Math 1011, Section 01: Introduction to Statistics

Monday Wednesday 3:00-4:30 Cupples I 207

Instructor: Jenny Deutsch Office Hours: Tues 6:00-6:30 Prince 232

E-mail: jenny@wustl.edu Tues 9:00-9:30 Prince 232

Phone: (314) 346-8054 MW 2:30-3:00 Cupples I 6

Course Description:

Basic concepts of statistics. Data collection (sampling and designing experiments), data organization (tables, graphs, frequency distributions, numerical summarization of data), statistical inference (elementary probability and hypothesis testing). Prerequisites: High school algebra.

Important Dates:

Tues, Jan 18 Classes begin

Mon, Feb 21 Last day to change grading option

March 7-13 Spring Break

Thurs, May 5 Final exam 6:00-8:00 PM

Class Set-Up:

A typical class will begin with 5-10 minutes of questions/review from the previous day’s lecture. We will then begin with new material. Normally we will be covering between 1 to 1 ½ chapters each class period. There is a lot of information, and I will not be able to present all of the examples given in the text book. The book for this course is unlike most other math books. It is very easy to read, and has lots of illustrative examples. Part of my expectation for each of you is that you READ the book! At some point throughout the class, we will have time for some small-group activities. Each group will be given a question or a problem to figure out, and then present your work (informally) to the rest of the class. You will receive credit for participating in this activity, so it is important that you attend class each day.

On days when an exam is scheduled, we will spend the entire class period taking the exam. If you finish early, you may leave. I anticipate 3 exams and a final.

Attendance:

I expect you to attend class every day. If you happen to be absent, it is your responsibility to get class notes from someone and to make sure that you didn’t miss any hand-outs. If you happen to miss an exam, I expect to be notified ahead of time. If you are sick, I expect you will be able to produce verification from a doctor. Making up a missed exam must be done within a week of the date of the original exam, otherwise it will be too difficult to stay on top of the new material while still studying the old material.

Homework:

Homework is your responsibility. It is essential to your success in the course. The more effort you put into problems, the better you will do. Math is just like any other skill—the more you practice, the better you get. I will be collecting 6 “big” homework assignments, each consisting of about 20 problems. These will be due at the beginning of the hour when we meet. I am also assigning some suggested problems that have the answers in the back of the book. These will not be turned in, but they are similar to the ones you will turn in, and doing them will help your performance on each of my exams. If you are confused or unsure about any of the assignments, be sure to ask me at the beginning of class or come to my office hours. I would recommend that you don’t wait until the day before each “big” assignment is due to begin it. It will be easier for you if you keep up with the pace of the class and do those problems that were just covered each day. When you turn your homework in, I expect it to be legible and in sequential order. It will be too hard to grade if I am constantly skipping around in search of the next problem. Also if you are error prone (as I am), I would appreciate you doing your homework in pencil so that you can erase your mistakes instead of scratching them out. That also makes it easier for me to grade, and better for you, because you’ll receive more partial credit.

Grades:

Your grade will be based on three exams, the in-class work, the homework, and the final exam. It will be a weighted average of these four things as indicated below, and the grading scale will be the standard.

Exams 40% 90-100 A

In-Class Work 15% 80-89 B

Homework 20% 70-79 C

Final 25% 60-69 D

50-59 F

To compute your grade, use the following weighted average formula:

.40(sum of your exam grades/total exam points)

+ .15(your in-class points/total in-class points)

+ .20(your HW points/total HW points)

+ .25(your final points/total final points)

Calculator Policy:

I will allow you to use graphing calculators on the homework and exams, unless I specifically mention something to you ahead of time. The types of statistical analysis that your calculator does will be slightly different from the methods I am teaching, so knowing (or not knowing) how to use any of the statistics features will not make a difference in your grades. I also expect you to show ALL of your work on everything you turn in. When grading, I give more points for the process of how you obtained your answer than for the actual answer itself. I will only give a small amount of credit for a correct answer with no work attached. So if you do use the calculator, please be sure to still show your work!