Marshall University



Course Syllabus

Course Number and Title: Fall 2003

IST 130 – Analytical Methods I: Statistics

Section 101, Course Reference Number 2653

10:00 – 10:50 MWF, SH 509 (“Lecture”)

8:00 – 8:50 M, PH 200 (Lab)

Instructor:

Dr. Laura Adkins Office Hours:

Smith Hall 760 1:00 – 2:00 MWF

696-3034 9:00 – 10:00 TTh

AdkinsL@marshall.edu 2:30 – 4:00 TTh

Course Description, Credits, and Prerequisites:

Basic probability and statistics, including fundamental theory as well as implementation using calculators and spreadsheets. Applications to the natural sciences.

Credit Hours – 4 hrs. (3 hrs. for “lecture” and 1 hr. for lab)

Prerequisites – None

Text Information:

Required Texts:

Lecture: Seeing Through Statistics (second edition) by Jessica Utts

Lab: Doing Statistics with ExcelTM 97

Additional Study Aids:

Graphing calculator. Examples of acceptable graphing calculators are the Texas Instruments 83 and above, and the Hewlett-Packard 48G and above.

Comments:

If you do not already own a graphing calculator, be sure that the one you purchase is adequate to meet your needs throughout the Analytical Methods sequence. In particular, your calculator should have the capacity to find numerical values for derivatives and definite integrals.

If you already own another graphing calculator, you may use it at your own risk. Some calculators seem OK at the beginning of IST 130, but may prove to be inadequate later in the course or in the Analytical Methods sequence.

Keep your owner’s manuals, and use them. Exams will almost always allow you to use the calculator, but not its manual. On exams, any “calculator” must have less than 200K RAM. Calculators may not be shared on any time on any examination. Sharing calculators on homework is OK.

Computer Requirements:

• Access to a Pentium computer with Microsoft ExcelTM installed

• 3 – 3 ½ inch Floppy Disks

Desired Learner Outcomes / Objectives:

At the conclusion of this class, the student should be able to:

• Design and implement a plan to gather data, and to use a spreadsheet and/or database to record the data.

• Describe data by means of graphs and charts, including the use of spreadsheets and databases.

• Interpret graphical summaries of data.

• Describe data by means of numerical summaries, including the use of calculators, spreadsheets, and databases.

• Interpret numerical summaries of data.

• Use the basic laws of probability.

• Use normal distributions to describe real word phenomena.

• Describe and interpret relationships between measurement variables by means of a regression model. This includes computation “by hand”, with a graphing calculator, and with a spreadsheet.

• Describe and interpret relationships between categorical variables by means of contingency tables. This includes computation “by hand” and with a spreadsheet.

• Use confidence intervals to estimate proportions and means, with a calculator and with a spreadsheet.

• Test hypotheses about proportions and means, with a calculator and with a spreadsheet.

• Critically analyze and evaluate published results of statistical studies.

Evaluation / Measurement of Learner Outcomes:

The standards for measuring successful completion of learner objectives will be:

• Quizzes and exams to measure the student’s knowledge of material and ability to perform required tasks.

• Assignments to measure the student’s ability to perform required tasks in a less formal, more cooperative environment.

• Laboratory projects to measure the student’s ability to use spreadsheets to make sense of data.

• Attendance / Participation. For this class, you will be expected to attend regularly and to participate intelligently. This means:

• Preparing for class

Reading assigned material before coming to class.

Organizing your thoughts, as well as the assigned reading material.

Preparing all assigned homework before coming to class.

• Contributing to the class

Your presence in class is expected to enhance not only your educational experience, but that of your fellow students as well.

Therefore you will be expected to participate actively in the classroom experience.

Remember that attendance alone is not sufficient to merit participation credit. If you prefer to sit silently through class and prove yourself only on written work, remember that your future employer is very unlikely to accept such passive, non-participatory performance.

Grading Policy:

The student’s final grade will be determined by the following components:

LAB (See Lab syllabus) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 %

Attendance / Participation* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 %

Worksheets / Quizzes / Homework** . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 %

Exam 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mon.. Sept. 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 %

Exam 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fri. Oct. 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 %

Exam 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wed. Nov. 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 %

Comprehensive Final Exam . . . . . . 10:15 – 12:15 Mon. Dec. 8 . . . . . . . 20 %

* As one component of the participation grade, each student is expected to prepare and share an organization of each chapter of the textbook. These will be due at the beginning of the class after the reading is assigned, and no other announcement will be made.

** As one component of homework, each student is expected to turn in copies of two articles involving some kind of data analysis. The first will be due on or before the date of the first test, and the second on or before the date of the second test. These articles can come from scholarly journals, popular magazines, or newspapers, but should be current and should involve a topic of interest to the student. This component of homework will be worth 1% of the total semester grade.

The student’s final grade will be calculated using the following grading scale

90 % - 100 % A

80 % - 89 % B

70 % - 79 % C

60 % - 69 % D

Below 60 % F

Class Policies:

Attendance Policy

The instructors of this class believe that faithful attendance is necessary for the successful completion of this course. For this reason, attendance will be checked and recorded at each class meeting. It is the student’s responsibility to verify his/her attendance. The student’s participation score will be lowered be one (1) percentage point for each absence after three (3) absences because if the student is not present, he/she cannot participate in the classroom discussions. Also, extreme tardiness will not be tolerated. Tardiness of more than ten (10) minutes will be counted as an absence because tardiness after ten minutes disrupts the flow of the classroom’s discussion.

Late Assignments

All work turned in late will be penalized 10 % per class period late.

No work will be accepted more than three (3) class periods late.

Make-Up Examinations

It is the student’s responsibility to make prior arrangements when the student will not be able to take an examination. It is up to the instructor’s discretion to accept and allow the student’s arrangements and reasons for the make-up examination.

Dissemination of Announcements

The instructor of this course will make every effort to disseminate all information pertinent to the class during the normal class meetings; however, times arise when it is necessary to disseminate information outside the normal meeting times. The instructor, in this case, will use the Marshall University Email facility to disseminate any pertinent information to the student.

For this reason, the student is expected to check his/her mail twice daily. The instructor will use the student’s MARSHALL Email address (student@marshall.edu).

Student Collaboration

As with most IST courses, the instructors encourage student collaboration, but also expect projects, quizzes, and examinations to be the student’s own work. The policies set forth in the Student Handbook will be used in cases of Academic Dishonesty.

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