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Syllabus for STA 2023 – Introduction to
Statistics Fall 2011
Teaching
Assistant Information: 2. General
Course Information
THIS COURSE SATISFIES GENERAL
EDUCATION CREDITS IN THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES. STUDENTS LEARN HOW TO
SUMMARIZE DATA AND HOW TO MAKE APPROPRIATE DECISIONS BASED ON DATA. (This
course is the general education category of M.) Course Description I
Data – which includes graphical and
numerical summaries to describe the distribution of a variable, or the
relationship between two variables (chapters 1, 2 and 3, approximately 3
weeks), and data production to learn how to design good surveys and
experiments, collect data from samples that are representative of the whole
population, and avoid common sources of biases (chapter 4, 1 week.) II
Probability and Inference – using
the language of probability and the properties of numerical summaries
computed from a random samples (chapters 5, 6 and 7, 5 weeks), we learn to draw
conclusions about the population of interest, based on our random sample, and
attach a measure of reliability to them (chapters 8, 9, 10
approximately 7 weeks). Course Objective 1.
Lab
Workbook for Statistics: The Art and Science of Learning from Data—2nd
edition ·
copies
of the lecture notes ·
worksheets
for the Lab portion of the course 2.
Statistics:
The Art and Science of Learning from Data by Alan Agresti and Christine Franklin 2nd edition,
Pearson, 2009. 3.
Scientific
Calculator that has some basic statistical
functions: mean and standard deviation. Many inexpensive calculators (around
$10 to $15) have these functions; check the manual or look for the following
symbols: x-bar and either s or sn-1. All of the more expensive graphing calculator have
them as well, but it is not necessary to buy one of them for this class. 1. The course will use the
following webpage for announcements for the first few weeks of classes: http://www.stat.ufl.edu/~mmeece/STA2023Fa2011.htm 2. After the first couple of
weeks, we will move completely to a password protected website inside E-Learning,
an integrated, Web based classroom management tool. We will be using the
relatively new system, E-Learning (Sakai). Instructions will appear on the
course website on how to access it. For more information on E-learning, go
to their homepage at: http://lss.at.ufl.edu/. In E-Learning you will be able to: · check the announcement(home) page · find any updates to the Syllabus · check the calendar for upcoming quiz, exam or lab dates · watch the lectures as streaming video · take the online quizzes · check your grades Live Lectures Lectures are delivered live MWF 9th period
in Norman Hall 137 and MWF 7th period in Norman Hall
G520. The lectures will also be videotaped and available to view
online. Students can choose to attend these live lectures, or to view the
lectures online, regardless of which section they are registered for.
IMPORTANT - We cannot
guarantee that the online lectures will work well for each of you. Be
prepared to attend the live lectures if that turns out to be the case. Some students find that the online lectures are too slow,
or they are frequently interrupted by "internet congestion".
These problems are worse if your internet connection is slow, or if you try
to watch them during very busy times - between noon and midnight. If
you have difficulty watching the lectures online from home, try watching them
from a computer on campus. Also remember that everyone is welcome to
attend the live lectures, regardless of which section they are registered
for. Link
to Lab
Schedule ·
Attendance required: Starting the first
week of classes, students are required to attend Lab once a week,
according to the section for which they are registered. · Purpose: In Lab, groups of around 40 students will meet with a TA to work on a simple, hands-on activity related to the material being covered in class. · CBD 220: Labs will meet in Building 105, room 220 (CBD 220). The building is located directly north of (behind) the empty parking lot across the street from Library West on University Avenue. · Lab Worksheets: Worksheets with instructions for each Lab are included in the Lab Handbook. Students must bring these worksheets to Lab each week. The worksheets must be turned in to the TA before leaving Lab that day. They will be graded on a scale of 6 points. · Grade Discrepancy: We work very hard to make sure that lab grades are recorded accurately. If you feel that there is a discrepancy, you will need to show your TA the grade lab. This must be done by the last day of classes. · Conflicts: If you are registered for a lab section that conflicts with another class, or with several night assembly exams for other classes, you MUST CHANGE LAB SECTIONS IMMEDIATELY. STA 2023 Labs will never meet on the days we have an exam. There are usually plenty of opportunities to change sections during Drop/Add period. After Drop/Add is over, you will need to contact the Lab Coordinator to see if any changes are possible - see the Instructional Team section of this Handbook for the Lab Coordinator's contact information. Lab Attendance and Policies: ·
Students must attend the section they are
registered for - you will get no credit for your work if you attend a
different section. · Students must be on time for Labs, and will not be allowed to enter if they are more than five minutes late. Late students would disrupt the activity, and create problems for the rest of the students and the TA, so it will not be tolerated. · Students must come prepared to Lab, having watched the lectures that cover material relevant to the Lab's activity. · Students must bring the Lab Worksheet to Lab with them - you will get no credit for hand written labs. · Students will not be permitted to make up any Labs that they have missed, regardless of the reason. Instead, we will drop the lowest three grades for all labs and quizzes combined. ·
Time: We will have online quizzes most weeks. The quizzes
run from Monday morning 8am to Thursday night 11:59pm. ·
Material Covered: These quizzes will cover a small amount of material, and
are designed primarily to encourage you to keep up with the lectures
(particularly if you choose to watch them on the web at your own pace). ·
Three attempts: You
will be allowed three attempts for each quiz – each randomly generated, so
the questions won't be identical. The highest grade is counted.
