Syllabus Stat 202 Fall 2017 - Revision history

Carver at 23:56, 28 August 2017

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 '''Homework Problems:'''  I will pass out homework problems, but I will not collect them.  We will work on the problems in class, and I will go over the answers, as well.  You are encouraged to complete homework problems that you do not finish in class, on your own.  You are also encouraged to use these problems to review.
-'''Attendance and Participation:''' You are expected to attend every class. However, there can be compelling reasons why you need to miss class, once in a while.  Please email me if you are not going to attend.  If we have a quiz that day, it will need to be one of the 5 I drop.  I may not take attendance every class, but I am usually aware if a student misses frequently, and if that is you, you may lose all 10% of credit in this credit (but you will get a warning, first).  Please drop the class if you cannot attend regularly.  Though my policy on attendance is pretty liberal, you are warned not to abuse it.  Coming to class is very important for learning the material.  Every day builds upon the material previously, and missing class puts you at a disadvantage, even if it is for a good reason.
+'''Attendance and Participation:''' You are expected to attend every class. However, there can be compelling reasons why you need to miss class, once in a while.  Please email me if you are not going to attend.  If we have a quiz that day, it will need to be one of the 5 I drop.  I may not take attendance every class, but I am usually aware if a student misses frequently, and if that is you, you lose all credit in this category (10%, but you will get a warning, first).  Please drop the class if you cannot attend regularly.  Though my policy on attendance is pretty liberal, you are warned not to abuse it.  Coming to class is very important for learning the material.  Every day builds upon the material previously, and missing class puts you at a disadvantage, even if it is for a good reason.
 '''Class Etiquette:''' Please give the class your full attention and refrain from talking, texting, surfing the web, and similar distractions.  If it is clear to other students that you are not paying attention, it will be harder for them to pay attention to me.  This statement is true in general, but it is especially true if you are talking. Also, it can also be harder for me to give good lectures, when it is clear that not everyone is paying attention.  Like you, your classmates are paying a lot of money to be here.  Have some respect for your fellow students!  Otherwise you are negatively impacting their educational experience, which isn't fair to them.  If you need to attend to something urgently, it is OK to excuse yourself from the classroom.  Please be warned that if people are not following this request, I may reread this statement to the class.

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 |-
 | Midterm
-| 10
+| 10%
 |-
 | Final Exam
@@ Line 150: / Line 150: @@
 |}
-'''Quizzes and Final Exam:'''  Quizzes are worth 50% of your grade.   The final exam is worth the other 50% of your grade.  All will take place in our classroom.  For both the quizzes and the final, you will have access to a computer.  Specifically, you will permitted to use R, R-studio, StatCrunch and a calculator app.  You will not be able to do Google searches, access this website, or use your computer in any other way, unless specifically cleared by the instructor.  All problems that require computer use on the final will be problems that can be solved with StatCrunch, however quizzes may contain problems that require R and R-studio.   There may not be a quiz every day.  Nevertheless, be prepared to take a quiz during every class (except the first two, and last one when there will be the exam).  Quizzes will take place toward the beginning of the class, so show up on time.  Note that your lowest 5 quiz scores will be dropped.  This large number of dropped quizzes is to accommodate students who occasionally need to miss class or arrive late.  There will be absolutely no make-up quizzes, as the solutions to the quizzes will be discussed in class immediately after the quiz.
+'''Quizzes and Exams:'''  Quizzes are worth 40% of your grade.  The Midterm is worth 10%.  The Final is worth 40%. For both the quizzes and the exams, you will have access to a computer.  Specifically, you will permitted to use R, R-studio, StatCrunch and a calculator app.  You will not be able to do Google searches, access this website, or use your computer in any other way, unless specifically cleared by the instructor.  All problems that require computer use on the final will be problems that can be solved with StatCrunch, however quizzes may contain problems that require R and R-studio.   There may not be a quiz every day, in fact usually it will be once a week.  Nevertheless, be prepared to take a quiz during every class (except the first two).  Quizzes will take place toward the beginning of the class, so show up on time.  Note that your lowest 5 quiz scores will be dropped.  This large number of dropped quizzes is to accommodate students who occasionally need to miss class or arrive late.  There will be absolutely no make-up quizzes, as the solutions to the quizzes will be discussed in class immediately after the quiz.  Absences on exam days must be excused through the Dean of Students, who needs to send a letter to me indicating that they excuse your absence.  If excused through the Dean of Students, you do not need to disclose the reason to me.
 '''Class Etiquette:''' Please give the class your full attention and refrain from talking, texting, surfing the web, and similar distractions.  If it is clear to other students that you are not paying attention, it will be harder for them to pay attention to me.  This statement is true in general, but it is especially true if you are talking. Also, it can also be harder for me to give good lectures, when it is clear that not everyone is paying attention.  Like you, your classmates are paying a lot of money to be here.  Have some respect for your fellow students!  Otherwise you are negatively impacting their educational experience, which isn't fair to them.  If you need to attend to something urgently, it is OK to excuse yourself from the classroom.  Please be warned that if people are not following this request, I may reread this statement to the class.
 Please participate in class by asking questions when you do not understand something.  Invariably other students benefit from these questions.  Please engage in discussions, and please engage with the class, generally.  I find it easier to give good lectures when students are asking questions, and engaging with the material.

