STAT311: Introduction to Mathematical Statistics
Time: TuTh 9:30-10:45
Prerequisite: Math 223 or equivalent
Place: VAH HISE 594
Lecturer: Quefeng Li
Email: quefeng@stat.wisc.edu
Office: MSC 1270
Office Hours: Tue 12:00-14:00 (or by appointment)
TA: Chen Cheng
Email: ccheng@stat.wisc.edu
Office: MSC 1335K
Office Hours: MW 11:00-11:50
Text: Introduction to Probability: Second Revised Edition by Charles M. Grinstead and J. Laurie Snell (1997),
American Mathematical Society. ISBN: 0-8218-0749-8. The authors have made the pdf version of this textbook
available online. You are welcome to use this version. If there is ever a discrepancy between the two text books,
the online version takes priority because all students should have access to this version.
Course Website: http://www.stat.wisc.edu/~quefeng/stat311/main.html/
All things related to this course could be found on this website, including lecture notes, practice exam, homework solutions, etc. You are encouraged to print the lecture notes and bring them to class.
Teaching Plans: I plan to cover Chap 1-9 in the textbook. This course mainly focuses on probability theories.
If you are interested in its statistics applications, you may select Stat 312 in next spring semester, which is a
following course of Stat 311.
Basic calculus skills are needed for this course, such as integration of multiple variables. Programming is not
needed on your side, although I may show you some computer simulation results in class.
Attendance: Attendance at each class meeting is mandatory, and you should bring the text and a calculator
to each class. There will be no grades based on your attendance, but occasionally an attendance sheet will be
passed around for you to sign.
Discussion Sections: One discussion section will be taught by our TA each week. Although attendance is
not mandatory, you are strongly encouraged to show up. The TA may answer your questions and give more
examples.
It is all right to switch discussion sections, but please email the TA to let she know in advance. Also, when turn
in your homework, write down the discussion section number which you attend but not the one you register to.
The discussion schedule is as follows.
Section
321
322
Time
Tue 13:20-14:10
Tue 14:25-15:15
Place
PSYCHOLOGY 134
SOC SCI 6314
Homework: Homework problems are tentatively to be assigned on Thursday each week, which are due on 5pm
next Thursday. You may either turn it in during class meet or drop it off to the TA’s mailbox. No homework
will be assigned in the week before the exams. No late homework will be graded and the score is treated as 0,
unless you have bad physical conditions preventing you to finish homework on time. In that case, email me or
your TA for a permission of delay.
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All homework problems will be graded. In order to receive full credit, show all your work neatly, label each
problem, circle your final answers, print your name and your discussion number on the front page.
Homework solutions will be posted on our course website, as well as on Learn@UW. Once grading is done, Your
homework scores will be available on Learn@UW.
Quiz: There will be 3 in-class quizzes, each counts as one homework. You will know about the quiz one class
in advance. Each quiz will take about 10 minutes. Missed quizzes receive zero points.
Grading: Each homework and quiz worths 20 points. You can drop your lowest homework grade and your
lowest quiz grade. Your semester average for the remaining homeworks and quizzes will count as 30% of your
course grade.
You are encouraged to work with other students on the homework problems. However, copying the other’s
homework or letting others copy your homework is forbidden. If evidence of copying has been found, all homework engaged will be graded as 0.
Exams: There will be 2 in-class midterm exams, each of which worths 20% of your final grade. The final exam
worths 30%. The midterm exams are not cumulative, while the final covers materials all through the semester.
Exams are closed book. You are allowed to bring one letter-sized formula sheet (both sizes) and a calculator
to the exam. Textbooks and your notes are not allowed. You are not permitted to use your cell phone (or
touchpad) calculator during the exam. All the exams are required, and there will be no make-up exams. If
you have any conflict with the exam dates, please notify me before Sept. 14th.
You will receive actual grades for the two midterm exams. They are not converted to letter grade. You may log
into Learn@UW to see the score histogram, from which you may know your position among your classmates.
Your final letter grade of this course is based on your overall performance throughout the semester. The weights
of homework and exams toward your final grade are shown as the follows.
Parts
Homework
Midterm 1
Midterm 2
Final
Total
Date(tentative)
each week
TBA
TBA
TBA
Weights
30%
20%
20%
30%
100%
Disability accommodation: Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric,
vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the instructor and McBurney Disability Resource Center at the beginning of the semester (i.e. within the first two weeks). The instructor
needs to keep a copy of the documented disability. Show me your McBurney document as least one week before
the exams.
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