Given all these opportunities, all students should do extremely well on the
quizzes. Hopefully they will serve the purpose of improving your grade
in the class, as well as be an important tool in learning the material for
the course. To see your grade, click on “Gradebook
2”. ·
No makeups. There will be no makeup quizzes for any reason.
Instead, we will drop the lowest three grades for all labs and quizzes
combined. ·
If you have questions, you are allowed to ask teaching assistants and the
instructor questions about submitted attempts on the quiz only. For example, you
can take the quiz one time, submit the quiz for grading, and then print out
the quiz. You can then bring this printout with you to the tutoring room. The
teaching assistants can help you with the problems with which you had
questions. You can then go and try attempt 2 on your own. ·
Place: You can take the quiz on any computer that has internet
access. If you are having trouble with your computer, you can do the quizzes
from any computer that has internet access. There are computers available in
the libraries and in the circa labs (http://labs.circa.ufl.edu/ ) or you could use a friend’s computer –but make sure to
log in to your own account. You cannot take quizzes in the tutoring room. ·
Popup Blockers: If you have a pop-up blocker activated on your machine,
you need to allow pop-ups for this page. If you click on the quiz and nothing
happens, you need to allow pop-ups for this website. If you need help to do
this, contact the CIRCA help desk at 392-HELP. ·
Technical Problems: If you have problems with E-Learning, please contact the
CIRCA help desk at 392-HELP for assistance. ·
Computer crashes in the middle of
the quiz or electricity goes out? Restart
the computer and re-log into webct. Webct should let you continue the quiz. It may give you
messages about your time being expired. Ignore them, finish the quiz and
submit the quiz. If for some reason, webct does not
let you back into the quiz, email the instructor at mmeece@stat.ufl.edu. There will be three assembly
exams, two night exams given during the term (each worth 100 points), and the
last one during final exam week (worth 100 points). All of the exams
will be completely in Multiple Choice format. There will be 33 multiple
choice questions worth 3 points each. This will total 99 points. You can earn
the remaining point by bringing a picture ID to the exam and by bubbling in
your name, UF ID# and test code (listed on the front page of the exam)
correctly. Exams will cover a larger amount of material than the quizzes and
will also place more emphasis in the understanding of concepts and ideas
behind the formulas. Room assignments for each exam will be announced in
class and on the website. The class will be divided up by section. Graphing
calculators may be used during the exam, but only for programs native to the
calculator when you purchased it. Notes for the course and formulas for the
course should not be typed into your calculator. Accessing notes and formulas
from the course on your calculator during the exam is cheating. Academic
dishonesty on any exam will result in a grade of zero on that
exam. Assembly Exam Dates
Makeup Exam Policy
Students are required to bring to
each exam:
The notes in the Lab Workbook will
be used in class. When you are following the lectures, whether live or on the
web, you should always have the lecture notes in front of you. The instructor
will go over the definitions and theory, and work out the examples on the
spaces provided. ·
Homework ·
Answers to odd numbered problems are available in the back of the
text. An Instructor's Guide with Solutions to all homework
problems is available on Reserve at Marston Science Library and in the
Tutoring Room. ·
Doing homework problems using
Minitab Minitab is a very easy to use and
powerful statistical computer package. It is used by colleges, universities
and businesses around the world, and runs on most computer platforms,
including Windows and Macintosh. We will use Minitab in several of our
Labs - the teaching assistant will give you directions on how to use
it. You can also use Minitab to solve some of the homework problems
assigned from the book. The data sets for most homework problems are
included in the data disk that comes with the textbook. Minitab is available
at all the CIRCA Labs on campus. You can also buy it for your home
computer (or download the demo version - free for 30 days) at the Minitab
website at www.minitab.com,
or rent a copy of the software for a semester
for $29.99 at www.e-academy.com/minitab. Link
to Tutoring
Room Schedule · The TA's for the class will be available to answer questions about the material covered in class, homework problems, etc, in the Tutoring Room located in Griffin Floyd 104. · It will be open approximately 40 hours a week - the exact hours of operation will be announced on the website. · There is no need to make an appointment, just go whenever it is convenient for you and the TA on duty will help answer your questions. ·
Please be respectful of other students while
in the tutoring room by not talking on your cell phone. Please put your phone
on silent mode and leave the room if you wish to answer the call. 13. Course
Assessment
How do you find the
Lab and Quiz Total Grade? To find the lab and quizzes grade total (L&QTotal), take the highest 17 scores from labs and
quizzes. (It is possible to earn up to 102. Anything earned above 100 is
extra credit. (The two additional points.) How do I determine my final grade in the course? Example: Suppose that I have an 80 on Exam 1, a 74 on Exam 2 and a 80 on Exam 3. The table has my lab and quiz scores. I
have dropped the lowest three scores in red.
