Syllabus
for STA 2023 - Introduction to Statistics
Summer
A-2012 -- ONLINE
Email: mmeece AT stat.ufl.edu
Phone Number: 352-273-2975 (Please use email
instead. Phone messages only checked weekly.)
Online Office Hours: Monday noon to 1pm, Wednesday 4
to 5:30pm, Thursday 10 to 11:30am Friday 1 to 2pm (during the week of 6/11 to
6/15, I will be grading the AP Statistics exam, so the TA will be monitoring
these hours as well.
Email trangnt2 AT
stat.ufl.edu
Online Office Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 5 to 6pm
Email johnnywu
stat.ufl.edu
Online Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 2 to 3pm
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
STA 2023 is an introductory course that assumes no prior knowledge of
statistics but does assume some knowledge of high school algebra. Basic
statistical concepts and methods are presented in a manner that emphasizes
understanding the principles of data collection and analysis rather than
theory. Much of the course will be devoted to discussions of how
statistics is commonly used in the real world. There are two major parts
to this course:
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), 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.)
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), 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).
1.
Lab
Workbook for Statistics: The Art and Science of Learning from Data—2nd
edition
2.
Statistics:
The Art and Science of Learning from Data by Alan Agresti and Christine
Franklin 2nd edition, Pearson, 2009 with MyStatLab Access Code.
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 σn-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.
4.
A Reliable
Computer
·
Windows Users: A reliable computer running
Windows XP (or higher) with 1024 MB of RAM or higher
·
Macusers: Mac OS X (or higher)
·
A web cam with 640x480 video pixel
resolution or higher.
·
Headphones or working speakers connected
to the computer.
·
A working microphone connected to the
computer. We recommend a web cam that has a built in microphone.
·
A web browser with Adobe Flash Player
installed. We recommend Flash Player 10.
·
A reliable, high‐speed internet connection (minimium 768
KBPS/384 KPS download upload or higher)
·
The ability to allow video and screen‐sharing connections to the computer you will be using to take your
exam.
·
Authority to allow remote access to your
computer and screen one of the test proctors.
|
Assessment |
Percent of Grade |
|
Exam 1 |
30% |
|
Exam 2 |
30% |
|
Chapter Quizzes (4 in total) |
8% |
|
Lesson Quizzes |
8% |
|
Collaborative Assessments |
16% |
|
Homework Problems |
8% |
To find your
grade, use the following formula.
Grade = (Exam1)/100
*30
+(Exam2)/100*30+(ChapterQuizzes)/100*8+(LessonQuizzes/100)*8+(Collobrorate
Assessments/75)*8 +HomeworkProblems/100)*8 |
|
|
|
|
|
Letter
Grade |
Grade
Points |
Percentage
of Points Needed |
|
A |
4.00 |
90 to 100% |
|
A- |
3.67 |
88.5 to 89.99% |
|
B+ |
3.33 |
84.5 to 88.49% |
|
B |
3.00 |
80 to 84.49% |
|
B- |
2.67 |
78.5 to 79.99% |
|
C+ |
2.33 |
74.5 to 78.49% |
|
C |
2.00 |
64.5 to 74.49% |
|
D |
1.00 |
60 to 64.49% |
|
E |
0.00 |
Below 60% |
In E-Learning you will be able to:
·
complete the lessons
in the course.
·
check the
announcement home page
·
find any updates
to the Syllabus
·
watch the
lectures as streaming video as you complete the lessons
·
take the online
quizzes
·
turn in portions
of the collaborative assignments using the assignment tool
·
ask questions under the Q & A discussion board.
·
check your grades
For any technical
problems with E-Learning, please contact 392-HELP or learning-support@ufl.edu.
·
A Student Access
Kit (packaged inside
a new textbook, purchased online in step 3, or with a standalone access kit).
·
A valid
Gatorlink email address
·
Your school’s zip code: 32611
·
“Course ID” Number: mocko04138
1.
Go
to www.coursecompass.com.
2.
Click
on the Register button below Students
3.
Review
the Before You Start information. If
you have everything you need to register, click Next.
4.
Enter
your Course ID exactly as provided
by your instructor and click “Find
Course.” Your course information
should appear. If not, contact your instructor to verify the correct Course ID.
5.
Select
Access Code and type your Access Code in the fields provided (one
word per field) and click Next.
