1/26/09. A homework assignment has been posted in blackboard under the homework button. Complete the assignment before Friday at 9am.
 

Section N31 Laboratory: 11-11:50., F; Clements G15  
Section N32 Laboratory: 5-5:50., Th;  Clements G15 
Section N33 Laboratory: 8-8:50., F; Clements G15
 

[students enrolled in section 803 MUST also be enrolled in either N31, N32,  or  N33.]

T.A.: Holly Stovall   email hstovall@smu.edu    office Heroy 136B   phone 214-768-3576    office hours MW11-12

In addition all students can get excel/homework help in G15 on Thursdays from 6-8pm.
       
 

Textbook
The practice of business statistics, 2nd Edition
by  Moore, McCabe, Duckworth, Alwan; Freeman

Overview 
In this course we will learn about common techniques of basic statistical inference. One of the most important, and a major focus of 2301 is the confidence interval. You will learn how to calculate these, how to interpret them, and how to use them with data. We will also examine their motivation. 

Lectures
Lectures are very important for understanding the material and doing well on the exams, please attend!    Please participate via questions, answers, and comments. It is also important to do the homework assignments.

Attendance
Attendance is required.  Failure to attend regularly will put your success in the course (and your grade) in serious jeopardy.  

Grading
Your semester grade will be determined as follows:
 

A final percentage of 90% will guarantee at least an A-, 80% guarantees at least a B-, 70% guarantees at least a C-, and 50% guarantees at least a D-.  There are NO EXTRA CREDIT opportunities available for this course, so make sure you understand what is required of you.  More details about the components of your grade......

• Exams: Exam I, Exam II, Exam III, and Final Exam -- Bring your calculator to each exam.  You will also need to make up a formula sheet for each exam.  The lowest score on the three "hourly" exams will be replaced by the next lowest score. For example, suppose you score 86, 73 and 82 on your three exams. Then the 73 will be replaced by 82 to give scores of 86, 82 and 82. The  three "hourly" exams will all be administered on Fridays in place of your regular lab.  You must take the exam during the lab time for which you are registered. The Final Exam is comprehensive.  ALL STUDENTS IN SECTION 803 MUST TAKE THE FINAL EXAM ON THURSDAY, MAY  7TH AT 11:30A.M.-2:30 P.M..      
• Homework Assignments -- These are assigned every class and due at the beginning of that week's lab. You can drop the lowest two homework scores.   You may work in groups, but each assignment should be written up separately by each student.   NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED.   
• Laboratory Assignments -- Attendance is required at laboratories.    THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP LABS.     Exams will also be held in the lab sessions, dates indicated on the schedule below. Labs are graded on  attendance and participation. YOU MUST SIGN THE SHEET PROVIDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE LAB TO GET CREDIT FOR THAT LAB.
• Note on labs -- It is assumed that you will attend all labs. However, for many reasons (serious illness, family emergency, athletics participation, job interviews), frequently people cannot attend. In an effort to cut down on paperwork in large classes, I have adopted a policy that up to 2 labs may be missed without having to supply your TA with your documentation, but if you miss 3 or more, you need documentation for ALL labs missed. Thus I encourage you to attend all labs whenever possible, and if you have to miss one, keep the paperwork to justify it. Finally if you know ahead of time that you will be missing 3 or more labs, let your TA know (this applies particularly to athletes).

NOTE: Write your name and lab section number (N21/N22/N23) on all work (homework, exams, etc.)

Getting Help
Please contact me or the teaching assistant if you have questions or are having difficulties.  Office hours are regularly scheduled times that you can come by to ask questions or get help.  If you are unable to visit during scheduled office hours, contact myself or the teaching assistant  to set up an appointment.  

Additionally, the Learning Enhancement Center is an excellent resource for tutoring.  See http://www.smu.edu/~alec/ for location, hours, and other details.

University-Excused Absences (for student athletes, etc.)
If you are a student athlete or other person who will be missing class for similar university activities, please stay in close communication with the professor.  If possible, make a list at the beginning of the semester noting each lab or class that you will be excused from attending.  Unless you make other arrangements with the professor, you will be expected to turn in all homework by the due date (this usually means turning in HW early or getting a friend to turn it in for you).    Make sure you make arrangements BEFORE leaving town. Students participating in an officially sanctioned, scheduled University extracurricular activity will be given the opportunity to make up class assignments or other graded assignments missed as a result of their participation.  It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements with the instructor prior to any missed scheduled examination or other missed assignment for making up the work.  (University Undergraduate Catalogue)

Disability Accommodations
If you need academic accommodations for a disability, you must first contact Ms. Rebecca Marin, Coordinator, Services for Students with Disabilities (214-768-4557) to verify the disability and to establish eligibility for accommodations.  Please obtain a letter from the Office of the Dean of Student Life certifying that you have a learning disability and then schedule an appointment with the professor to make appropriate arrangements.  No special accommodations can be made without prior notification from the Dean of Student Life, so please take care of this at the beginning of the semester.