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 * For the class that meets TWF, 04:05PM-05:20PM: Your exam is 12/15/2017, 02:30PM-05:00PM.
-'''Optional Extra-credit Projects:'''  I give you the opportunity to complete an '''optional extra-credit''' project.  Summer students often do not have time for this work, but I allow it nonetheless.  Indeed, these projects can be a lot of work, but they can also be, for less extra credit, much less work.  Topics will be different for each person.  Your project must relate to statistics. Your project must involve effort that has an educational benefit to you.  There must be a component of the project that communicates your results to me, as either a paper, a PowerPoint presentation, a statistical dashboard (Google this, if you do not know what this is), a YouTube video, etc.  If doing a YouTube video, email me the link and include it in the written part you turn in.  (Obviously, you won't print out a video, but, as explained below, there is more to turn in, and a printed link should be included.)  For all other media, you must give me a hard copy.  PowerPoint presentations should be turned in as a printout of the slides -- also, if there is time, you can present the PowerPoint to me during office hours, but it must be before the deadline.  For PowerPoint printouts, black and white, reduced sized, images are fine, as long as they are readable.
+'''Optional Extra-credit Projects:'''  I give you the opportunity to complete an '''optional extra-credit''' project.  These projects can be a lot of work, but they can also be, for less extra credit, much less work.  Topics will be different for each person.  Your project must relate to statistics. Your project must involve effort that has an educational benefit to you.  There must be a component of the project that communicates your results to me.  You are encouraged to publish your work on my web server: http://stat370.com/.  It is easiest to do this in R-Markdown and I will show you how.  Unfortunately my server will be down until further notice (perhaps two weeks), as I am moving to a new apartment.  You may also turn in a paper, a PowerPoint presentation, a statistical dashboard (Google this, if you do not know what this is), a YouTube video, etc.  I do not accept submissions by email.  You must turn in a hard copy (hard copy of a link, if it is also posted on my web server).  PowerPoint presentations should be turned in as a printout of the slides -- also, if there is time, you can present the PowerPoint to me during office hours, but it must be before the deadline.  For PowerPoint printouts, black and white, reduced sized, images are fine, as long as they are readable.  Exceptional and brief PowerPoint presentations will be invited to be presented in class, if there is time, and if it furthers the course objectives.  Presenting your work to the class is optional.
-The suggested project involves obtaining data from the web, exploring the data, asking and answering questions with statistics, then communicating the results in a compelling way.  In addition to working with data, there can also be independent study, library research, interviews of statisticians, etc.  Part of your project could be learning a software tool useful for statistics or data science.  If you want to collect your own data, (I actually discourage this), you MUST do it in a scientifically acceptable way.
+The suggested project involves obtaining data from the web, exploring the data, asking and answering questions with statistics, then communicating the results in a compelling way.  In addition to working with data, there can also be independent study, library research, interviews of statisticians, etc.  Part of your project could be learning a software tool (E.g. R-Markdown) useful for statistics or data science.  If you want to collect your own data, (I actually discourage this), you MUST do it in a scientifically acceptable way.
 If these projects sound like a lot of work, they can be, but remember that they are optional and extra credit.  You will get some credit for anything you do along these lines, and anything you do will help you.
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 Curated data sets exist for many of these topics, although some cost money.  For curated data sets, free or otherwise, you just download them, although sometimes you have to do more work to get the data into a usable format.
-A more advanced technique is to use a "web scraper" which masquerades as a browser and pulls data directly from the web.  One student was successful at doing this last Spring (she used a website dedicated to this effort).  Some websites have their own Application Programming Interfaces (API) which facilitate this process (examples: twitter, facebook, linked in).  These more advanced techniques may be difficult, and often involve computer programming.   I am a computer programmer, but I do not have a lot of experience with web scraping.  That said, I have a lot of books on the subject and would love to learn how.  If you are interested, let's try it together during office hours.
+A more advanced technique is to use a "web scraper" which masquerades as a browser and pulls data directly from the web.  One student was successful at doing this recently (she used a website dedicated to this effort).  Some websites have their own Application Programming Interfaces (API) which facilitate this process (examples: twitter, facebook, linked in).  These more advanced techniques may be difficult, and often involve computer programming.   I am a computer programmer, but I do not have a lot of experience with web scraping.  That said, I have a lot of books on the subject and would love to learn how.  If you are interested, let's try it together during office hours.
 Last Spring, I gave some students extensive help on their projects.  Help does not count against you, even extensive help.  Many other students did not ask for help, and that is OK, too.  Of course, some students chose to not even do a project, which was also fine.  (If you don't do a project, you won't get any extra credit, but it won't count against you, either).  Anything you choose is fine with me, but if you want help, ask early and come to office hours in the beginning, and all throughout the semester.  Things can get busy toward the end, both for you and for me.  Starting early will also give you more time, and you will need time to do these projects well.  You can also get help from other sources (family, friends, other professors, etc), but you must disclose the help you receive in writing in an "acknowledgements" section, when you turn it in.  That said, I encourage you to get help, if you need or want it, as long as you do not take credit for others' work.  Along these same lines, cite your sources.  You must also cite the source(s) of your data.
 Data discussion and initial project brainstorm, Thursday, July 6:
-: You can get extra credit (3 quiz points) for doing the data discussion preparation whether or not you choose to do a project. You must be present in class on Thursday, July 6, to get the points, and you must both participate in the discussion in class and turn in (that same day) a short written piece (one or a few paragraphs) describing your experience with the assignment and answering the questions below.  To complete the assignment, pick a topic, suggestions are listed above.  See what data you can find on the web concerning this topic.  Use Google, and start with the key words "data" and your topic.  Are the data you find free or do they cost money?  Can you download the data set or do you need a computer program (or hand copy) to pull them off the web?  If you can download the data, can you load it into StatCrunch or do the data require "munging" to be used by StatCrunch?  Then answer the following questions (you should know how by January 24):  What are the cases, and what are variables?  (If there are many variables, what are some of the ones that are of interest to you?)  Spend at least 45 minutes on this assignment.  If you finish with your first topic in less than 45 minutes, try another topic.
+: You can get extra credit (3 quiz points) for doing the data discussion preparation whether or not you choose to do a project. You must be present in class on Thursday, July 6, to get the points, and you must both participate in the discussion in class and turn in (that same day) a short written piece (one or a few paragraphs) describing your experience with the assignment and answering the questions below.  To complete the assignment, pick a topic, suggestions are listed above.  See what data you can find on the web concerning this topic.  Use Google, and start with the key words "data" and your topic.  Are the data you find free or do they cost money?  Can you download the data set or do you need a computer program (or hand copy) to pull them off the web?  If you can download the data, can you load it into StatCrunch or do the data require "munging" to be used by StatCrunch?  Then answer the following questions:  What are the cases, and what are variables?  (If there are many variables, what are some of the ones that are of interest to you?)  Spend at least 45 minutes on this assignment.  If you finish with your first topic in less than 45 minutes, try another topic.
 The project proposal, Thursday, July 13:
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 |-
 | Quizzes
-| 50%
+| 40%
 |-
 | Final Exam
-| 50%
+| 40%
 |-
 | Extra Credit Data Discussion Preparation Write-up

