get ≤45% correct on the final exam you probably haven’t mastered the material adequately, and I may record a final grade of F.
“I know not how to aid you, save in the assurance of one of mature age, and much severe experience, that you can not fail, if you resolutely determine, that you will not.” —Abraham Lincoln, Jul 22, 1860
TC3 is a learning-centered institution. The faculty are here to help you, but learning is your job. Gibbon said it well, over two centuries ago: “the power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy, except in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous.” Once again, you don’t have to be a math whiz — please look back at the first paragraph of this outline.
The Web page How to Succeed in Math gives you lots of tips on studying, taking tests, and so forth. A study group will be a huge help to you: form it early and meet regularly. You’ve got many further sources of assistance — use them!
You’re in college. I expect you to act like a responsible adult.
You need to study the textbook and handouts on your own, even though we won’t have time to go through everything in class. You need to get out there and grab knowledge by the scruff of the neck, not just sit in your cave and hope it walks in. Have a question? Dig for the answer! Part of college is learning to find information on your own when possible — and it’s usually possible.
Allow enough time for your course work — around 6–9 hours a week in addition to class time. Depending on your ability and how well you want to do in the course, you may need to spend more time or less.
I expect you to show a professional attitude to your studies. For example:
For every full week of classes that you meet these expectations you’ll earn 2 points.
If you interfere with the learning of others, I may ask you to leave the classroom. If you repeatedly disrupt the learning process, the dean may remove you from the course. Please refer to the College’s Student Code of Conduct.
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing.” —Abraham Lincoln, Nov 5, 1855
home page | problems with viewing?
This page is used in instruction at Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden, New York; it’s not an official statement of the College. Please visit www.tc3.edu/instruct/sbrown/ to report errors or ask to copy it.
For updates and new info, go to http://www.tc3.edu/instruct/sbrown/stat5008c/