Course Handbook

STA 2023 - Introduction to Statistics
Fall 2005

Please refer to this document whenever you have a question about the course.
Updates and changes will be posted on the website.

1.  Instructional Team  

Course Coordinator: Maria I. Ripol

Lab Coordinator: Yasar Yesilcay

office: Griffin Floyd 117 C

office: Griffin Floyd 101 B

phone: 392-1941 ext 217

phone: 392-1941 ext 206

email:   ripol (in WebCT)

email:   yy@stat.ufl.edu

Office Hours: MW 4th & 8th periods

Office Hours: MTWRF 11am – 12 noon

 

     or by appointment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TA Information:

WebCT Email         Lab Sections        Tutoring Hours

 

2.  General Course Information

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 mathematical theory behind the analysis.  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 and 2, approximately 6 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 3, 1 week.)

II  Probability and Inference – using the language of probability and the properties of numerical summaries computed from a random samples (chapters 4 and 5, 2 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 6, 7, 8, approximately 6 weeks).

Course Objective
The primary goal of the course is to help students understand how the process of posing a question, collecting data relevant to that question, analyzing data, and interpreting data can help them find answers to real problems from their world.
 
 
 
3.  Required Materials

  1. STA 2023 Course Guide, to be purchased at the University Copy and More (1620 W. University Ave.).  This is a binder that includes:
  2. Introduction to the Practice of Statistics, by David S. Moore and George P. McCabe, 5th edition, Freeman, 2005, including a disk with all data sets for the book. 
  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:  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.


4.  Course Website:  http://www.stat.ufl.edu/~mripol/Info2023.html

Information for the course, the online lectures for the first week, and important announcements will appear on the course website listed above.  That website will also provide a link and instructions to access a password protected website inside WebCT VISTA, an integrated, Web based classroom management tool.  For more information on WebCT VISTA, go to their homepage at: http://lss.at.ufl.edu/

 

In WebCT VISTA you will be able to:

 

 

 

5.  Lectures

Lectures are delivered live MWF 3rd period in a large auditorium in the Physics Building, NPB 1001.  The lectures will be repeated during 7th period in a much smaller room, where they are videotaped.  These taped lectures will be available to view online at the course website starting around 4pm on the day they are taught.  Students can choose to attend either of these live lectures (the smaller one, space permitting), or they may choose to view the lectures online, regardless of which section they are registered for.

Live Lectures
 

Period

Lecture

Room

MWF 3

live

NPB 1001

MWF 7

videotaping

Norman G 520

Online Lectures
Links to the videotaped lectures will be found at the course website.   Links to the free software needed and other information will also be provided on the website.  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.   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.  As a last resort, you can purchase the videotapes (see below).
 

Videotaped Lectures
Videotapes of the lectures will also be available for sale at TIS Bookstore located at 1227 W. University Ave.  These will be available on Saturday for the lectures taught that week.  Three lectures in one videotape sell for approximately $10.
 
 
 
6.  Labs

Starting the first week of classes, students are required to attend Lab once a week, according to the section they are registered for.  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.  All labs will meet in CBD 220 – this building is located one block north of University Avenue, across from Library West.  Worksheets with instructions for each Lab are included in the binder that you buy at University Copies and More. 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 10 points.

Lab Attendance and Policies:

NOTE:  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.


 
 7.  Online Quizzes

We will have online quizzes most weeks.  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.

Quizzes will generally be available from Friday morning to Monday afternoon –exact dates will appear on the course website.  You will be allowed three attempts for each quiz – each randomly generated, so the questions won't be identical.  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 being an important tool in learning the material for the course.  You can also print your quizzes and use them to study for exams.  There will be no makeup quizzes for any reason.  Instead, we will drop the lowest five grades for all labs and quizzes combined.

Problems with the Quizzes?

·        Check the settings on your computer to see if anything could be interfering with the quizzes - like firewalls, pop-up window blockerss or disabled cookies.

·        Remember that you can do the quizzes from the computers on campus (CIRCA labs, libraries) or from a friend's computer - but make sure to log in to your own account.

·        Your Gartorlink account is used to access WebCT VISTA, so make sure your password is not expired.  For further questions, contact the CIRCA help desk.

·        DO NOT wait until the last minute to start the quiz.  If there are any technical problems, it is your responsibility to fix them, or work around them, to finish the quiz before the deadline.

Quiz Grades:  You have three tries for each quiz - the highest grade is automatically recorded.  To see the recorded grade, click on "my grades" on the top menu bar in WebCT.  To review what you did wrong, check the "completed" link next to the quiz name, and then click on the hyperlinked numbers to see each try of the quiz.  If any of your quizzes says "ungraded" next to it, email the course coordinator (ripol inside WebCT) so it can be fixed.

Nasty message saying your time is up?  Sometimes, when submitting one try of the quiz you accidentally open the quiz again and that starts your next trial of the quiz.  This can happen if you use the "back" button on your browser instead of WebCT's links.  When you come in hours later, it says your time has expired.  You are still allowed to save the questions and submit the quiz, even if the time is up, but you get very annoying messages.  You can ignore them, or email the course coordinator (ripol inside WebCT) so it can be fixed.
 

 

8.  Exams

There will be three assembly exams total: two night exams given during the term (each worth 150 points), and the last one during final exam week (worth 150 points).  All of the exams will be completely in Multiple Choice format. Exams will cover a larger amount of material that 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 about a week before each exam. Academic dishonesty on any exam will carry a minimum penalty of a grade of zero on that exam.