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 * Friday, December 8: Last Day of Class.
 * Saturday, December 9: Optional Projects Due (Hard copy in my mail box.)
-* December 11-16 Final Exams, see below for times and locations for each section.
+* Friday December 15: Final Exams, see below for times, locations to be decided.
 '''Final Exams:'''
 * For the class that meets TWF, 09:45AM-11:00AM: Your exam is 12/15/2017, 08:10AM-10:40AM.
+* For the class that meets TWF, 12:55PM-02:10PM: Your exam is 12/15/2017, 11:20AM-01:50PM.
 '''Optional Extra-credit Projects:'''  I give you the opportunity to complete an '''optional extra-credit''' project.  Summer students often do not have time for this work, but I allow it nonetheless.  Indeed, these projects can be a lot of work, but they can also be, for less extra credit, much less work.  Topics will be different for each person.  Your project must relate to statistics. Your project must involve effort that has an educational benefit to you.  There must be a component of the project that communicates your results to me, as either a paper, a PowerPoint presentation, a statistical dashboard (Google this, if you do not know what this is), a YouTube video, etc.  If doing a YouTube video, email me the link and include it in the written part you turn in.  (Obviously, you won't print out a video, but, as explained below, there is more to turn in, and a printed link should be included.)  For all other media, you must give me a hard copy.  PowerPoint presentations should be turned in as a printout of the slides -- also, if there is time, you can present the PowerPoint to me during office hours, but it must be before the deadline.  For PowerPoint printouts, black and white, reduced sized, images are fine, as long as they are readable.

