Course Information

What Can this Course Do for Me?

This course will give me:

Source for what employers want:  Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce (September 2006), pg. 9 and 42-43, The Conference Board, Inc., the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Society for Human Resource Management.

 
Course Description:

In this class, I will learn all about data:  how to design data studies, how to collect data, and what to do with the data when I have it.  I will learn how to represent a set of possibly thousands of data values as one single number (e.g., mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation) so that others can have an instant idea about my data.  I will learn to create tables, charts and graphs to give instant visuals of my data.  I will learn how to make estimates and guesses for data I don't fully know, where I will survey only a few and yet make conclusions about many.  I will also learn to analyze two different sets of data (e.g., age and height of children) to prove whether or not they are associated. 

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Understand what statistics is (Chapter 1),
2. Describe how data should be gathered (Chapter 4) and presented (Chapter 2),
3. Comprehend, calculate and apply something called regression models and correlation analysis to decide if two variables are associated with each other (Chapter 3),
4. Grasp and compute some basic probabilities (Chapter 5),
5. Understand what probability and sampling distributions are and know how to apply them (Chapters 6 and 7),
6. Calculate and analyze confidence intervals, which estimate data we don't know using the small amount of data we do know (Chapter 8), and
7. Evaluate and interpret studies using hypothesis testing, where we can use the small data we do know to prove our guesses about the big data we don't know (Chapter 9).

Prerequisites and Co-requisites:

Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry or the equivalent

Required Textbook:

Statistics:  The Art and Science of Learning from Data, 2^nd edition, by Alan Agresti & Christine Franklin.  Pearson/Addison Wesley.  The textbook is available either:

1. Directly from CourseCompass/MyMathLab for $80.00 (see below for Course ID), which does not include a hard copy of the book but does include an electronic (online) copy of the book, and CourseCompass access.  This also does not include the Minitab Statistical Software; however, you can use the lab computers for the Minitab projects, download a free 30-day trial of Minitab, or you can purchase six-month access to Minitab for $29.99.

2. From the Austin Peay Bookstore for $200, which includes the hard copy of the book, CourseCompass access, and a Student Edition of Minitab Statistical Software.

Required Supplementary Materials:

• Minitab Statistical Software (may use lab licenses on lab computers or free trial)  Note:  Minitab isn't compatible with Macs, only PCs.  If you do not have access and cannot get access to a PC with Minitab, contact your instructor for alternate arrangements immediately.
• MyMathLab in CourseCompass (Course ID = smyth26198)
• TI-83 or TI-84 calculator

Your grade will be based on the activities outlined below.  Please consult the paper homework assignment list for specific problems, and consult the schedule below for specific deadline dates.  Grades follow the standard, ten point distribution.

Activity	Percentage
D2L Discussion Participation (10)	5
Online CourseCompass Homework (10)	10
Paper Homework (2)	15
CourseCompass (9) and D2L (2) Quizzes	10
Data & Statistics Group Projects (3)	15
Proctored Midterm Exam*	15
Proctored Final Exam*	30
Total	100

Throughout the course, you will have:

1. Discussion assignments - Students are expected to introduce themselves in an introductory thread and to post in each and every chapter topic, asking and answering questions on the homework and videos.  Students are also expected to read all of the posted discussion messages from classmates and the instructor.
2. Online CourseCompass Homework - Homework assignments covering each chapter plus an orientation must be completed through MyMathLab in CourseCompass.  Students must achieve at least 80% on each homework assignment to be allowed to take that chapter's quiz.
3. Online CourseCompass and D2L Quizzes - One CourseCompass quiz for each chapter will be given.  The CourseCompass quiz questions will most closely resemble questions in the online homework. Quizzes are open book and open class notes but not open neighbor. Quizzes are expected to be the solo work of the student taking the quiz.
4. Paper Homework, Collected Twice - The assigned paper homework (including textbook problems and midterm and final reviews) will be collected for a grade at the midterm and final exams.
5. Data & Statistics Group Projects - Students will be acting in a group as real-life junior statisticians by experiencing the process of a real world statistical project from start to finish.  The overarching project is divided among three smaller projects:  one on data gathering and two on data reporting and analyses using Minitab.  (Similar to Excel, Minitab is a statistical software.) 
6. Proctored Midterm and Final Exams - Students are expected to come to Austin Peay's main campus, Fort Campbell campus, or an official college, university, or military testing center to take the midterm and final exams.  (Special accommodations can be made for soldiers deployed to an area without convenient testing facilities.)  The midterm exam will be covering Chapters 1 through 5, and the comprehensive final exam will be covering Chapters 1 through 9.

1. Be nice and respectful.
2. Use standard English and grammar - including proper spelling, capitalization, and punctuation - because incorrect grammar and netspeak are unprofessional.
3. Review previous posts before entering a discussion.
4. Cell phones and notes are not allowed to be in your possession during the exam.  If you are found with a cell phone or notes of any kind during the exam, you may fail the entire course.

Syllabus Changes