Topics:We will cover
most of Chapters 1-8 of the textbook.
Regardless of your statistical background, I hope you are all
aware that statistics a mix of numerical/computational savvy and
communication skills. You are all capable of succeeding in
this course! But especially for those who haven't taken
any math or stats since high school, the pace will be much
faster. That will mean that you are asked to do a lot of
problems outside of class to deepen your understanding and hone
your skills.
Expectations On Your Time: The Course
Catalog suggests that a typical 0.5 unit course will
require a minimum of 8 hours per week outside of class,
plus. For this course, I would say 8-10 is typical. So you
should expect to spend around 3 hours preparing for each class
meeting. This preparation would include working homework
problems, writing them up neatly, working practice problems from
the textbook, reviewing for quizzes and exams, visiting my
office hours, visiting the MSSC, and occasionally working on
longer writing projects. Build this time into your schedule.
Do not assume that you'll find the time to do all of the work
for this class in small gaps in your schedule or starting at
midnight the night before.
Visiting Office Hours: Nobody is asking or expecting you
to do this on your own! There is information below about working
with peers in the class and getting free drop-in peer tutoring,
but I know from over 20 years of college teaching experience
that every one of you would benefit from discussions in office
hours at some point, and most of you from regular visits. I hope
to see all of you before we're too deep into the semester. If
you can't make my regular office hours, email me and we'll set
up a time. As an added incentive, 1% of your semester
grade is for visiting my office hours at least once by Thursday
12 September.
Note: I'm happy to discuss anything with you in office hours,
even if it's not statistics-related, assuming there aren't
folks queued up to ask statistics (or Calculus) questions. I
love talking about music, my Chicago Cubs, movies, whatever.
I'm also happy to discuss more personal matters, if you could
use a sympathetic ear. These might be better discussed during
an individually scheduled appointment. I want to help and
support my students as people, not just as statisticians. That
said, you should be aware that if you mention an incident of
discriminatory or sexual harassment or assault that took place
on campus, I am legally bound as a College employee to report
it to our Office of Civil Rights. They would then contact you,
but you would be under no obligation to reply. There are
people both on and off campus that you can speak to
confidentially, and I would be more than willing to help
connect you to resources appropriate to your situation.
Drop-in peer tutoring is available at the Math and Science
Skills Center (MSSC), open 7-10 Sundays, Tuesdays, and
Thursdays. General check-in is in Tomsich 101, but the
statistics tutors and students are usually in our regular class
room. As with office hours, I expect that all of you will have
occasion to make use of the tutors in the MSSC.
Course Objectives:
Expected Learning Outcomes:
After completing this course, students should successfully be able to
Software: We will be using the R statistical software package, along with an overlay editor/interface called R Studio. These are free, open source, and cross-platform. The software is available in our classroom, on the computers outside faculty offices on the 3rd floor of Hayes Hall, and in the Peirce basement computer classroom. You are welcome and encouraged to install R and R Studio on your own computer, Windows (7 or higher), Mac (10.6 or higher), or Linux (minimum version varies with install).
There are many many websites devoted
to help with and discussions of R, but I particularly recommend
A
Student's Guide to R as a place to start. There is also a
very handy two-page
reference guide.
Technology in Class: When you
are not working on an in-class activity that is aided by R or
other use of the computer, I expect you to be logged out of the
workstation in front of you. All cell phones should be in
pockets or bags and should not be used during class. (In
particular, please do not leave your phone sitting on the desk
beside you. The temptation to look over at alerts is too great
and is a distraction from learning.) There should be no need to
use laptop computers in this class, except in cases of
documented disability.
Daily Homework. As with any math or statistics class, homework is the most important aspect of the course. There are three types of homework assignment:
You may turn in three written
homework assignments one class meeting late without question
or penalty, but no other late work will be accepted without a
written excuse from the Dean of Students. If you are
absent for an athletic event, it is expected that you will
submit your work before leaving for your game/meet.