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 * You can make an appointment with me in advance (you are encouraged to do this).
-* You can stop my office, without an appointment, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 11:30 and 12:30, and between 2:30-3:30, but if I am not expecting you I may step away from my desk.
+* You can stop my office, without an appointment, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 11:30 and 12:30, and between 2:30-3:30, but if I am not expecting you, I may step away from my desk.
 * Weekend office hours coming soon...

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:34, 28 August 2017
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	'''Final Exams:'''		'''Final Exams:'''
		+
		+	* For the class that meets TWF, 09:45AM-11:00AM: Your exam is 12/15/2017, 08:10AM-10:40AM.
		+

	'''Optional Extra-credit Projects:''' I give you the opportunity to complete an '''optional extra-credit''' project. Summer students often do not have time for this work, but I allow it nonetheless. Indeed, these projects can be a lot of work, but they can also be, for less extra credit, much less work. Topics will be different for each person. Your project must relate to statistics. Your project must involve effort that has an educational benefit to you. There must be a component of the project that communicates your results to me, as either a paper, a PowerPoint presentation, a statistical dashboard (Google this, if you do not know what this is), a YouTube video, etc. If doing a YouTube video, email me the link and include it in the written part you turn in. (Obviously, you won't print out a video, but, as explained below, there is more to turn in, and a printed link should be included.) For all other media, you must give me a hard copy. PowerPoint presentations should be turned in as a printout of the slides -- also, if there is time, you can present the PowerPoint to me during office hours, but it must be before the deadline. For PowerPoint printouts, black and white, reduced sized, images are fine, as long as they are readable.		'''Optional Extra-credit Projects:''' I give you the opportunity to complete an '''optional extra-credit''' project. Summer students often do not have time for this work, but I allow it nonetheless. Indeed, these projects can be a lot of work, but they can also be, for less extra credit, much less work. Topics will be different for each person. Your project must relate to statistics. Your project must involve effort that has an educational benefit to you. There must be a component of the project that communicates your results to me, as either a paper, a PowerPoint presentation, a statistical dashboard (Google this, if you do not know what this is), a YouTube video, etc. If doing a YouTube video, email me the link and include it in the written part you turn in. (Obviously, you won't print out a video, but, as explained below, there is more to turn in, and a printed link should be included.) For all other media, you must give me a hard copy. PowerPoint presentations should be turned in as a printout of the slides -- also, if there is time, you can present the PowerPoint to me during office hours, but it must be before the deadline. For PowerPoint printouts, black and white, reduced sized, images are fine, as long as they are readable.

