Math320 Probability and Statistics

Syllabus, Summer 2007

Basic Information:

Instructor: Chunlin Fan
Office: Cupples I Room 6
Office Hour: 2pm-3pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Email: fancl@math.wustl.edu
class Time: 9:00AM - 10:45AM MTWTF
Class Location: EADS Hall 102
Textbook: De Veaux, R. D., Velleman, P. F. and Bock, D. E. (2005). Stats: Data and Models, Addison-Wesley

Course Description:

This is an introductory statistics course. The topics include descriptive statistics and graphics, elementary probability theory, hypothesis testing, linear regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA)

Course objective:

Math320 is an introductory course, that means we will not learn too many fancy and sophisticated statistical techniques. We will concentrate on the basic statistical concepts and methods in a manner that emphasizes understanding the principles of data collection and analysis rather than theory. The primary goals of this course are to enable the students to develop a understanding of the basic ideas behind statistical reasoning and learn some of the basic techniques of data analysis.

Homework:

There will be a daily homework assignment. Homeworks will be assigned at lectures and due on next day. You can also find the asignment on the course webpage, You need to hand in your homework at the beginning of the class and I will return the graded homework to you at the same time. Doing the homework is crucial important for you to truly understand the course materials and I will also give you some recommended problems. The exam will be based on the homework and recommended problems.
You can discuss the homework problems with other students, you must write your final answer independently and hand in it individually. Solutions by copying, paraphrasing, or summarizing someone's else's work are not acceptable.
Late homework will NOT be accepted for full credit.

When handing in homework, you must:

include your name (printed), course number (Math320) on the first page.
write legibly and neatly. You are encouraged to produce printed homework.In addition, any Excel homework printouts should be formatted neatly.
staple the pages together on the upper left-hand corner to prevent pages from getting lost. Do not use paper clips.

Exams:

There will be four in-class exams. Regarding the exam , if the problem is not multiple choice format, you are expected to give an answer and provide supporting details. If you don't give the details and final answer is correct, you will get the partial credit. In general NO make-up exam. Before each exam, I will spend several minutes to give you a review . All exams are closed-book, closed-notes; however, you may bring one 8.5*11 sheet of note. Don't forget to bring your calculator to the exams.
Exam date:

Exam 1: June 19
Exam 2: June 27
Exam 3: July 5
Exam 4: July 13

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Grading Policy:

Your final grade will be based on: 20% homework, 20% for each exam.

Percentage	Grade
[85,100]	A
[70,85)	B
[60,75)	C
[50,60)	D
[0,50)	F

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Computing:

The Texas Instruments calculators TI-83, TI-84, and TI-89 contain essentially every probability function and statistical program we will be using during the course. The above will be the official calculators for our course.
You will learn the basics of statistical computation as you do the homework and the examination problems. The computer program Excel will be used on homework assignments during the course. This program is available on every PC and Mac in the Arts & Sciences computer lab and in the South 40 computer areas. Excel, as a part of Microsoft Office, is often preinstalled on new computers. If it is not on your computer, you can purchase a student copy of Microsoft Office for around $100.
Real statistical analysis is practical only in the context of computer statistical packages. For some homework problems, we will use the statistical computing package R. It is a free software that is widely used, especially in academia. You can download R for free from R project homepage. You can also find the manual from the same site or here. Note that you can use R for the homework problems, but keep in mind that it won't be available for the exams.

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To succeed:

To be successful in this course, you need to attend lectures regularly and keep up with the course material at all times. I suggest you to spend at least two hours on the recommended readings before the lecture; You had better do the homework independently, You need to use calculators for homeworks and in exams so make sure you know how to use them. when you have no any trouble in the homework,you will feel comfortable on the exams. Hopefully, we will have a very productive summer!

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