MATH 3302 SYLLABUS (2:45-4:45 P.M. MTWR; A615; CRN 30094)-PROBABILITY & STATISTICS-SUMMER I 2009

 

Instructor: Dr. Linda Becerra     Office: S-707                                     E-mail:  BecerraL@uhd.edu

 

Office phone: 713-221-8643       Dept. Fax: 713-221-8086              Web Page: http://cms.uhd.edu/Faculty/BecerraL

       

Office hours: 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. MTWR and by appointment.

 

Course description: Probability and statistics useful for science and engineering applications are developed in this course.  The topics include probability distributions, statistical inference, estimation, test of hypothesis, linear regression, and analysis of variance.  Standard statistical packages may be used but no computer background is necessary. Credit may not be earned for both Math 3302 and Stat 3309. 3 credit hr course.

 

Course prerequisites:  A grade of C or better in MATH 2402 (Calculus II). If you do not meet the prerequisite, you are subject to being dropped from the course at your own expense.

 

Textbook: Probability and Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences, by Jay L. Devore, 7th edition, 2008, Thomson Brooks/Cole, ISBN-10: 0495382175. You may purchase an e-book at www.thomsonedu.com/statistics/devore. An electronic copy of the book is also available in WebAssign – see the HW section of the syllabus for more information.

 

Course grade: There will be two tests (25% each), a comprehensive final exam (25%), Quizzes (10%), and HW (15%). Course grades correspond to course averages as follow: “A” (90-100), “B” (80-89), “C” (70-79), “D” (60-69) or “F” (0-59).

Also, if you attend class regularly (no more than 2 absences beginning with the official day of record, take all tests and score at least 60 on the final exam, your final exam grade will automatically replace your lowest test grade, if it is higher. Most test questions will be similar to homework assignments or problems done in class.

 

Important dates: June 1, First class day; June 4, Official Day of Record; June 25, Last withdraw date - if you stop attending class and do not  officially withdraw, you will receive a course grade of “F”; July 1, Last class day.

 

Quizzes will usually be announced in advance and be given at the beginning of class; these will be short and timed - don't be late! If you take each quiz, at the end of the semester the lowest score will be dropped before your quiz average is computed.

 

Homework Assignments:

• Graded WebAssign HW Assignments. Throughout the semester, there will be homework assignments to be completed online using WebAssign. Five points will be added to your first WebAssign HW as extra credit, if you register in WebAssign by the official day of record. Note: (1) A WebAssign HW assignment does not have to be completed in one sitting. You may work on an assignment several times a day, or over several days; but, each assignment will have a specified due date by which it must be completed. Please do not put off the WebAssign homework assignments! Instead, begin to work on these as soon as possible. (2) In each WebAssign HW assignment, you can continue trying each exercise over and over. This means you can continue to improve your grade on each WebAssign HW assignment, up to 100%, and this should be your goal! Note too that some problems have matching Watch It videos in which the solution to a similar problem is explained. If you have any questions, problems, or difficulties regarding WebAssign, please see me as soon as possible so we can resolve them quickly. All the HW assignments together will count 15% of your course grade.

• Technology HW Assignments. There may be some turn-in HW assignments that require the use of a statistical software package such as EXCEL or SPSS.

• Suggested Practice Exercises. For each section covered in the textbook, there will also be suggested exercises from the textbook for you to do. The suggested exercises are not to be turned in to be graded, but they give you an additional opportunity to practice the ideas and skills we are learning in the course and to help prepare you for the tests.

 

Register in WebAssign: In order to use WebAssign, you MUST purchase a Student Access Code online and register at   http://webassign.net/login.html

How To Register:

1. Click the I Have a Class Key button

2. Submit the Class Key: uhd 7680 7182

3. Verify Class Information

4. Complete the Log In and Student Information

5. Login to the system

Information will be provided on purchasing a student access code with a credit card.

Please note that in WebAssign, an online electronic version of the textbook  is available.

 

University Policies/Academy Honesty: As a UHD student, you are subject to all university-wide policies and procedures, and you must observe the academic honesty code in your school work (see the UHD Student Handbook at www.uhd.edu/campus/handbook.htm). Please ask if you have any questions regarding this code. A grade of 0 will be given on any course work where cheating occurs; more severe penalties may result depending on the violation.

 

Class attendance/Make-ups:  Please plan to attend each class meeting; you will find it difficult to successfully complete the course if you don't. Please be on time and plan to stay for the entire class, and let me know in advance when you cannot do this. If you miss the attendance check at the beginning of a class, let me know right after that class so you will be marked present for the day.

Missed a class? Whenever you miss class, it is your responsibility to check the material covered and the homework assigned; this information is posted in the Class Journal that is on our class web page at http://cms.uhd.edu/Faculty/BecerraL. Please check the class web page regularly to keep up with class assignments and for other course information. Missed classes, even for valid reasons, do not entitle you to turn in work late unless prior arrangements are made. Any missed grades will be recorded as zero.

Make-up tests and quizzes will not be given. If you miss a test, that grade will be replaced by your final exam grade.

 

Role of technology: You are expected to have a scientific calculator for this course. For each test: there is to be no sharing of calculators and cell phone calculators are not allowed. Some HW problems may require the use of special software such as EXCEL or SPSS, no prior experience is required. Appropriate instructions will be provided on an as-needed basis and students have access to computers in the UHD computing lab, which has extensive open hours.

 

Resource materials/Course success:

Troubles with HW? (i) Your questions are always welcome in class, but there may not be enough time to answer all of them. You can also get help during my office hours with anything related to the course. (ii) Even if you understand the explanations given in class, this is only one part of the learning process. Learning often involves effort, frustration, and struggle. In particular, you may have troubles solving homework problems. Remember there are no shortcuts to learning; you must build your own understanding through patience and practice by wrestling with ideas by yourself. It takes time to see different sides of complex ideas and to mentally develop linkages that will help you in problem solving. As your teacher, I can try to help you with this process, but no one can do it for you. This is what homework is for, to give you a chance to practice on your own and develop your own understanding, and why HW is so important. Don’t worry when you struggle with HW, just accept this as part of learning. Typically, students who participate in class and diligently work on their HW are generally sufficiently prepared for tests. There is no reason to think you are any different. As your teacher, my most important responsibility is to help you learn, but how much you learn is really up to you. If you are not willing to try and make a genuine effort, I cannot help you. Ultimately, it is your choice of actions that will determine your success in this course.

 

Statement on reasonable accommodations: UHD adheres to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities.  Students with disabilities should register with the office of Disabled Student Services and contact me in a timely manner to arrange for appropriate accommodations.

 

Educational objectives: At the end of the course, a student should be able to:

1.     Apply standard statistical techniques involving sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, linear regression, and simple

       ANOVA analysis to problems in science and engineering.

2.     Compute mathematical expectations and variances.

3.     Apply basic concepts of probability to mathematical problems.

4.     Describe the Central limit theorem and know some of its applications.

5.     Know the properties and uses of some standard distributions such as the binomial and normal distributions.

6.     Use some standard statistical software packages, such as EXCEL or SPSS, to solve application problems.

 

Course topics will be selected from the following text sections: 1.1 – 1.4, 2.1 – 2.5, 3.1 – 3.7, 4.1 – 4.5, 5.1 – 5.5, 6.1 – 6.2, 7.1 – 7.4, 8.1 – 8.4, 9.1 – 9.2, 12.1 – 12.5

 

Tentative test schedule

Test 1 June 11

Test 2 June 25

Final Exam Thursday, July 2, 2:45 – 4:45 pm