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 * Weekend office hours coming soon...
-'''SI Leader:''' Colleen Reynolds.
+'''SI Leader:''' Colleen Reynolds will be your Supplemental Instruction (SI) leader this fall.  Colleen is a senior majoring in public health, who took my class last fall.  She will be leading one-hour group study-tutoring sessions twice per week for the course. While these session are not mandatory, they are an opportunity for students looking to improve their performance in the class to ask questions, discuss concepts, practice problems, and receive additional help. Colleen’s goal this semester is to help you master the material, enjoy the class, and understand how statistics can be a useful tool for students in any major. If you have questions about the SI program, you can email Colleen at: cr7533a@american.edu. Times and locations will be announced by the end of the second week of class.  More information about the program can be found at: http://www.american.edu/ocl/asac/Supplemental-Instruction-Homepage.cfm
 '''Tutoring through AU's Academic Support and Access Center.'''  By appointment.  See http://www.american.edu/ocl/asac/Tutor-Services.cfm

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 '''Important Dates:'''
-* Monday, July 3, First Day of Class
+* Tuesday, August 29, First Day of Class.
-* Tuesday, July 4, Independence Day, no class, university offices closed.
+* Friday, September 8, Optional Project Brainstorm.
-* Thursday, July 6, Optional Project Brainstorm.
+* Friday, September 22, Midterm.
-* Thursday, July 13,  Optional Project Proposal Due
+* Friday, September 29,  Optional Project Proposal Due.
-* Thursday, July 27, Optional Project Update Due
+* Friday, October 13, Fall Break, no class
-* Tuesday, August 1, Substitute Instructor, while Dr. Carver presents at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Baltimore.
+* Friday, October 27, Optional Project Update Due.
-* Thursday August 10, Final Exam, Optional Projects Due, and Last Day of Class
+* November 21-26: Thanksgiving Break, no class all week.
 '''Optional Extra-credit Projects:'''  I give you the opportunity to complete an '''optional extra-credit''' project.  Summer students often do not have time for this work, but I allow it nonetheless.  Indeed, these projects can be a lot of work, but they can also be, for less extra credit, much less work.  Topics will be different for each person.  Your project must relate to statistics. Your project must involve effort that has an educational benefit to you.  There must be a component of the project that communicates your results to me, as either a paper, a PowerPoint presentation, a statistical dashboard (Google this, if you do not know what this is), a YouTube video, etc.  If doing a YouTube video, email me the link and include it in the written part you turn in.  (Obviously, you won't print out a video, but, as explained below, there is more to turn in, and a printed link should be included.)  For all other media, you must give me a hard copy.  PowerPoint presentations should be turned in as a printout of the slides -- also, if there is time, you can present the PowerPoint to me during office hours, but it must be before the deadline.  For PowerPoint printouts, black and white, reduced sized, images are fine, as long as they are readable.

@@ Line 73: / Line 73: @@
 '''Class times and locations:'''
-* Section 002: Tuesdays, Wednesdays(*), and Fridays: 12:55PM-02:10PM in KRWN 302
+* Section 002: Tuesdays, Wednesdays(*), and Fridays: 12:55PM-02:10PM in KRWN 302.
-* Section 005: Tuesdays, Wednesdays(*), and Fridays: 09:45AM-11:00AM in KRWN 303
+* Section 005: Tuesdays, Wednesdays(*), and Fridays: 09:45AM-11:00AM in KRWN 303.
-* Section 007: Tuesdays, Wednesdays(?), and Fridays: 04:05PM-05:20PM in KRWN 302
+* Section 007: Tuesdays, Wednesdays(?), and Fridays: 04:05PM-05:20PM in KRWN 302.
 * (*/?) Wednesday classes end 15 minutes early, but this wasn't noted for in the Schedule of Courses for Section 007, will check, but I believe this was an error.