L&QTotal = 6+6+6+6+6+6+6+6+5+6+6+6+6+6+6+6+6=101 Final Grades will be determined by TotalPoints=
Exam1+Exam2 +L&QTotal+Final. TotalPoints = 80+74+101+80 = 335 So, according to the chart above, this means that I have a B for
the course. 14. Hurricane
Policies
Much of the fall semester overlaps
with the hurricane season.
http://www.stat.ufl.edu/~mmeece/STA2023Fa2011.htm 15. Course
Policies
·
Privacy Policies: Student records are
confidential. Only information designated “UF directory information” may be
released without your written consent. UF views each student as the primary
contact for all communication. If your parents contact me about your grade,
attendance or other information that is not “UF directory information”, I
will ask them to contact you. ·
Email ·
Instructor's Honor Code ·
Academic Dishonesty ·
Students with Disabilities ·
Class Attendance and Behavior ·
Makeup Quizzes and Labs ·
Makeup Exams ·
Grading ·
Incompletes 16. Where
to Get Help for this course:
·
in
class, from your instructor ·
in Lab,
from your TA ·
in the
Tutoring Room, Griffin Floyd 104 ·
during
the instructor’s office hours ·
for many classes, not just statistics, at the Tutoring Lab in
the Basement of Broward Hall - a schedule of their hours can be obtained by
calling 392-2010 or by accessing www.teachingcenter.ufl.edu. ·
as a last resort, by getting (and paying) a private tutor. A
list of private tutors can be obtained from the Statistics Department
secretary in Griffin-Floyd 103. ·
Keep up
with the lectures, either by attending a live class or watching them online. ·
Attend
Lab regularly and on time. ·
Visit
the course website regularly, to read announcements and take the online
quizzes. ·
Do well
on the Labs and quizzes, and complete them on time. That is the easiest way
to improve your grade. ·
Work out
the suggested homework problems regularly, soon after the material is covered
in lecture. Check your answers at the Marsten
Science Library or with the TA’s in the Tutoring Room. ·
Visit
the Tutoring Room regularly to get help from the TA’s. Their job is to clarify
any questions that you may have, and to help you understand the material and
learn to do the problems. ·
Get to
know other students in the class and get together regularly to work on
homework problems, and to study for quizzes and exams. ·
Prepare
carefully for exams by going over the lectures, doing your homework and
practice questions, studying your quizzes and reading the book. Pay
special attention to the understanding of concepts and ideas behind the
formulas. 18. How to get
the most out of the online lectures
·
Set aside time each week to watch the
lectures. · You should watch the lectures within a day or two of it being posted. · Watch the lectures one at a time at regular speed and then do a few suggested homework problems. Each section in the notes is labeled with chapter and section headings. · If I ask the audience to work out a problem, this includes those who watch it online as well. You should also be working out the problems at home. · Watch the lectures in a low disruption environment. In addition, to watching the lecture, you should not also be texting, instant messaging, emailing, reading a website, watching tv, etc. Your attention should be focused on the lecture. · I have carefully considered what needs to be discussed in class in our limited time frame. Make sure that you are paying attention to all of it. · If you find that the online lectures are not working for you, consider going to the live lectures. |
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