6.
Read
the License Agreement and Privacy Policy and click “I Accept.”
7.
On
the Access Information Screen, you’ll be asked whether you already have a
Pearson Education Account.
Click:
·
“YES” if you have
registered for other Pearson online products and already have a login name and
password. Boxes will appear for you to enter your existing login information.
·
“NO” if this is the
first time you have registered for a Pearson online product. Boxes will appear
for you to create your login name and password.
·
“NOT SURE” if you want to
check for a pre-existing account and receive an email with your login name
and password.
8.
Simply
follow the registration screens and enter your information as prompted. You
will enter your name,
email
address, school information, and provide a security question/answer to ensure
the privacy of your
account. (You
must use your gatorlink id, so that I can easily update your grades.)
Once
your registration is complete, you will see a Confirmation screen (this information will also be emailed to you).
Simply print your confirmation and you are now ready to Log in and access your
resources!
Important: You MUST install all required
software plugins to use this website from a home or work computer. A
link to these plugins is located from within the MyStatLab – Look for the Installation Wizard or Browser Check,
often
found under Announcements or as a button on the left. AOL users must minimize
that browser and use Internet Explorer.
You must also disable any pop-up blockers for this site only.
Each day in the course (5 days a week) you
are going to be completing a lesson. This lesson will include text and video
about the day’s assigned material. As you work through the material, you will
be filling in the lab workbook. It will also have several activities and short
quizzes for you to accomplish. You should expect this lesson and the homework
to take you about 2 to 3 hours per day.
·
When you open the lesson, it will ask for your userid.
Enter your gatorlink id everytime.
(For example, my email address at UF is mmeece@ufl.edu. So, I would put in mmeece into that space.) You will see a popup box that says
that you have successfully connect to ScoreCenter. After you have finished the quizzes, you will
want to submit your scores to a Soft Chalk Score Center by hitting the Finish
button at the bottom of the last page. As you complete the assignment, click
save in order for the items that you have completed to be sent to the Score
Center. As long as you hit save, you can stop the lesson and come back to work
on it at a later time. There is an
unlimited number of tries for each lesson up until the due date.
·
After you finish the assessment, it will ask if you want a receipt of
your completion of the lesson. If you want a backup of the grade, send the
email receipt to your email account. Please do not send it to me unless you
find that your score has not been posted after the due date in Sakai. The SoftChalk Score Center gets the results when you send it.
The lesson must be completed by midnight of the third day that it is assigned.
It is o.k. to complete lessons early. After the midnight on the third day, I
will upload the lesson quiz scores to Sakai. Please check the schedule posted
in Sakai for a more up to date list of deadlines. Please check your scores in a
timely manner. All corrections to scores must be made by June 23rd 5
pm EST. To get your grade for this section, total up your points from each
lesson and divide by the total number of points. Take this number and multiple
by 100 to get your grade for this part.
Time: We will
have 4 online chapter quizzes.
|
Quiz |
Chapters |
Dates |
|
1 |
Chapters 1 -3 |
Monday, May 21st 8am to
Wednesday May 23rd 2012 11:59pm |
|
2 |
Chapters 4 -6 |
Thursday, May 24th 8am
to Tuesday, May 29th 2012 11:59pm |
|
3 |
Chapters 7 – 8 |
Thursday, June 7th 8am to Tuesday, June 12th, 2012
11:59pm |
|
4 |
Chapters 9 – 10 |
Monday, June 18th 8am to Wednesday, June 20th,
2012 11:59pm |
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.
If you have questions, you
are allowed to ask teaching assistants and the instructor questions about submitted
attempts on the quiz only. Do not post questions about quiz questions on the
Q&A board when the quiz is still running. Email the instructor or the TA.
Make sure that you show the work that you did on the problem.
Place: You can
take the quiz on any computer that has internet access.
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 immediately and
re-log into E-Learning. E-Learning should let you continue the quiz. If for
some reason, E-Learning does not let you back into the quiz, email the
instructor at mmeece@stat.ufl.edu.
Grade: To get
your grade for this part, add up the four quiz scores.