Quizzes. Roughly once a
week, usually Fridays, there will be a quiz on the conceptual
problems from the past several classes. These quizzes will
consist of previously assigned problems, verbatim, and the
expectation is that you have read and solved these problems
already, so you will be given very little time to work
them out in class. I expect that you will be able simply to look
at the question, remember doing it, and write down your answer.
(If there is simple computation involved, you will be permitted
to calculate numbers, but most questions just need a clear idea
of definitions and concepts to answer.) Your lowest quiz grade
will be dropped, but no make-up quizzes are allowed except in
the case of absences excused by the Dean of Students. If you
know of an excused absence in advance (for, say, an athletic
event), it is your responsibility to ask if there is a quiz before
missing the class, and if possible, to take the quiz early.
Projects. Being able to
express yourself in writing is important in statistics, as it is
in almost any other field of endeavor. During the semester you
will be asked to write two short papers, working with a partner
from your section (or two if needed because of even/odd parity).
Your group will turn in a single paper and, except in
extraordinary circumstances, each member of the group will
receive the same grade. The process of writing a paper has two
major components, each of which should constitute about half the
work on the paper. The first is to work out the statistical
details of the topic that you have been assigned, including the
gathering of data. The second is to make sense of those details
and to organize them into a coherent narrative. The paper may
very well include symbols, computations, and graphs; however,
these will need to be accompanied by generous verbal
explanations that explain the statistical ideas. You will be
expected to write clearly and coherently, using correct
statistical and English grammar.
Academic Honesty. In
general, the rules set forth in the 2019-2020 Course of Study
apply. Presenting the work of others as your own is strictly
prohibited. In the case of homework, you may collaborate with
others in discussing how a problem may be solved, but your
write-up must be your own. If you submit work that contains the
ideas or words of someone else, then you must provide proper
citation. Assistance may not be given nor received (other than
by the instructor) on any quiz, or exam associated with this
course, except where explicitly allowed by the instructor. In
the case of a group assignment, all members of the group should
contribute equally to writing the final product. And every
member of the group is responsible for the content of the entire
paper, not just the section(s) that are written by that person.
Don't put your name on a paper written by others. For further
information, the Mathematics
and Statistics Department Guidelines for Healthy Collaboration
on Homework are considered as applying to this course.
Attendance and Participation:
While I do not make attendance and participation part of the
grade calculation, in general reading and homework do not take
the place of the kind of learning that happens in class with
interactions and group activities. Therefore, any student
missing more than 8 class days for any reason, excused or
unexcused, will be expelled from the course. Once you are in the
room, please do not leave and re-enter unless it is an
emergency. ("I forgot to print something" or "I was thirsty" are
not emergencies.) If you have a medical reason for needing to
step out regularly, please inform me before or after class. More
information is to be found in the Mathematics
and Statistics Department General Policy on Attendance and
Tardiness.
If you will be missing class due to a planned excused absence,
it is your responsibility to inform me in advance and make
arrangements to submit any work required for that day before
the class. If your absence is excused due to illness or other
unforeseeable circumstances, contact me by email when you are
able and we will discuss a timetable for making up the missed
assignments.
We will be working a lot of
activities in groups of 2-3 in class, so you'll be interacting
with each other quite a bit. Please exercise common courtesy and
decency in your interactions with your fellow learners. This
includes, but of course is not limited to, making an earnest
attempt to use people's preferred names and pronouns. If you
feel you are facing a hostile environment in any way, please
let me know as soon as you comfortably can.
Final Exam: There will also
be a final exam, whose time and date depend on your section.
Learning Disabilities. A student with a disability who thinks they may need an accommodation to access a campus program, activity, or service should contact Erin Salva in Student Accessibility and Support Services (SASS) at salvae@kenyon.edu to discuss specific needs. Advance notice is required to review documentation, evaluate accommodation requests and provide notice or arrangements for any accommodation