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John Haussermann Spring 2008: Math 5 / Statistics |
Welcome to Online Statistics! I will be your instructor for Math 5 during the fall. Please call me John.
Our overall objective will be to understand data and its many presentations. This can be as simple as creating a pie chart in Power Point or as complex as deciding whether two groups have a significantly different average. Along this path to understanding we will also look at basic probability (like the odds of getting 3-of-a-kind in poker), the central limit theorem (why the bell curve is so common), estimations (confidence intervals and linear regression), and hypothesis testing. In a way, statistics is more like a science than a math course: depending on how a problem is approached different outcomes are possible. For this reason many people empathize with |
There will be four mandatory class meetings in the Library Computer Lab, room L-171, 10 – 11 a.m., Saturdays on:
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WARNING: You should only take this ONLINE class if you’re the type of person that naturally explores a new textbook, you are highly self-motivated, and you’re comfortable with computers, the web, and Excel.
Required text & web site: (A Brief Version) Elementary Statistics, A Step by Step Approach, Bluman, 4th edition, McGraw Hill (ISBN: 007353496x). The McGraw Hill web site: www.mathzone.com. The section number is 6CB-9D-B3F. The license to use this web site is included with the purchase of your new book (from the Gavilan Bookstore).
Required handouts: Available in the bookstore (for section 6139).
Required software: Microsoft Excel (also available on Library computers).
Familiarize yourself with this Course Description, the Schedule, the Objectives Handout (worked out problems in the book), and the Project Handout. Be sure to try the videos and eProfessors (my favorites) on www.mathzone.com. They are listed under the appropriate week on that web site.
This course is set up so that you may work up to about 2 weeks in advance of the schedule.
I’m looking forward to helping you do well in this class!
PROCESS. For each topic/section: read the book, then look at the video and/or eProfessor, and then try some problems from the text by hand (and/or calculator) and then by using Excel. When you’re comfortable with the material, do the homework for that section (usually on www.mathzone.com). When you’re comfortable with the week’s material, do the test (on www.mathzone.com) or the quiz (with Excel), depending on the week. You should expect to spend at least two hours per section.
HOMEWORK. The first week’s homework is to be done using Excel. All other weeks are done at www.mathzone.com. They are listed under “Homework #” as ‘practice exercises.’ Your homework grade of 0, 1, or 2 (per weekly assignment) will be based on whether you attempted each section, not the answers; (so your scores in www.mathzone.com will not be your scores for these assignments – I’ll transfer them as a zero, one, or two). If you do some, but not all sections, you’ll get a 1. If you attempted every section, you’ll get a 2. If you don’t do an assignment on time, you’ll get a 0 for that assignment.
QUIZZES: are worth 5 points and are to be done in Excel. Name the file by the quiz number, a dash, your student ID number, and then ‘.xls’. Quizzes are specific problems from the book (that I haven’t done in the objectives). You must do all the work in Excel – like I did in the objectives. The Project (10 points) is also to be done in Excel as is the first week’s homework. Late quizzes are scored 0.
TESTS: are worth 5 points and are to be done at www.mathzone.com. Late tests are scored 0. The final exam (cumulative) is worth 10 points and is also at www.mathzone.com. Again, scores on www.mathzone.com will be transferred to the (5 point scale – 10 for the final) Gavilan web site.
Grades will be based on: 15 homework (30 points), 8 quizzes (40 points), 7 tests (35 points), the project (10 points), and the final exam (10 points). There are 125 total points possible. An A is 90% or better, a B is 80% or better, a C is 70% or better, a D is 60% or better, and below 60% is an F. Late homework, quizzes, and tests will be scored 0. Satisfactory completion of this course is a grade of C or better.
Contact: Let me know as soon as possible if you are going to miss a graded work due date and time: email jhaussermann@gavilan.edu or text or phone
Questions & help: all questions should be entered in the Q&A forum, online. I also encourage you to take advantage of the Math Lab (to get help from other instructors and tutors). The Math Lab is in PB 14 (new portable) and is open weekdays from 9 – 1 p.m. NOTE: generally, I only check for questions in the afternoon. So I will not be able to respond to last minute questions on items that are due at noon. Start your work early!
Prerequisite: Intermediate Algebra (Math 233) is a prerequisite for this course. In particular, you will need to understand and be able to work with: fractions, percent, decimals, squares, square roots, summation notation (S), factorials (n!), and lines.
Honor: Students are expected to exercise academic honesty and integrity. Violations such as cheating and plagiarism will result in an F for the course and may include recommendation for dismissal.
Resources:
· Textbook has instructions on how to use Excel at the end of each section’s problems (if applicable).
· Excel is a very powerful statistical tool. Take the time to learn it.
· Laminated formula sheet in your textbook has key formulas grouped by chapter / topic.
· www.mathzone.com has video and eProfessors, by section.
· Objectives handout has printed problems (worked in Excel) from the textbook.
· Week # problems.xls are the Excel files from the objectives. You can download these for your use.
· <topic> concept.xls are Excel files designed to illustrate a specific topic.
· Math Review handout is a brief review of necessary skills.
· Histogram demo.pps demonstrates how the shape of a histogram changes with class width.
· Estimator and Distributions handout links sample to population statistics and the distributions.
· Web: do your own searches for helpful material. Let others know if you find something!
· Library: Schaum’s Outlines and other statistics books may help clarify points.
· Math Lab for direct human help with problems and concepts.
· Me via the Gavilan online class site with weekly summaries, specific hints, and the Q&A forum.
Address of this page: http://gavilan.edu/disted/math5.html
Last updated on December 11, 2007 .Questions or comments? Please contact jhaussermann@gavilan.edu or disted@gavilan.edu