There will be two online proctored
exams. All of the exams will be completely in Multiple Choice format. There
will be 33 multiple choice questions worth 3 points each and one question worth
1 point. This will total 100 points. 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. Access to the formula
sheet will be allowed for the duration of the exam. Access to the spreadsheet
in StatCrunch will be for the exam. Academic
dishonesty on any exam will result in a grade of zero on that exam.
|
Exams |
Date |
Time |
Chapters in Book |
Handbook Pages |
|
Exam 1 |
Wednesday, May 30th |
5pm to 8pm EST |
Ch. 1 – Ch. 6 Sec. 3 |
1 - 50 |
|
Exam 2 |
Thursday, Jun 21st |
5 pm to 8pm EST |
Ch. 7 Sec. 1 – Chapter 10 Sec. 4 |
51 - 121 |
You will be taking your exam through
an online proctoring company. I have posted their information here for your
convenience.
ProctorU is
a revolutionary new service that allows students to complete
their assessment at any location while still ensuring the academic
integrity of the exam for the institution. Using almost any web
cam and
computer, you can take exams at home, at work, or anywhere you
have
internet access.
You will be connected to a live person during your exam that will
be there to guide you through the
process and assist with any technical problems. If you have any
questions, please call our proctor
line at 205‐870‐8122.
Appointments are required to use ProctorU
and all appointments need to be made at least 72 hours
in
advance. If you register prior to 72 hours before the exam, there will not be
an additional fee.
Reservations made within 72 hours of your exam are subject to a $5
late reservation fee.
There is also a “Take it Now” option that
does not require prior reservation. However, it will cost you $8.75.
To make an appointment, simply create an account at http://go.proctoru.com,
log in, click on the “new
exam” link and select the exam, date, and time you desire. You
will receive a confirmation email of
your reservations at the email address that you provided to ProctorU.
Plan ahead for your session. Make sure you have a quiet, private
location in which to take the test.
The area and room around your computer will be scanned using a web
cam prior to your exam, so all
non‐authorized
materials should be put away and the area should be clutter‐free. If you are using a
public computer lab, you must have a web cam connection and use
headphones, so you won’t disturb
others. You will also be required to show picture identification
to your proctor at the time of your
exam. Approved forms of identification include, but are not
limited to, a driver’s license, military
identification card, passport, or school‐issued identification card.
No breaks are allowed during your
testing session and cell phones and other devices will not be
permitted in the testing area. No other
people are allowed in the area in which the test is being taken.
Any unauthorized notes or other
attempts to cheat will abort the test session and will be reported
to your instructor.
At the date and time of your appointment, return to http://go.proctoru.com,
log in, and a message
will appear saying, “You have an exam. Click here to begin.” Click
on this button and it will
automatically take you to the proctor page. Fill out your personal
information and hit submit. You
will then be directed to a screen which will connect you to your
proctor. Just follow the steps on the
screen and a proctor will be connected with you shortly.
Once connected, your designated proctor will walk you through the
set up process and you will log
into your testing portal. Your proctor will also supply the
password for your examination. Your exam
time will begin when the proctor enters the examination password
on your screen. If you have any
problems connecting, please call ProctorU
at 205‐870‐8122. Should you not be able
to reach
ProctorU via
telephone you can email help@proctoru.com If you have scheduled an exam and you
are late, your proctor will attempt to call you at the phone
number you provided when you scheduled
your exam. Should there be any UF login issues at the time of your
scheduled exam your proctor will
contact the course instructor or course coordinator and you will
be able to reschedule your exam if necessary.
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.
Doing the homework is essential step
in succeeding in this class. For every lesson, there will be about 2 to 10
homework problems for you to complete in MyStatLab. You will have about 3 days
to complete each of these homework assignments. The help functions have been
turned on, so that you will have guidance as you are working on the problems.
You may complete the homework problems as many times as you want. The highest
score will be recorded. The homework scores will be kept in MyStatLab. Please
view the Grade book in MyStatLab to see your homework scores. If you are having
trouble understanding homework problems or course concepts, please post your
questions on the Question and Answer Discussion Board. This way everyone will
benefit from your question. WARNING: Because the help functions have been
turned on in the course, homework scores are not always a good judge of how you
are learning the material. Carefully, reflect on how often you have to use the
help functions and how many times you submit the homework. Each
homework is worth 10 points. To get your final homework score, add up
all of your homework scores and divide by 220. Take this number and multiply by
100 to get your overall score.
