Syllabus for Stat 200 Honors, Fall 03
Instructor: Francesca Chiaromonte
411 Thomas 5-2544, Off.h. T 2.30-3.30pm
W 1.15-2.15pm
Email: chiaro@stat.psu.edu
Teaching Assistant: Tony Hua
333 Thomas, 3-3374, Off. h. F 1.15-2.15pm
Email: tonyhua@stat.spu.edu
Meetings:
MW 2.30-3.20pm
205 South Henderson Bldg.
F 2.30-3.20pm
214 Boucke Bldg (computer lab).
Text book: Minds on Statistics, Utts and Heckard, 2nd ed. Duxbury.
Web-site: http://www.stat.psu.edu/~chiaro/Stat200H
You will be engaged in a mixture of individual work and group work. The latter is an integral part
of this course, and serves the double purpose of giving you actual data analysis experience while
fostering collaborative skills. Groups of three students will be formed at random, posted on the
web-site, and maintained for the whole duration of the course.
From the beginning of classes up to Thanksgiving week, there will be six 2-week periods. Each
will revolve around a major topic, and comprise:
• three lectures, which will follow closely material in the text book.
• a practice lab session
• a homework assignment
• a mini-test (25 minutes) on which you will work individually, plus discussion (25 minutes)
• a data project lab session (50 minutes) on which you will work in groups.
(on the Friday of the first week of classes, and on study Friday, Oct. 10, we will miss a practice
and a data project lab session). During Thanksgiving week, there will be one lecture on an
additional topic, and final data projects will be assigned, on which you will work in groups and
give class presentations. The final class period on Dec 12 will be devoted to review in preparation
for the final exam, on which you will work individually.
Your final grade will be based on the scores you obtain in:
• 6 mini-test (individual) 30% – graded by Tony
• 5 data projects (group) 20% – graded by Tony
• final data project presentation (group) 20% – graded by Francesca
• final exam (individual) 30% – graded by Francesca
Solutions for the mini-tests will be distributed and discussed in class immediately following the
tests. Example solutions for the data projects will be posted on the web-site. Mini-tests and final
exam are closed books, but calculators, statistical tables and one or two sheets of your own
summary notes are allowed. Alternative times for mini-tests and final exam will be offered only
under very special and certifiable circumstances. Data projects and final presentations, which
involve groups, cannot be rescheduled.
Homework assignments will include reading assignments and problems that will help you prepare
for mini-tests and data projects. They will not be graded. Also attendance will not be recorded on
a regular basis. However, you are strongly encouraged not to neglect either.
Group work provides 40% of your overall grade. You are supposed to collaborate constructively
and share work fairly with the members of your group. On the other hand individual work, which
provides 60% of your overall grade, is supposed to be strictly individual; any cheating during minitests or final exam will be harshly penalized.
All Penn State and Eberly College of Science policies regarding academic integrity apply to this
course. For details, see http://www.science.psu.edu/academic/Integrity/index.html
Tentative calendar:
Date
Tue Sept 2
Wed Sept 3
Fri Sept 5
Mon 09/08
Wed 09/10
Fri 09/12
Mon 09/15
Wed 09/17
Fri 09/19
Mon 09/22
Wed 09/24
Fri 09/26
Mon 09/29
Wed 10/01
Fri 10/03
Mon 10/06
Wed 10/08
Fri 10/10
Mon 10/13
Wed 10/15
Fri 10/17
Mon 10/20
Wed 10/22
Fri 10/24
Mon 10/27
Wed 10/29
Fri 10/31
Mon 11/03
Wed 11/05
Fri 11/07
Mon 11/10
Wed 11/12
Fri 11/14
Mon 11/17
Wed 11/19
Fri 11/21
Mon 11/24
Wed 11/26
Office hour
1.15-2.15pm
Francesca
Francesca
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Study day
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Tony
Francesca
Francesca
Class period
2.30-3.20pm
Introductions (F)
Lecture (F)
Lecture/laptop (F)
Lecture (F)
Lecture (F)
Lab, data project (T)
Minitest (F)
Lecture (F)
Lab, practice (T)
Lecture (F)
Lecture (F)
Lab, data project (F)
Minitest (F)
Lecture (T)
Lab, practice (T)
Lecture (T)
Lecture (F)
Study day
Minitest (F)
Lecture (F)
Lab, practice (T)
Lecture (F)
Lecture (F)
Lab, data project (T)
Minitest (F)
Lecture (F)
Lab, practice (T)
Lecture (F)
Lecture (F)
Lab, data project (T)
Minitest (F)
Lecture (F)
Lab, practice (F)
Lecture (T)
Lecture (T)
Lab, data project (T)
Minitest (F)
Lecture (F)
Fri 11/28
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Mon 12/01
Francesca
Presentations (F)
Wed 12/03
Francesca
Presentations (F)
Fri 12/05
Tony
Presentations (F)
Mon 12/08
Francesca
Presentations (F)
Wed 12/10
Francesca
Presentations (F)
Fri 12/12
Tony
Review (F)
Final exam: Date TBA, Location TBA
Also…
Topic
Web-site up, groups announced
Hmw assignment (F)
1. Data types
and
descriptive
summaries
(chpt 2, 5)
Solutions: Minitests class (F), data projects web (T)
Graded data projects and minitests (T)
2. Basics of
probability and
sampling (chpt
7, 8, 9)
Hmw assignment web (F)
Solutions: Minitests class (F), data projects web (T)
Graded data projects and minitests (T)
Hmw assignment web (F)
Study day
Solutions: Minitests class (F)
Graded data projects and minitests (T)
3. Inference
for proportions
(chpt 10, 11)
4. Confidence
intervals (chpt
12)
Hmw assignment web (F)
Solutions: Minitests class (F), data projects web (T)
Graded data projects and minitests (T)
5. Testing
hypotheses
(chpt 13)
Hmw assignment web (F)
Solutions: Minitests class (F), data projects web (T)
Graded data projects and minitests (T)
6. Regression
and ANOVA
(chpt 14, 16)
Hmw assignment web (F)
Solutions: Minitests class (F), data projects web (T)
Graded data projects and minitests (T)
Final data projects posted on web (F)
Thanksgiving
Groups 1 and 2
Groups 3 and 4
Groups 5 and 6
Groups 7 and 8
Groups 9 and 10
Preparation for final exam
Graded finals (F)
Extra topic:
Categorical
variables (chpt
6, 15)
Data analyses
Data analyses
On topics
1,2,3,4,5,6