Stat 240: Introduction to Statistics (online).
Fall 2023
Instructor: Joanna Jeneralczuk
Email: jjeneral@umass.edu
My Office hours – Zoom – TBA.
Office hours – TA – TBA
(In addition you can use the regular Stat 240 resources , if you live near Amherst)
About the course:
This online course will be offered asynchronously and taught through University Without Walls (UWW).
We are going to be at Zoom every day – office hours and problem-solving sessions (optional but recommended) .
We will be using the Blackboard Learn learning management system for this course. Blackboard Learn is where all course content and announcements will be. You will need to use your UMass account to login to your course’s Blackboard page.
The online Stat 240 course will consist of online lecture videos on Blackboard and assignments via an online homework system called Wiley Plus. There will be deadlines for each assignment given at the start of the term. The quizzes will be given after each chapter through Wiley Plus. There will be a final exam and optional project.
Taking an online course is different than in person. You will need to be more self-disciplined to get the work done. For each section I created slides, and recorded lecture videos that you can watch at your own pace. Additionally, there are problem solving sessions on Zoom (optional, recorded) and many office hours. We encourage to work together. You also can participate in the Blackboard discussion board and Piazza.
Course Description: This is a 4-credit introductory course in statistics. It covers descriptive statistics,basics of probability, random variables, binomial and normal distributions, Central Limit Theorem, sampling distribution of the population mean and proportion, estimation, hypothesis testing, analysis of categorical data, simple linear regression.
It fulfills the R2 general education requirement that addresses analytical reasoning. Upon completion of this course, you should be able to think critically about data, present graphical and numerical summaries of the data, understand basic probability models, and apply standard statistical inference procedures. Students should become critical consumers of statistically based results reported in popular media, recognizing whether reported results reasonably follow from the study and analysis conducted. The course also fulfills the Basic Math Skills requirement (R1) but should not be taken by those students who need to brush up on basic math skills. (Gen.Ed. R2 and R1 requirement upon success ful completion).
Prerequisite: Knowledge of high school algebra.
Textbook: Introductory Statistics, by Prem S. Mann, 9th edition.
This course requires the use of WileyPlus. With your purchase of WileyPlus you will receive a copy of the e- book associated with this course. Instructions on obtaining WileyPlus and the e-book at the Umass discounted rate are available on Blackboard.
Computing Software: We will use MINITAB. Minitab is a part of WileyPlus package.
Calculator: no graphic calculators required; any calculator will be fine.
Grading: Final averages will be weighted as follows:
Homework – 25%
*Quizzes – 7*5 = 35% Final Exam – 25%
*Project -10%
Participation -5%
*Quizzes = midterm exams, we have seven of them to help you master the material in more efficient way Project is optional. Without a project, final exam will count 35%. Grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
A 90 %, A – 87%, B+ 83%, B 79 %, B- 75%, C+ 71%, C 67%, C- 63%, D+ 60%, D 55%
Structure of Course: Each Chapter has 5 parts: read assigned reading, listen to recorded lectures, practice via homework, use the forums to discuss topics, and assess yourself via a quiz (midterm tests)
All the graded components of the course except the final exam will be completed on-line through Wiley Plus.
The course is designed to give you as much flexibility as possible, but it is not completely self-paced. You can do your work whenever you like, according to your own schedule, but you must complete your work according to the class due dates. Please contact me if you need an additional time.
Graded activities
- Homework: Homework assignments will be assigned and completed through Wiley WileyPlus is an online homework and course study system. It also contains an e-book of our textbook.
You should read the assigned chapter before listening to the lecture for the unit. After reading and listening, work through the homework assignments. You can attempt each question 5 times, until the due date and time of the assignment (there is a penalty for missing deadlines -10% if you do within seven days and 25% after). Due dates for homework will be posted on the Wiley PLUS page and Blackboard. On homework you may work with others, but you must each submit your work separately in Wiley PLUS. (Many questions are “parameterized”, so that no two students will get the same form of a problem.) Representing somebody else’s work as your own is plagiarism, for which there can be severe penalties under University policy. I strongly recommend starting homework early and not waiting until the night it is due. If you need help, post questions on Discussions. If you can help others, please do, let us work together
- Quizzes (or midterm tests) (on Wiley Plus) – after finishing each chapter – can only be attempted Do the quizzes AFTER completing all the other work in the related chapter. All quizzes are timed, one and half hour, and the clock begins whenever you enter the quiz. Quizzes are not like homework and you will not have access to feedback during the time the quiz is up. Only after the quiz has expired you can see the feedback. These restrictions are meant to make quizzes more like exams in that they measure your knowledge and your readiness for the Final exam. Once you completed the quiz , you can revisit them with feedback Your Wiley Plus quizzes will count toward 35% of your course grade. The lowest score will be dropped.
