Course Website:  http://www.austincc.edu/mparker/1342/tf

NOTE:  The best way to reach me is via my home email address:  rcwilkinson@gmail.com

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A first course in statistics for students in business; nursing; allied health; or the social, physical, or behavioral sciences; or for any student requiring knowledge of the fundamental procedures for data organization and analysis. Topics include frequency distributions, graphing, measures of location and variation, the binomial and normal distributions, z-scores, t-test, chi-square test, F-test, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, regression, and correlation. Prerequisites: Two years of high school algebra or the equivalent or a satisfactory score on the appropriate placement test.

REQUIRED TEXTS/MATERIALS

Required Materials:

• The Basic Practice of Statistics, 5^th ed., by David S. Moore
• Access to the electronic MINITAB Manual to accompany The Basic Practice of Statistics.  This is available through StatsPortal and also through the Online Study Center.  StatsPortal.  $47, http://portals.bfwpub.com/bps4e.php.  Online Study Center, $25.  More details are available at http://www.austincc.edu/mthdept2/notes/1342.
  These online web portals have many additional useful supplements.  It is important that you obtain one of these. 

Technology:

1.      Calculator with statistical functions. If you are buying a calculator, you might want to buy one that does both one-variable and two-variable statistical functions. (Can be purchased for under $20.) If you already have a calculator and don’t know whether it is adequate, ask your instructor.

2.      Access to MINITAB computer software. For classroom sections, you are not expected to buy this. It is available in the computer labs. For information about the availability of MINITAB at other campuses, check the course website

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY

This course is taught in the classroom primarily as a lecture/discussion course.

COURSE RATIONALE MATH 1342

This course meets the Core Curriculum requirement in mathematics.  It meets the requirement for an introductory statistics course for students in many majors such as business, health sciences, and social sciences.  

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Students will learn to

1. Determine the aspects of a question, if any, for which statistics can provide relevant information.
2. Analyze statistical studies, particularly regarding appropriate sampling and experimental design.
3. Select and use appropriate statistical analyses to get useful information from data.
4. Communicate knowledge using standard statistical language and also interpret it in non-technical language.

Statement of Prerequisite Requirements

Students who satisfied the TSI math requirement by passing the THEA, COMPASS, or ASSET, or by ACC courses have satisfied the math prerequisite requirement for this course.  Students should also have college-level reading skills. A student who is exempt from TSI or satisfied the TSI requirement in another way must also pass one of those tests unless she has passed high school Algebra II to satisfy the prerequisite.

Students in MATH 1342 will be expected to:

1.      understand material from the text after reading it.

2.      do homework using fairly complicated formulas after seeing one example

3.      do some, but not much, algebraic manipulation of formulas

Free Tutoring

The Learning Labs offer free tutoring for this course.  Not all math tutors are comfortable explaining the material in this course; look at the posted schedule to see which tutors are available when and which courses they tutor. The locations, contact information and hours of availability of the Learning Labs are posted at: http://www2.austincc.edu/rvslab/labhours.htm

COURSE EVALUATION/GRADING SCHEME

Homework

All of the homework problems for the course are listed in this handout.  You are responsible for doing the problems over the material covered in class each day by the next class, checking your solutions in the text or Student Study Guide, and asking your questions during the next class or office hours.  Each of the five homework sets is due the day of the test.  It will be graded on a scale of 0 – 20 and the five grades will be combined for one homework grade of 0 – 100. 

Most of the assigned exercises have short answers in the back of the book, and more complete answers in StatsPortal.  You may be tempted to read the exercise, read th answer, and then decide whether it makes sense to you.  That is not a good strategy to learn the material.  In order to be able to do problems like these on tests, you must practice doing them yourself.  Use the textbook examples when you want to read a solution and the exercises to practice solving them yourself.  Work the exercise yourself completely, or at least write a question about what you don’t understand before you look at the answer.  See homework notes for the first six chapters on the course website at:  www.austincc.edu/mparker/1342/tf

Statistics is not a typical math course.  If your concept of a math course is to learn an algebraic technique and then work several problems using algebraic notation with that technique, this course will seem unusual to you.  You will learn techniques and work some problems using numerical and algebraic notation, but in almost all cases, you’ll be expected to say something about the meaning of what you have computed.  The answers in the back of the book don’t have the full analysis and conclusions that you are expected to write.  The examples in the text do have models of those analyses and conclusions and the answers in StatsPortal have that as well.  In order to succeed in this course, you must practice this as you go through the homework.  In order to help you get off to a good start on this, additional comments on what you are supposed to be learning from the homework problems are available for the first six chapters on the course website.

