Business Statistics
MATH 142-01, Spring 2011
Monday - Thursday 2:00-3:50 PM, ICN 2401
Instructor: Kevin Boyer
e-mail: Kevin.Boyer@heartland.edu or ktboyer@ilstu.edu
Office: ICB 2402
Office hours: by appointment
Phone: 268-8640 (Math Science Office – leave message)
Introduction:
Statistics is used in every walk of life these days. In order to make informed
decisions, a modern person must have a working knowledge of statistics.
Exposure to basic statistical ideas and experience in gathering, analyzing, and
interpreting data also opens the door for a variety of future jobs and applications.
Catalog Description:
Prerequisite: Math 106 or 109, with a grade of C or higher, or equivalent.
(MATH 142 is a) statistics course that emphasizes applications of statistics to
business. Topics include data organization, frequency distributions, measures of
central tendency and variability, probability theory, probability distributions,
sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. A graphing
calculator is required for this course (instruction will be based on a TI 83+). This
course is not intended for a mathematics major or minor.
Required Materials:
Textbook: Sharpe, DeVeaux, Velleman. (2010) Business Statistics: A first
Course, Addison-Wesley.
Notebook: I recommend a 70 page notebook with pages that cleanly tear out.
Graphing Calculator: Graphing calculator with statistics functions. I will be using
a TI-83 during lecture. You must have your own calculator for tests – any
sharing of calculators during a test will be treated as cheating.
MyMathLabs is not required, but provides nice practice problems
Student Conduct
Students are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous and
responsible manner at all times. Do not use any electronic devices other than a
calculator during class. Do not talk to others while the instructor is talking to the
class or while other students are participating. Do not make offensive or
discriminatory comments at any time. Failure to act in a mature and responsible
manner can result in penalties ranging from a warning up to automatic failure of
the class in extremely severe cases.
Attendance and Participation
Attendance is essential to learning, especially when the pace is quickened
for a summer class. Skipping class is a guaranteed way to fail the course.
Please do not miss class except for extreme emergencies. In order to fully
understand the material, you must also participate meaningfully in class by
asking questions and contributing to the solving of in-class problems. To reward
faithful attendance, I will keep track of who is here on lecture days (see
schedule). I will give the following rewards based on lecture day attendance:
Perfect attendance:
2 lowest quizzes become 20 out of 20
10 extra credit points
1 day missed:
2 lowest quizzes become 20 out of 20
2 days missed:
lowest quiz becomes 20 out of 20
3 or more days missed:
no reward – why are you even enrolled in the class if
you refuse to show up for lecture?
Although I will take attendance on quiz and test days for record keeping
purposes, those days do not count toward this benefit, since you would already
be missing a homework grade and either a quiz or test. I reserve the right to
count you as absent if you show up excessively late or if you leave before class
is over without clearing it with me beforehand.
Grading and Evaluation
On the next class day after a lecture, I will collect the assignments related
to that lecture. This will usually include homework from the book based on the
lecture, and/or a worksheet that I hand out on the day of the lecture. We will go
over many of the assigned problems from the homework and worksheet before I
collect them. You will be allowed to finish or correct any problems that you did
not have finished. However, we will not necessarily go over all the problems. I
reserve the right to give a 0 to people who are obviously not doing the homework
before class.
Each of these assignments will be worth ten points. Your assignment
total will be out of 100 points. There will be more than ten scheduled
assignments, so you can potentially miss a few assignments and still get the full
100 points total on your homework grade. I do not accept any late assignments
for any reason. Please do not neglect your homework!
There will be ten quizzes worth twenty points each. I intend to let the
entire class work together on the quizzes (no book or notes). Please note that
this is a privilege, not a right, and can be revoked if necessary. Up to two
quizzes can be replaced by perfect 20 out of 20 based on your attendance.
There will also be five tests worth one hundred points each. On the tests, you
will be working by yourselves. Your lowest test can be replaced by the
percentage you get on the final exam (as long as the percent is higher). This is
intended to reward improvement.
The final exam will be given on Thursday, July 28th during regular class
time. The final is comprehensive and must be taken at the given time. The final
is mandatory and will not be dropped for any reason.
Overall grade point totals:
Assignments
Ten quizzes
Five exams
Final exam (comprehensive)
10 pts each
20 pts each
100 pts each
100 max
200
500
200
1000 pts
900 points guarantees an A, 800 a B, 700 a C, and 600 a D. The actual
scale might be adjusted slightly, but not by much.
Make Up Policy
Due to the grade replacement policy, I do not allow late homework or
make up quizzes for any reason. If you know you must miss a test day because
of a wedding, funeral, court date, or military duty, talk to me at least one day in
advance before you leave. If you need to stay home because of personal
illness, you must contact me by phone/e-mail sometime on the day you are
absent. For any type of absence, be ready to provide legal documentation.
Remember that for most people, one test can be replaced by the final exam
percentage. Please note that make-ups are a privilege, not a right. If you abuse
the privilege, you will not be allowed any further make-ups, even for legitimate
reasons. You have been warned.
SUPPORT SERVICES:
Heartland Library:
www.hcc.cc.il.us/library
For more information about Library services please call the Library at (309) 268-8200.
Tutoring and Academic Support:
http://www.heartland.edu/asc/
For more information about Testing and Tutoring please call the ASC (309) 268-8410
TENTATIVE SUMMER SCHEDULE
June 6
7
8
9
Intro, chapters 1 – 3.3
Quiz
3.4 – 3.7, Chapter 4
Quiz
July
4
5
6
7
No class – independence Day
chapter 10
Review, Test 3
11.3 – 11.6
13
14
15
16
Chapter 5
Review, Test 1
Chapter 7
Quiz
11
12
13
14
Quiz
11.7 – 11.8
Quiz
chapter 12
20
21
22
23
8.1 – 8.4
Quiz
8.5
Review, Test 2
18
19
20
21
Review, Test 4
chapter 13, ANOVA
Quiz
chapter 6, chapter 14
27
28
29
30
9.1 – 9.4, 11.1, 11.2
Quiz
9.5 – 9.9
Quiz
25
26
27
28
Quiz
Test 5
Final Exam Review
Final Exam
Final Exam: Thursday, July 29th, regular class time