- Class discussions are set up so that we do not all have to be on-line at the same We have scheduled office hours on Zoom, if you want to chat with me, my TAs, or your classmates. You will want to come back to these discussions after the due dates to catch up on your classmate’s comments that were added after you added your own comments. For full credit you will need to add a “quality” contribution — i.e., a response that expresses clear thinking, and that is relevant to the discussion. We will have office hours/working groups, study groups on Zoom.
- Project –– individual or a group project. We will talk a lot more about the project as the semester proceeds. The project constitutes 10% of your final It is optional. If you don’t do a project, the final exam will count 35% (not 25%)
- Final Exam: The Mathematics and Statistics department, in accordance with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, continues to promote the integrity and security of its courses. To further secure its courses, the department will require a proctored final exam in this Because of the present circumstances I will offer proctoring online with webcam on Zoom. More details will be available on the course website. You can contact the instructor for more information.
Registering for WileyPlus:
Important: You may register for Wiley Plus only through the Blackboard. Detailed instructions are in the course policies document posted on the Blackboard page. WileyPlus will operate on a PC or a Macintosh computer.
Note the price is:
$76.95 for WP access + e-book + Minitab code or
$89.95 for WP access + e-book + Minitab code and a Loose-Leaf print of the book.
If you need more time deciding which option is best for you, select the 14-day grace period.
Blackboard Access
This course will be delivered entirely online through the course management system Blackboard. You will use your Umass account to login to the course from Blackboard (https://uma.umassonline.net )
In Blackboard, you will access online lessons, course materials, and resources. Activities will consist of help chat, discussion forums, and Wiley plus homework and Quizzes.
To access this course on Blackboard you will need access to the Internet and a supported Web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari). To ensure that you are using a supported browser and have required plug-ins please run the Check Browser from your Blackboard course.
University Policies
Academic Honesty The integrity of your and our educational degrees, and of our mutual professional conduct, requires honesty in scholarship and research. Academic dishonesty carried out in the form of cheating, falsification of materials or data, plagiarizing the work of others, or facilitating others’ acts of dishonesty, will result in severe penalties that range from an immediate failing grade on the assigned work to a failing course grade to a recommendation for expulsion from your program and the university. The university policy is available at http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty/ . Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all graded work is expected to be completed independently.
Disability statement: The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to making reasonable, effective, and appropriate accommodations to meet the needs of students with disabilities and help create a barrier-free campus. If you have a disability and require accommodations, please register with Disability Services (161 Whitmore Administration building; phone 413-545-0892) to have an accommodation letter sent to your faculty. Information on services and materials for registering are also available on their website www.umass.edu/disability.
Drops, Withdrawals, and Incompletes: The last day to drop with no record is Monday, June 5.The last day to drop with a W or to request a Pass/Fail grading option is Friday, June 23. Incompletes are a last resort offered in extreme situations and are only offered to students who are passing the course with a grade of C or higher.
Student Responsibilities:
Students are responsible for being aware of all announcements that are made in lectures, such as changes in exam dates, due dates of homework etc. Students must check their UMASS email account regularly for information from the instructor and the Department.
Technical AssistanceIf you need technical assistance at any time during the course or to report a problem with Blackboard you can:
- Visit the Blackboard Student Resources Page
- Visit the Blackboard Student FAQ’s Web Page
- Submit Blackboard Problem Form
Topics:
- What are statistics, types of statistics, population and sample, basic terms, types of variables (Chapter 1)
- Organizing and graphing qualitative and quantitative Data (Chapter2).
- Numerical descriptive measures, Empirical Rule, box plot (Chapter 3).
- Bivariate data: analysis of two categorical or two numerical Test for independence, correlation, regression line, estimation, and prediction (notes + part of Chapter 13)
- Probability: Event, sample space, event composition, calculating probabilities, counting rules, mutually exclusive (or disjoint) events, conditional probabilities, Bayes rule, independent events, tree diagram (Chapter 4).
- Discrete random variables and their probability distributions: random variables, mean and standard deviation of a discrete random variable, factorials, combinations and permutations, binomial distribution (Chapter5).
- Normal distributions and applications of the normal distribution(Chapter 6).
- Sampling distributions of the sample mean and proportion, Central Limit Theorem (Chapter 7).
- Estimation of the mean and proportion – confidence intervals (Chapter 8).
- Hypothesis tests about the mean and proportion (Chapter 9)
- Estimation and hypothesis testing – two populations (Chapter 10) (if time allows)