Syllabus
STAT 202-001: Basic Statistics
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
American University
Spring 2009
Instructor:
Dr. Monica C. Jackson
Gray Hall Room 203
(O) 202-885-1509, (F) 202-885-3155
monica@american.edu
http://nw08.american.edu/~monica
Office Hours:
Monday 8:00pm-9:30pm (ACC room B14)
Wednesday 9:30am-2:00pm (Gray Hall room 203 and “virtual” through
blackboard)
*Additional office and virtual hours available by appointment*
Lectures/Labs
Monday/Thursday 8:30am-9:45am, Wednesday 8:30am-9:30am
Anderson Computing Complex room B14
Textbook:
Introduction to the Practice of Statistics, 6th Ed, by Moore and McCabe
Course Description and Objective: This is an introductory statistics course designed to give
students the basic knowledge necessary to perform basis data analysis and design experiments.
As well students will learn how to critically interpret statistical results they commonly read and
hear about in television and newspapers reports. Large emphasis will be placed on a computer
component of this course. Students will learn how the software package StatCrunch is used to
view, display, and analyze data. Topics covered include: averages, confidence intervals, simple
regression, correlation, probability, and test of significance.
Software: StatCrunch is a statistical software package available free of charge online at
statcrunch.american.edu. The password is eagle.
Web: All grades, class notes, announcements, syllabus, supplementary material and
communications for this course can be found on Blackboard. Please submit all lab assignments
through Blackboard and not through the instructors email account unless there are problems with
Blackboard. Any additional announcements that are made over the course for the semester will
also be found/updated on Blackboard.
Labs: Every Thursday you will participate in a lab project. Your lab projects will require the use
of a computer with the software package StatCrunch. Lab assignments are due at the end of
class. You may work on your projects in groups however each student must submit their lab
assignments individually. Five random lab assignments will be graded and worth 10 points each.
You will receive an additional grade for completing ALL labs. Missed lab classes cannot be
made up.
Homework: All homework assignments for this class are listed on the “Class Schedule”
section. Homework is submitted through blackboard before the due date. You are encouraged to
work with your classmates on the homework assignments. I will pick between 2-5 problems on
each homework assignment to grade. Each homework assignment is worth 10 points. Late
homework is not accepted.
Project: There is one group project for this course. Groups will be assigned. Each group will be
given an experiment to design (including collecting data and analysis.) The projects will be
presented the last day of the class.
Exams: There are four exams scheduled and one final exam. Please see the “Class Schedule”
section for the dates of these exams. Each exam will be taken in the Anderson Computing
Complex. You are allowed to bring to each exam one sheet of paper with notes (front and back).
You may bring five sheets of paper with notes (front and back) for the final exam. You may also
use StatCrunch for the exams. Make-up exams are strongly discouraged and are only given if a
suitable absence is documented and presented before the scheduled exam.
Statistics Tutoring: Free statistics tutoring is available in Gray Hall Room 110. The hours are
as follows:
Sunday
Monday-Thursday
Friday
3:00pm - 8:00pm
11:00am – 8:00pm
11:00am – 3:00pm
You may also get free help with Statistical Software in the Social Science Lab in Hurst Hall
room 203. The hours are as follows:
Sunday
Monday-Thursday
Friday
Saturday
10:00am – 7:00 pm
9:30am – 11:00pm
9:30am - 7:00pm
12:00pm - 7:00pm
Grades: Your grades are based on homework, exams, lab projects, and a final exam. Each
homework assignment and each lab assignment is worth 10points. Your grades are posted on
blackboard. The breakdown of the grades is as follows:
Homework assignments (12 @ 10 pts each)
Lab projects-graded (5 @ 10 pts each)
Lab projects-completed
Exams #1-3 (100pts each)
Exam #4
Final exam
Total possible pts
120 pts
50 pts
50 pts
300 pts
50 pts
150 pts
720
Grades will be determined by calculating your percentage out of the available points. Students
achieving 90% or better will receive at least an A-; students achieving 80% or better at least a B-;
students achieving 70% or better at least a C-. Incomplete (I) grades are given only as specified
by University regulations.
Extra Credit: At least one extra credit assignment will be available during the semester. I will
discuss this opportunity later.
Late work: Late homework/labs are never accepted.
Academic Integrity: Standards of academic conduct are set forth in the University’s Academic
Integrity Code. By registering, you have acknowledged your awareness of the Academic
Integrity Code, and you are obliged to become familiar with your rights and responsibilities as
defined by the Code. Violations of the Academic Integrity Code will not be treated lightly, and
disciplinary actions will be taken should such violations occur. Please see the instructor if you
have any questions about the academic violations described in the Code in general or as they
relate to the particular requirements for this course. More information can be found by going to
http://www.american.edu/academics/integrity .
*Class Schedule
Date
Day of Week
Lecture
01/12/09 Monday
1.1
01/14/09 Wednesday
1.2
01/15/09 Thursday
01/21/09 Wednesday
Homework assignment due Friday by
midnight of the current week
HW #1-Chapter 1: 1, 15, 21,34, 42,56,60
Lab #1
1.3
HW #2-Chapter 1: 108,112,120,122,126,132
01/22/09 Thursday
Lab #2
01/26/09 Monday
2.1
01/38/09 Wednesday
2.2-2.3
01/29/09 Thursday
Lab #3
02/02/09 Monday
2.4-2.5
02/04/09 Wednesday
Review
02/05/09 Thursday
Lab #4
02/09/09 Monday
Exam on chapters 1-2
02/11/09 Wednesday
3.1
02/12/09 Thursday
Lab #5
02/16/09 Monday
3.2-3.3
02/18/09 Wednesday
4.1-4.2
02/19/09 Thursday
Lab #6
02/23/09 Monday
4.3
02/25/09 Wednesday
4.4
02/26/09 Thursday
Lab #7
03/02/09 Monday
Review
03/04/09 Wednesday
03/05/09 Thursday
Exam on chapters 3-4
Extra credit lab
HW #3-Chapter 2: 6,22,26,58
HW #4-Chapter 2: 84,88,94,114
HW #5-Chapter 3: 18,20,26,30,38
HW #6-Chapter 3: 54,68,74,88
Chapter 4: 2,3,6,24
HW #7-Chapter 4: 49,52,63,74,78
Day
Day of week
Lecture
Homework assignment due Friday by
midnight of the current week
03/09/09 Monday
03/11/09 Wednesday
Spring break
03/12/09 Thursday
03/16/09 Monday
5.1
03/18/09 Wednesday
5.2
03/19/09 Thursday
lab #8
03/23/09 Monday
6.1
03/25/09 Wednesday
6.2
03/26/09 Thursday
Lab #9
03/30/09 Monday
6.3-6.4
04/01/09 Wednesday
Review
04/02/09 Thursday
Lab #10
04/06/09 Monday
Exam on chapters 5-6
04/08/09 Wednesday
7.1
04/09/09 Thursday
Lab #11
04/13/09 Monday
7.2
04/15/09 Wednesday
8.1
04/16/09 Thursday
Lab #12
04/20/09 Monday
Review
04/22/09 Wednesday
HW #8-Chapter 5: 9,12,16.28,42,44
HW #9-Chapter 6: 2,10,20,42,48,52,56
HW #10-Chapter 6: 86,88,102
HW #11-Chapter 7: 15,18, 22ac,34
HW #12-Chapter 7: 63,64,73 Chapter 8: 8,14
Exam on chapters 7-8
04/23/09 Thursday
Lab review
04/27/09 Monday
Project presentations
05/04/09 Monday
*Schedule subject to change.
Final exam 8:30am-11:00am (ACC room B14)