AAE426: Quantitative Methods
Fall 2006 Course Syllabus
Instructor:
Dr. Tom Cox
Room 520 Henry Taylor Hall, 427 Lorch Street, CAMPUS
Phone: 262-9493 (If more than three rings, I'm not in !!!).
E-MAIL: TCOX@WISC.EDU
Class Time/Place:
M/W/F 9:55-10:45 Room 10, Ag Hall,
Office/Lab Hours:
To be established, or by appointment.
Computer Lab:
Times to be established. HECC (Henry Taylor Hall Basement).
Class WEB-Site:
http://aae.wisc.edu/aae426/
Required Textbooks: Cliff T. Ragsdale, Spreadsheet Modeling and Decision Analysis: A Practical Guide to
Management Science. 4th Edition.
Karen Gutermuth and R. Cater Hill, Using Excel for Undergraduate Econometrics, Second
Edition.
Text Website:
http://www.swcollege.com/quant/ragsdale/ragsdale.html
Course Pre-Requisites: ECON 301 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. This course will be fairly computer intensive
using MS EXCEL as well as several EXCEL "add-ins" (Solver, Crystal Ball, etc.). If you do not have a good working
understanding of Windows XP and MS XP Office Suite (EXCEL in particular), please see me ASAP.
Course Objectives: This course provides a Senior level introduction to applied quantitative methods with a focus on
agriculture related examples. In particular the course seeks to apply the general principles and tools of regression analysis
and decision analysis to the agricultural production and marketing sectors. The course stresses "hands on" applications of
analytical methods, concepts and techniques to gain a thorough understanding of the economic principles and
methodologies underlying business decision-making. There will be extensive computer based assignments using
spreadsheet and statistical software using Windows XP based personal computers.
Computer Lab: At least one-hour per week computer lab is strongly encouraged of all students. You can sign up for 1
additional credit of AAE 699 (Section 064) "Special Problems". These labs will be offered multiple hours each week and
will cover the computer skills required for the end of chapter questions and the homework assignments.
Grading: There will be one mid-term exam and a cumulative final exam. The midterm will cover Weeks 1-7.
There will be multiple homework assignments from questions at the end of each chapter. Most of these assignments will
require computer work that will be discussed in class as well as during lab times.
Your final grade will be a weighted average of the midterm and final exams, and the average grade of the take home
assignments. The exams and each homework will be graded on the basis of 100 points. The relative weights for the
composite, final grade will be:
Midterm Exam: 25%
Average of Take Home Assignments: 50%
Cumulative Final Exam: 25%
Summary: This course should provide you with a very "hands-on" introduction to applied quantitative methods using
Excel spreadsheets. I encourage you to consider this class an introduction and to further acquire a deeper understanding of
these tools with additional class work and applications.
Web-Sites:
The class website (http://aae.wisc.edu/aae426/) will contain this syllabus, required spreadsheet files, and class lecture
overheads. Please visit the site it you miss a class/lecture.
The text website http://www.swcollege.com/quant/ragsdale/ragsdale.html provides an answer key to some of the
questions at the end of the Chapters, the PowerPoint files for each chapter, and a wealth of useful links.
Please feel free to stop by my office and chat during office hours, or make an appointment to visit.
Lastly, ASK QUESTIONS if/when needed. Good Luck. I hope you have a fun and productive semester.