Syllabus

Instructor Information

• Instructor: Dave Musicant
• Office: CMC 326
• E-mail: dmusican
• Office phone: (507)646-4369
• Office hours: check my web page
• Grader: Joe Cooter (cooterj)

Course Materials

• Intro Stats, 2nd edition, by Richard D. De Veaux, Paul F. Velleman,and David E. Bock
• Statistics Labs with SPSS, Version 13, 2005-2006
• a calculator

Your Grade

• Class participation: 5%
• Homework: 11%
• Papers and labs (3): 15% (5% each)
• Midterm exams (3): 48% (16% each)
• Final project: 21%

Attendance and Participation

• You are expected to attend class regularly and participate in the discussion as best you can. While we will be covering much of the material in the textbook, there will often be times when I present material that is not in the book. In addition there will be in-class work, demonstrations and activities not covered in the book. You are ultimately responsible for what takes place in class. If you cannot attend a class let me know as soon as possible.

Homework Policy

• Homework will be assigned after every class period. Most of these problems will have partial solutions in the back of the book so that you can check your work. Two problems will be designated to be handed in for grading. For these problems, your solutions must be neat, clear and well written, using complete sentences and proper grammar. Homework problems will require some explanation and interpretation of numerical results. Remember that this is not a "math course": numbers and data have context, which should be made explicit. Homework should be handed in at the beginning of class. Use smooth-edged paper (not ripped out of a spiral notebook), put your name on each page, and staple pages together. Follow the Golden Rule: Do unto the grader as you would have done unto you. Late homework (the bane of the grader's existence) will not be accepted. In computing your final grade I will delete your two lowest homework scores.
• Lab reports and papers will be due at the beginning of class on the day that they are due. A lab report or paper turned in within one day of the due time will be docked 25%. A lab report or paper turned in within two days will be docked 50%. Finally, a lab report or paper turned in any time after this until the last day of classes will be docked 75%.

Labs

• The class will meet several times in the Statistics Computer Lab in CMC 201 (see schedule below). Please bring your lab manual and textbook to those classes. There will be several lab reports assigned during the term. See the Guidelines for Lab Reports and Papers for information on writing up the labs.

Exams

• There will be three mid-term exams. Exams will be in-class and closed book, and you will need your calculator. See the class schedule for exam dates.

Final Project

• For the final data analysis project you will bring together many of the ideas and topics from throughout the term. You will: (i) generate your own question of interest, (ii) produce your own data, (iii) use appropriate statistical methods to analyze your data, and (iv) report on your results in a paper and in an oral presentation. This will be a group project, and groups of three will be assigned to work together. The group talks (and end of class festivities!) will take place on Monday, June 5, 8:30-11:00 am. The final paper will be due at that time. The paper should be about 4-6 pages, and the talk should be about 10-12 minutes. We will begin discussing the final project in more detail after midterm break, when the groups will be assigned. You will start meeting with your group and discussing the project then, with the goal of developing a project proposal by eighth week.