Religious observance  
Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify their professors in writing at the beginning of the semester, and should discuss with them, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence. 

SMU Honor Code
The SMU Honor Code will be strictly enforced.  Students caught giving or receiving unauthorized help on examinations will either be given a course grade of zero or taken before the Honor Council.

Hints for Succeeding in Stat 2301
1. USE OFFICE HOURS!    The best way to use office hours is to work on practice problems together.  Before I help you with a problem during office hour, I will require that you have put some effort into that problem on your own.  Bring your paper with your partial work written out.

2. Make sure you do all the homework. Drops are for those rare cases where you couldn't do an assignment due to an emergency.

3. Get involved in lectures.  Don't be afraid to ask for clarification on issues which confuse you.

4. Don't be a stranger. If you are confused see the TA or me, or both.

5. Keep all your returned homework and exams.  

Microsoft Excel
 

Microsoft Excel is a business-oriented spreadsheet program that will be used throughout this course.  The SMU Business School considers it mandatory that their students become proficient in Excel, since it is widely used in their courses and in the business world. The lab time will be used for instruction in Excel. You will be required to use Excel for laboratory and some homework assignments. Some of the data that will be used for homework and lab exercises are available as Excel files on the CD that comes with your book.

If you have a computer, you may have Excel already. It is part of the Microsoft Office Suite. If you have a computer but do not have Excel, you can purchase it through SMU for a discount (see purchasing procedures).  If you don't have a PC, don't have Microsoft Excel, or don't like installing software, you can always use the PC's (not Mac's) in the ACS computer lab at Fondren Library West, Room 309 (check in at Room 319).   Click here  for information on lab hours, printing costs, etc. 

Tentative Schedule

WEEK	TOPIC (Numbers refer to chapters in book)	Homework	LAB ACTIVITY
1/19-1/25	1/19: University Holiday 1/21: 1.1	----------	No lab
1/26-2/1	1/26: 1.2, 1.3 1/28: 2.1 1/29: 2.2 (Note that Thursday 29th follows a Monday schedule!)	HW1:  See blackboard(Due Friday)	No lab this week, do homework on blackboard before 9am Friday.
2/2-2/8	2/2:  2.2(scatterplots, correlation) 2/4: 2.3 (regression)	HW2:	Lab1 :
2/9-2/15	2/9: 2.4 (regression), 2.5 (Simpson's paradox) 2/11: 2.5(more on Simpson's paradox)	HW3:	Lab2 :
2/16-2/22	2/16:  Exam review 2/18:   Exam I (2/18/2009)	HW4:	Lab3:
2/23-3/1	2/23:  4.1, 4.2 (randomness and probability) 2/25: 4.3, 4.4 (random variables, probability distributions, sampling distribution, central limit theorem)	HW5:	Lab4 :
3/2-3/8	3/2: 5.1 3/4:  5.2, 5.3	HW6:	Lab5 :
3/9-3/15	Mon-Fri: Spring Break	-------	---
3/16-3/22	3/16: 5.4 3/18: 6.1, 7.1 (Confidence intervals)	HW7	Lab6
3/23-3/29	3/23: Exam Review 3/25: Exam II  (3/25/2009)	HW8	Lab7
3/30-4/5	3/30: 7.2 (CI) 4/1: More 7.2, start 8.1 (CI)	HW9:	Lab8
4/6-4/12	4/6: 8.1 4/8:  8.2	WED: Last day to drop No homework.	Good Friday, no lab this week, no homework this week.
4/13-4/19	4/13:  Testing ideas. How to use a CI to test. 4/15: More testing, significance levels.	HW10:	Lab9 :
4/20-4/26	4/20: Exam Review. 4/22:  Exam III (4/22/2009)	HW11	Lab10
4/27-5/3	4/27: 18, t-test. (7.1) 4/29:  P-values (6.2/6.3)	HW12:	Lab 11
5/4-5/10 Beginning of finals.	5/4: Review for final, last day of classes STAT 2301-802:  Final Exam is Thursday, May  7th, 11:30am -2:30 pm.