StatCrunch is an online statistical
software package that comes with your MyStatLab access code. The data sets from
the textbook are automatically entered. We will be using StatCrunch to work out
problems throughout the semester. The lessons will include videos on how to do
certain tasks and quiz you on these activities. You will also be using StatCrunch as part of your collaborative assessment.
In this course, you will be asked
to complete a series of assignments. Some of these assignments are with a group
and others are individual. The purpose of these assignments is to get a broader
view of statistics outside of the classroom.
More information and rubrics are provided on a link on the sidebar in
Sakai. Total up the points on the various rubrics and divide by 75. Take this
number and multiple by 100 to get your grade for this section.
Online
Office Hours:
·
During the semester there will be 10 hours of online office hours using
the Chat function in Sakai. Please see the top of the syllabus for hours.
Live
Review Sessions:
·
We will also be having Live Review Sessions during the semester. Please
email me about what questions you would like to go over in the review sessions.
These live review sessions will be held in Adobe Connect. Attendance at the
review sessions is not required. Sessions will be recorded and can be viewed at
a later time by all. The review sessions will be conducted by either the TA or
by the instructor, Megan Mocko.
Very
Tentative Dates of Review Sessions
·
Wednesday, May 16th 7pm- 8pm
·
Friday, May 17th 7pm – 8pm
·
Wednesday, May 23rd , 7 pm – 8pm
·
Thursday, May 24th, 7pm – 8pm
·
Tuesday, May 29th, 7pm – 8pm
·
Wednesday, June 6th, 7 to 8pm
·
Thursday, June 7th, 7 to 8pm
·
Wednesday, June 13th, 7 to 8pm
·
Thursday, June 14th, 7 to 8pm
·
Tuesday, June 19th, 7 to 8pm
·
Wednesday, June 20th, 7 to 8pm
All students will have access to a
Question and Answer Discussion Board in Sakai. This board is for discussion of the
material. You are able to ask questions about lessons, videos, lesson quizzes,
and homework questions. DO NOT POST QUESTIONS ABOUT SAKAI QUIZZES OR TESTS.
Students who post Sakai quiz answers on the Discussion Board will be penalized.
It will be considered an honor violation. Please send an email to the
instructor to discuss private matters such as grades, medical excuses and DRC
letters.
Summer A
semester overlaps with the hurricane season.
·
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
Email relating to information about the class should be sent to your TA emails
listed at the top of document or to the instructor at mmeece@stat.ufl.edu. Your
message will be answered within one working day, in most cases. However, we ask
you to please refer to this Syllabus and the course website to try to find the
answers for yourself. Questions regarding the material covered and homework
problems should be asked on the Question and Answer Discussion Board. Questions about the quiz should be sent to your
instructor and it should include the quiz number, attempt number and question
number.
·
Instructor's
Honor Code
We the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves
and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity.
·
Academic
Dishonesty
We adhere to the University of Florida rules and guidelines for handling
instances of academic dishonesty. Please refer to the Office for Student
Services for detailed information about the current policies.
·
Students with
Disabilities
Students who require special accommodations in class or during exams should
follow the procedures outlined by the Disability Resources Program (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/ ) Please
send the course coordinator (Megan Mocko) your letter of accommodations as soon
as you receive the information. I must be emailed the form 7 days before the
exam date for accommodations to be arranged.
·
Grading
Grades will be changed only when an error has been made; negotiation is not
appropriate.
·
Incompletes
Incompletes are only assigned when extraordinary circumstances (such as an
accident, or extended hospitalization), arising after the date for dropping the
course, prevent the student from completing the course requirements.
Having a failing grade in the course is not a valid reason for requesting an
Incomplete.
·
During Virtual
Office Hours and Tutoring Room Hours
·
Question and
Answer Discussion Board in Sakai
·
Via Emails to the
instructor at mmeece@stat.ufl.edu
·
Set
aside time each week to watch the lectures.
·
You
should watch and read the lessons on a regular schedule.
·
Complete
the lessons and then do suggested homework assignment.
·
Actively
involve yourself in the lesson. Be inquisitive. Work out the lesson quizzes and
activities. Learning is not a spectator sport. Jump in and work on the
problems.
·
Watch
the lecture videos and complete the lessons in a low disruption environment. In
addition, to watching the lecture, you should not be also 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 the lessons. Make sure that you are
paying attention to all of it.