All work that you turn-in should be of collegiate quality: neat and easy to read, well-organized, and demonstrating mastery of the subject matter.  The following guidelines will help ensure that your assignments meet these requirements:

• Clearly label all problems.
• In problems that require calculation, be sure to show your work clearly.
• Use standard-sized white paper with clean edges (e.g., do not tear paper out of notebooks because it will have ragged edges).
• Staple all pages together; don’t use paper clips or folded corners because they tend to get caught with other students’ papers.
• Use a ruler to make straight lines in sketches or graphs.

Points may be deducted from homework that does not meet these guidelines.  Late homework will be docked 50% for each class period it is late.  So, if an assignment is due Monday and you do not turn it in until Wednesday, it will be docked 50%.

Project

There will be 5 mini-projects throughout the semester, which will total 100 points (the equivalent of one test grade).  More information about the projects will be given to you later in the semester.

Tests

            There will be five tests given throughout the semester as follows:

Grading

            Your grade will be broken down as follows:

                        100 points   Test 1

                        100 points   Test 2

                        100 points   Test 3

                        100 points   Test 4

                        100 points   Test 5

                        100 points   Mini-Projects

                        100 points            Homework

                        700 points            TOTAL         

            Letter grades will be determined according to the following scale:

                        A = 630 – 700 points

                        B = 560 – 629 points

                        C = 490 – 559 points  

                        D = 420 – 489 points  

                        F = Below 420 points

            Incompletes

            Incomplete grades (I) will be given only in very rare circumstances.  A grade of I may be given if both of the following criteria apply:

·        You have a serious personal situation/tragedy that does not allow you to complete the course by the end of the semester, and

·        You have completed all work and are passing the course at the time the situation arises.

COURSE POLICIES

Missed Exam Policy

All exams must be taken by the exam deadline unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor.  Students who fail to contact the instructor and make arrangements BEFORE the exam deadline and who fail to take the exam will receive a zero for that exam.

Class Participation/Attendance Policy

Class participation and attendance is required in this course. Students who miss more than 4 classes may be withdrawn. 

Withdrawal Policy

It is the student's responsibility to initiate all withdrawals in this course.  The instructor may withdraw students for excessive absences (4) but makes no commitment to do this for the student. After the withdrawal date, neither the student nor the instructor may initiate a withdrawal.  The withdrawal deadline for Fall 2009 semester is November 22^rd.

Scholastic Dishonesty

"Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to, cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work.  Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, work, research or self-expression.  Academic work is defined as, but not limited to, tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations; and homework.”

 “Students who violate the rules concerning scholastic dishonesty will be assessed an academic penalty which the instructor determines is in keeping with the seriousness of the offense. This academic penalty may range from a grade penalty on the particular assignment to an overall grade penalty in the course, including possibly an F in the course. ACC's policy can be found in the Student Handbook page 33 or on the web at: http://www.austincc.edu/marketng/handbook/student_handbook_02-03.pdf. 

Student Discipline

Classroom behavior should support and enhance learning. Behavior that disrupts the learning process will be dealt with appropriately, which may include having the student leave class for the rest of that day. In serious cases, disruptive behavior may lead to a student being withdrawn from the class. ACC's policy on student discipline can be found in the Student Handbook page 32 or on the web at: http://www.austincc.edu/marketng/handbook/student_handbook_02-03.pdf. 

Students with Disabilities 

"Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities.  Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office of Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes.  Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.”

 “Students who are requesting accommodation must provide the instructor with a letter of accommodation from the Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD) at the beginning of the semester.   Accommodations can only be made after the instructor receives the letter of accommodation from OSD.”

Academic Freedom

"Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good.  The common good depends upon a search for truth and upon free expression.  In this course the professor and students shall strive to protect free inquiry and the open exchange of facts, ideas, and opinions.  Students are free to take exception to views offered in this course and to reserve judgment about debatable issues. Grades will not be affected by personal views.  With this freedom comes the responsibility of civility and a respect for a diversity of ideas and opinions.  This means that students must take turns speaking, listen to others speak without interruption, and refrain from name-calling or other personal attacks."

Testing Center Policies

ACC Testing Center policies can be found at: http://www.austincc.edu/testctr/    

Student Services

The web address for student services is:  http://www3.austincc.edu/evpcss/rss/Default.htm.

The ACC student handbook can be found at:  http://www3.austincc.edu/evpcss/handbk/toc.htm.

Instructional Services

The web address is:  http://www3.austincc.edu/evpcss/memos/reference.htm

then click on “Campus Based Student Support Overview”.