Course
Description:
Statistical Decision Making
is an elementary statistics course designed to show the student how
statistics is used in problem solving and decision making. Topics may
include graphical representations of data; measures of central tendency
and variability; elementary concepts in data collection and design of
experiments; elementary probability concepts; distributions including
the binomial and normal distributions; correlation and regression; and
confidence intervals and hypothesis testing for means, proportions and
differences of means and proportions. Special emphasis is placed upon
the understanding of concepts and the proper use of statistics in real
life situations. This course is a
Longwood University General
Education course and counts as 3 semester credits. Learning Objectives: This course will give students a working knowledge of the ideas and tools of practical statistics. Students will learn to:
Prerequisites: Since this is a general education course, there are no prerequisites for the course. Professor: Dr. M. Leigh Lunsford. For Dr. Lunsford's office location, phone number, email address, schedule (including office hours), and other general information, go to her homepage: http://www.mathspace.com/Lunsford/ Meeting Times and Locations: This semester I am teaching two regular sections and one honors section of this course:
Course Textbook & Textbook CD-ROM : The Basic Practice of Statistics, Fourth Edition, by David S. Moore. If you have purchased a new textbook it will include a CD-ROM which includes data sets from the textbook as well as applets you can run. Stats Portal: Students enrolled in the honors section of MATH171 will have FREE access to the Stats Portal for the Fall semester! The Stats Portal is located at the site: http://courses.bfwpub.com/bps4e.php . I will be providing you your password during the first week of class. We will be using the data sets, applets, and Excel macros on the Stats Portal. You will also be required to complete some of your homework and quizzes online via the Stats Portal. Please see the Homework/Quiz information below for more details. Required Technology/Computer Configurations:
Supplements to the Text: There are Microsoft Excel and a TI-83 Graphing Calculator Manuals that supplement the textbook. There is also a printed Student Study Guide available. If you are interested in obtaining these please see the front section of your text or the textbook website for the ISBN numbers for these items. I will be showing you how to use both the TI-83 and Excel in class. Determination of Course Grade:
Grades will be assigned on a ten point scale (90's A; 80's B; 70's C; 60's D; 50's and below F). Honor System: I expect you (and your partners on the hand-in final project) to conform to the Longwood University Honor System as contained in the Student Handbook. All material handed in to me (quizzes, project, tests, homework) must be pledged. Homework: Homework for this class falls into three categories: Practice Homework and Hand-In Homework and Online Review Homework.
Quizzes: Approximately every two weeks a short (15 to 20 minute) quiz will be given in class or online via the Stats Portal. Occasionally an assignment to be completed outside will count as a quiz (such as Easy Quiz 1). These quizzes will be based on your homework assignments, your online quizzes and our class discussions. I will try to give at least one class period notice for an in class quiz (please see the Stats Portal page for the latest information on quiz dates). Once a quiz has been graded and returned to the students, there will be no make-ups for that quiz, period. Thus, contact me ASAP if you have an excused absence and need to make up a quiz. All quizzes must be pledged. Please see the make-up policy below for additional information. Make-up Quizzes/Homework: Because I will be dropping your two lowest grades for computation of your In-Class Quizzes/Hand-In Homework/Online Quizzes/Online Review Homework average, there will not be any make-up quizzes or homework. If you have a legitimate University sponsored event in which you must participate (such as a sporting event) scheduled on the same day as an In-Class quiz, then please see me about taking the quiz early. Once the quiz has been given in class, you cannot take it. Also, if hand-in homework is due on a day when you will not be able to come to class, then please make sure you hand in your homework to me before the class meeting. In-Class Exams: A minimum of a one week notice will be given for exam dates. Please see the class schedule below for the tentative exam dates (for more detailed information about test dates see the Assignments page). Except in the case of an emergency, a make-up exam must be scheduled before the scheduled exam date. If the exam has already been given and you have not previously scheduled a make-up, then you will receive a zero on that exam. Please see the make-up policy below for additional information. Final Project: You will have a hand-in final project that you will be working on during the course of the semester. You may work in a team of up to three students (including yourself). Around midterm I will have you hand-in the work on your project to date. The project will involve either self collected data or relatively large data sets and thus will be done via the use of computer technology. The hand-in project must be typed with all graphics presented in-line. During the last week of class your team will give a short (around 20 minute) presentations of your final project. Final Exam: The final exam for this course will be comprehensive. You cannot miss the final - failure to take the final exam will automatically result in an F grade for the course. Please see me as soon as possible if you may have a conflict with the final exam date. Final Exam Dates: You can find the scheduled final exam dates for all your classes at this link. For the sections of MATH171 that I am teaching this semester, the final exam dates are given below. If you have a conflict with the final exam date and need to reschedule, please see me as soon as possible.
Extra Credit: Extra Credit will NOT be given - period. Attendance & Excused Absences: You are expected to attend every class. If you miss classes it will most likely be reflected in your grades (i.e. you will perform poorly). The following college attendance policy will be followed per the Class Attendance section of the Academic Regulations chapter of the Longwood University Undergraduate Catalog: Missing 10% of class meetings may result in a lowering of one letter grade. Missing 25% of class meetings for any reason will result in an automatic “F” for the course. Absences are excused only for illness, college sponsored activities, and recognizable emergencies. You must have the proper documentation for an excused absence. Student Health Services can provide documentation only for students hospitalized locally or absent at the direction of Student Health Services personnel. You must also assume full responsibility for all material covered during your absence, including scheduling any early in-class quizzes or make-up exams. A grade of "0" will be assigned for all work missed due to unexcused absences. Make-up Policy: Make-up assignments will be given only when the reason for missing the assignment meets the criteria for an excused absence (see above). Except in the case of emergencies, make-up assignments must be scheduled and/or turned-in before the due date of the assignment being made-up (i.e. you should plan ahead if you know you are going to miss class). As a general rule, you can expect that make-up tests will more difficult than regularly scheduled tests. If you have a recognizable emergency, please contact me as soon as you can to discuss your make-up options. Resources for Students Learning Statistics:
Office of Disability Services:
Any student who
feels s/he may need
an accommodation based on the impact of a
physical, psychological, medical, or learning
disability should contact me privately.
If you have not already done so, please contact
Longwood's Office of
Disability Support Services
to register for
services.
Class Schedule: Below is a very tentative class schedule. This schedule may change due to class pace, etc. However, it is provided here for your information. For a more detailed schedule depending on our actual classroom interaction please see the Assignments page.
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