Assembly Exam Dates
 

Exam 1

  Thursday, October 6, 2005

 8:20 pm – 10:00 pm 

Chapters 1, 2, 3

Exam 2

  Thursday, November 3, 2005

 8:20 pm – 10:00 pm 

Chapters 4, 5, 6

Exam 3

  Saturday, December 10, 2005 

 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm 

Chapters 7, 8

 

Makeup Exam Policy

  1. In case of conflict with a class: Assembly exams have priority over regularly scheduled classes. The instructor for the other class must allow you to make up any work you miss because of an assembly exam - contact them early to make arrangements.  This is a University of Florida policy, as stated on the Registrar's website  http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/currents/finalexams.html
  2. In case of conflict with another exam: Assembly exams have priority over time-of-class exams. If you have two assembly exams scheduled for the same day and time, the course with the higher number has priority.  This is a University of Florida policy, as stated on the Registrar's website http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/currents/finalexams.html.  Contact the instructor of the appropriate class early, to make arrangements for a makeup exam - do not wait until the last minute.  If you need to schedule a makeup exam for STA 2023 because it conflicts with another assembly exam for a course with a higher number, you must contact your Statistics instructor at least ONE WEEK prior to the regularly scheduled exam.
  3. In case of sudden illness or emergency: Contact the instructor prior to the exam - as soon as you realize you will be unable to take the test at the scheduled time.  Each case will be reviewed individually. Valid and detailed documentation is a prerequisite for scheduling a makeup exam under such extenuating circumstances.
  4. To make arrangements for a makeup exam: Contact the instructor through email in WebCT, in person during office hours, or through the phone (information appears on first section of the Handbook).  Makeup exams will cover the same material as the regularly scheduled exam, but will not necessarily be in multiple choice format.  Makeup exams will typically be schedule for 7am to avoid conflicts with other courses.

Students are required to bring to each exam:


9.  Lecture Notes

The notes used in the lectures are included in the binder you buy at University Copies and More.  When you are following the lectures, whether live, video taped 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.
 
 
 

 

10.  Homework and Practice Questions

Homework
On the course website, you will find a list of suggested homework problems from the text, by section.  These problems are assigned to help you master the material and will not be collected. You can get help with these problems from the tutors in the Tutoring Room in Griffin Floyd 104.

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 is also available in the Tutoring Room in Griffin Floyd 104.

Practice Questions in WebCT
In addition to the homework problems from the book, you will find in WebCT some practice questions done mostly in multiple choice format.  These problems do not count for your grade, but are good practice for the quizzes and exams.  You can submit the answers to find out if they are correct, and you can do the problems an unlimited number of times.

Doing homework problems using Minitab
Students also have the option to answer certain homework questions from the textbook using Minitab, a statistical computer program.  Information about Minitab appears in the next section.  The data sets for most homework problems are included in the data disk that comes with the textbook, and are also available on the publisher's website: http://www.whfreeman.com/ips.
   


11.  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 Lab Worksheets 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 (the disk with the falling men), and are also available on the publisher's website: www.whfreeman.com/ips.  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.
 
 
 

 

12.  Tutoring Room

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 – click on the link for the exact hours of operation: Tutoring Hours.  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.
 
 


13.  Course Assessment
 

Grade Structure

 

 

 

Grading Scale

Exam 1

   150 points

 

    A 

537 – 600 points

Exam 2

   150 points

 

    B+ 

513 – 536 points

Exam 3

   150 points

 

    B 

477 – 512 points

Labs and Quizzes

   150 points

 

    C+ 

453 – 476 points

 

 

 

    C 

387 – 452 points

TOTAL 

   600 points

 

    D 

360 – 386 points   (No D+ given)

 

 

 

    E 

359 points and below


 
 


14.  Course Policies

Email
Email relating to information about the class should be sent inside WebCT to your TA or the instructor. Your message will be answered within two working days, in most cases. However, we ask you to please refer to this Handbook and the course website to try to find the answers for yourself. Questions regarding the material covered in class, homework problems, or Lab should be asked in person, in the Tutoring Room, in Lab or in class. Statistical questions often require formulas or pictures, which can make it very hard to communicate by email.

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/drp/).  Please bring the course coordinator your letter of accommodations in the first two weeks of classes, during office hours, or make an appointment if you cannot make it during those hours.  This letter must be discussed with the course coordinator directly, not with the lab TA, for accommodations on exams to be made.

Class Attendance and Behavior
Attendance to class is not mandatory, since you will be able to watch the lectures online. Attendance to Lab, however, is mandatory, and you are required to attend the Lab section for which you are registered.  For both Labs and lectures, we ask that you arrive on time, and to behave in a respectful manner towards the instructors and your fellow students.  In fact, no one will be allowed in Lab if they are more than five minutes late.  Please turn your off cellular phones and refrain from eating, drinking, reading newspapers, doing homework for other classes, and excessive talking.

Makeup Quizzes and Labs
There will be NO makeup labs or quizzes under any circumstances - instead, we will drop the lowest five grades for all labs and quizzes combined.  These five drops are meant to allow for missed labs or quizzes due to illness, personal or family emergency, personal or University sanctioned travel, religious observance, tardiness, laziness, and all other reasons.  Do not abuse your drops - you never know if you will need them later.

Makeup Exams
See the section on Exams for exam makeup policy.

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.
 
 
 

 


15.  Where to Get Help for this course:


16.  How to do well in the course: