Course Syllabus

 

MATH 201 (ONLINE)

ELEMENTS of STATISTICS and PROBABILITY

 5 UNITS

Instructor Larry Green

Office Phone Number  541-4660 Extension 341

Internet

Textbook: Instead of a traditional textbook, this class will use a free interactive multimedia online learning system. Printed versions are for sale in the college bookstore.  Follow the link to view the textbook:  http://cnx.org/contents/30189442-6998-4686-ac05-ed152b91b9de@17.44/Preface (Links to an external site.) 


Course Description 
This course will cover data analysis including probability, distributions, sampling, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, regression analysis, and nonparametric analysis.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Design and implement an unbiased study that will produce sound statistical results.
  2. Generate and interpret statistics and graphs from data that arise from surveys and experiments.
  3. Implement the rules of probability.
  4. Apply confidence intervals and test hypotheses to make conclusions about data that come from practical applications.
  5. Perform regression analysis to make informed predictions about relationships between quantitative variables.
     

Prerequisite A grade of C or better in Math 154A or an equivalent class within the past two years, or a satisfactory score on the assessment test.

Grading Policy Your letter grade will be based on your percentage of possible points.

A 90 -- 100%         C 70 -- 79%

B 80 -- 89%            D 60 -- 69%

Quizzes (Online):  .................................. 100 points

Discussions (Online):  ...............................100 points

Proctored Midterm: By November 10   ..... 200 points

Project 1:  By October 12   ....................... 150 points

Project 2: By November 22 ...................... 150 points

Proctored Final Exam: By December 9  ... 300 points

 

Exam Policy Students are to bring calculators, pencils or pens, and paper to each proctored exam. A single 3"x5" note card may also be used.  The note card can have writing on both sides.  Grading will based on the progress towards the final answer, and the demonstration of understanding of the concept that is being tested, therefore, work must be shown in detail. Students may take the exam at LTCC's assessment center free of charge or can arrange for a proctoring service at any accredited college or university or other official center at their own expense.  Students need to inform the instructor of the proctoring logistics at least three days before taking the exam.  Without a proven medical excuse, a 10% per day penalty will be given for each day the midterm exam is taken late.  The final exam cannot be taken late.   The Midterm will be a proctored written exam to be taken by November 10.  The final exam is a comprehensive proctored written exam that will be taken by December 9.   You may take either exam as early as the Saturday before the deadline.  You will receive your midterm grade within one week of the due date and your final exam and course grade by December 15.

 Quiz Policy  Quizzes are to be done on the Canvas site by the due date.  It is strongly recommended that you keep a journal of the written responses to the quiz questions.  This will help you prepare for the projects, midterm and final exam.  Quizzes are due at 11:55 PM on Sundays, but it is recommended that you complete your work by Friday night.  Quizzes may be taken many times (before 11:55 PM on Sunday) until you are satisfied with you score.  Time extensions will only be given if they are requested by the Friday before they are due.  By October 18 at 11:55 PM, you must complete your online exam that covers Chapters 1 through 6.  This exam is much longer than a quiz and can only be taken once.  There is no time limit for the homework, quizzes and online exam, as long as you finish before the deadline.

Discussions  Each week, except during midterm week, you will be asked to post to the discussion board and reply to a student's post.  Please post Thursday or earlier and reply by Sunday.  When you are asked to find a link to an application, you will want to search for a journal article, news article, or course video.  One resource for course videos is here (Links to an external site.).  The grade on the discussion post and reply will be based on how relevant the post is and whether your reply is correctly stated and provides thoughtful insight.  Your reply must be sent in by 11:59 pm on the Sunday it is due.

 Live Webinars  Larry will present a live webinar twice each week.  Students are strongly encouraged to attend these live webinars, but may choose to instead view them as archived online videos if their schedules do not permit.  The times and days of the webinars will be announced each week.  They will change to allow for everyone to at least occasionally log in.  In order to get credit for attending or viewing the webinar, you must submit the secret word that will be given out during the webinar to Larry by Sunday of that week.  Submissions are done via the "Secret Word Quizzes".  Any student who does not participate in or view more than four of these webinars on time will either be dropped from the course (if before the drop date) or will be given an "F" for the course (if after the drop date).  Also, any student who does not attend the orientation webinar will be dropped from the class at the end of the first week of classes.  In addition, a 1% course penalty will be given for each webinar that is not viewed.  To enter the live webinar or get help during live office hours or live tutor hours click HERE (Links to an external site.).

Projects Two projects will be created for this class.  For Project 1, students will collect quantitative data and use a computer to display each of the charts discussed in class.  For Project 2 (Links to an external site.), students will conduct a survey and construct a confidence interval and perform a hypothesis test.  Each project will include the results results and a narrative describing data collection, assumptions made, background information, how the data was analyzed, and conclusions.  Unless specifically stated, all results must be computed using a computer or Statistics calculator and the computer generated results must be included with the project.  The projects should be typed, double spaced, and have 12 point font. Students are to work in pairs. If you cannot work with a partner, then speak to your instructor about the possibility of working as a trio.  A 15% penalty will be incurred on any student who cannot work with another student.  Larry will be happy to look at a rough draft of your paper if you can bring or email it to him at least 24 hours before it is due.  After receiving feedback, you can ask more questions, but only one rough draft of the paper will be reviewed by Larry.  Note:  If you chose a partner from the face-to-face class, the due date is the earlier of the two due dates.  You will receive your project grade within one week of its due date.

Q&A Forum  There is a Q&A Forum set up on the Canvas.  For questions that are of interest to others in the class such as how to work out a statistics problem, please use the Q&A Forum rather than emailing Larry.  If you do email Larry asking how to do a problem, you will just get a response asking you to post on the Q&A forum.  For questions that are more individual such as personal grade issues, please email Larry.  Larry will usually respond within an hour or two and always within 24 hours.

Anonymous Feedback  You are encouraged to provide anonymous feedback for this class.  This will help your instructor make improvements to the course for you and for future students.  Go to this link to provide anonymous feedback.

Netiquitte Guidelines  To find these guidelines click here.



OFFICE HOURS: Larry will always be available immediately after the webinars at the Elluninate virtual room for one hour or when the last person has logged off whichever comes first.  This is a great time for question and answer time.  Larry will also hold five additional general office hours.  The Math Success Center (MSC) is the location upstairs where the face to face tutoring is provided.  Click on the "NetTutor-FREE Online Tutoring" on the right side bar to get 24/7 online tutoring help.  A210 is Larry's office which is also located upstairs.


Monday ............................ 12:40 to 1:40 pm    A 210

Tuesday ............................ 9:00 to 10:00 am    A210

Wednesday .................... 12:40 to 1:40 pm      A210

Thursday ........................ 12:00 to 1:00 pm      A210

Friday.............................. 12:40 to 1:40 pm       A210



CALCULATORS: The TI 83, TI 84+ is required for this course.  The TI 89 with the TI 83/84 downloaded or the TI nSpire will also work for this class.  There are a limited number of TI 84+ calculators available for rent for $5 at the Library.

 

LEARNING DISABILITIES: If you have a learning disability, be sure to discuss your special needs with Larry.  Learning disabilities will be accommodated and you may contact our disability resource center (Links to an external site.) by email or by phone at (530) 541-4660 x 384.

TUTORING:  Tutors are available at no cost in A 201 (The Math Success Center (Links to an external site.)).  The virtual tutors are also available to help you.  Click on the "NetTutor-FREE Online Tutoring" on the right side bar to get 24/7 online tutoring help.

A WORD ON HONESTY:

Cheating or copying will not be tolerated. People who cheat dilute the honest effort of the rest of us.  If you cheat on a quiz, exam, or project you will receive an F  for the course, not merely for the test.  Other college disciplinary action including expulsion might occur. Please don't cheat in this class.  If you are having difficulty with the course, please contact me.

 



SCHEDULE

       

Week 1      Chapter 1:  Sampling Data
                  Chapter 2:  Descriptive Statistics (First Part)       

Week 2     Chapter 2:  Descriptive Statistics (Second Part)
                 Chapter 3:  Probability

Week 3      Chapter 4:  Discrete Random Variables
                  Chapter 5:  Continuous Random Variables

Week 4      Chapter 6:  The Normal Distribution
                  Project 1

Week 5     Chapter 7:  The Central Limit Theorem 
                  Online Exam

Week 6     Chapter 8:  Confidence Intervals
                 Chapter 9: Hypothesis Testing: 1 Sample  (First Part)

Week 7     Chapter 9:  Hypothesis Testing:  1 Sample   (Second Part)
                 Chapter 10:  Hypothesis Testing:  2 Samples
                 

Week 8     Midterm (Chapters 1 through 10)

Week 9    Chapter 11:  Chi-Square Tests
                Video on programming Goodness of Fit Into Your Calculator (Links to an external site.)

Week 10  Chapter 12:  Linear Regression and Correlation
                    Project 2

Week 11   Chapter 13:  F Distribution and ANOVA

Week 12  Final Exam  (Proctored)  Wednesday, By December 5



HOW TO SUCCEED IN AN ONLINE MATH CLASS

  •  Come to every virtual class meeting.
  •  Get online early, get yourself settled, spend a few minutes looking at your notes from the previous class meeting, and have your materials ready when class starts.
  •  Read each section before it is discussed in the webinars.
  •  Do some math every day.
  •  Start preparing for the exams at least a week in advance.
  • Submit your homework and quizzes at least 24 hours before it is due.  Computer problems always seem to occur at the worst times.
  • Stay after lecture for the online office hour.
  • Get help from a tutor or from your instructor whenever you are confused.  Your instructor is there to help you pass.  With hard work, many hours on task, and persistence, you can achieve your goals.
 

 

 

 

Date
Details
Wed Apr 29, 2015
Sun Sep 27, 2015
Sun Oct 4, 2015
Sun Oct 11, 2015
Thu Oct 15, 2015
Sun Oct 18, 2015
Sun Oct 25, 2015
Sun Nov 1, 2015
Sun Nov 8, 2015
Tue Nov 10, 2015
Sun Nov 15, 2015
Sun Nov 22, 2015
Sun Nov 29, 2015
Sun Dec 6, 2015
Wed Dec 9, 2015