Math 1530 Online - Elements of Statistics

Course Information

Course Description:

Measures of central tendency and dispersion for descriptive statistics, estimations of confidence intervals for means and proportions, probability distributions, hypotheses testing, analysis of variance, the least squares method, and correlation analysis.

Course Objectives:

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

  1. Calculate and apply descriptive statistics to real world data
  2. Understand and recognize misleading statistics
  3. Calculate and analyze confidence intervals
  4. Apply probability distribution methods
  5. Evaluate studies using hypothesis testing methods
  6. Calculate and apply regression models and correlation analysis

Prerequisites and Co-requisites:

Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry or the equivalent

Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements

Required Textbook:

Elementary Statistics, 7th edition, by Neil Weiss.  Pearson/Addison Wesley.  The textbook is available in the bookstore and includes the Student Edition of Minitab Statistical Software and a CourseCompass access card.

Required Supplementary Materials:

Hardware and Software Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found here. In addition, the specific software requirements for this course include Minitab and MyMathLab.  MyMathLab will require the downloaded of several plug-ins such as Adobe Acrobat, Flash, and Java.

Instructor Information

Ellen Smyth
Instructor
Mathematics Department
Austin Peay State University at Ft Campbell
P.O. Box 4626
Clarksville, TN  37044
APSU at FC Building 203, Room 106
Phone:  (931) 221-1443
Fax:  (931) 221-6354
Email:  smythe@apsu.edu
Website:  apsu.edu/smythe
Office Hours:  See the announcements or my website.

Assessment and Grading

Your grade will be based on multiple activities as outlined below.  All grades will be posted in the online gradebook within 24-48 hours of assignment deadlines.  Please consult Content to find additional information, consult the assignment list for the list of specific problems, and consult the calendar for specific deadline dates.

Activity

Percentage

Discussion (13)

10

Minitab (5)

10

Quizzes (12)

10

Textbook Homework (2)

10

MyMathLab (CourseCompass) Homework (4)

10

Midterm – Proctored

15

Final – Proctored

35

Total

100

A

90%-100%

B

80%-89.9%

C

70%-79.9%

D

60%-69.9%

F

<60%

Assignments and Participation

Throughout the course, you will have:

  1. Thirteen discussion assignments - Students are expected to introduce themselves in the Class Introductions topic at the beginning of the course.  Students are also expected to post in each and every chapter topic, asking and answering questions on the homework.  Students are also expected to read all of the posted discussion messages from classmates and the instructor.

  2. Five Minitab assignments - Minitab is a statistical software, which comes with your book, that is similar to Microsoft Excel.  We will be using Minitab with several problems throughout the course as a data analysis tool.

  3. Twelve Quizzes - One quiz for each chapter will be delivered through D2L.  The quiz questions will most closely resemble questions in the text.

  4. Textbook Homework - The assigned textbook homework will be collected for a grade during the proctored midterm and final exams.

  5. MyMathLab Homework - Four large homework assignments covering three-chapter chunks must be completed through MyMathLab in CourseCompass.

  6. Proctored Midterm and Final Exams - Students are expected to come to Austin Peay's main campus (or make arrangements to take the exam at an official university or military testing center) to take the midterm and final exams.

Course Ground Rules

Students are responsible for learning the technical aspects required to be enrolled in an online course, including how to navigate Desire2Learn, MyMathLab, and Minitab.  Students are expected to check and respond to email and announcements at least twice a week.  Students are expected to address technical problems immediately.   

Due dates for all assignments can be found in the course calendar. Students are expected to complete textbook and MML homework, Minitab projects, quizzes, and exams on time. If an assignment is one day late, then only half credit will be given. If an assignment is more than one day late, no credit will be given.

Since this course is delivered online, student motivation and dedication is extremely important. If you are not capable of setting your own goals, reading a mathematics textbook, and completing your work on your own, you need to be in a traditional face-to-face course, not an online course. Online courses are more demanding and time consuming than traditional courses. You should expect to dedicate at least 9 to 12 hours a week to this course. 

All work must be completed by the enrolled student only. Work completed by anyone else will be considered cheating and will result in an F for the course.

Guidelines for Communications
  1. Be respectful.
  2. Avoid all caps.
  3. Use standard English and grammar.  Netspeak is inappropriate.
  4. Review the previous posts before entering a discussion.

Library

The APSU Virtual Library, including links to library materials such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support, is available to all students enrolled at APSU.

Students With Disabilities

Austin Peay State University abides by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which stipulates that no student shall be denied the benefits of an education "solely by reason of a handicap." Disabilities covered by law include, but are not limited to, learning disabilities and hearing, sight, or mobility impairments. If you have a documented disability that may have some impact on your work in this class and for which you may require reasonable accommodations, communicate with me or Disabilities Services in Clement 140, 221-6230 or 221-6278 (V/TTY), so that such reasonable accommodations may be arranged.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

If you are having problems logging into your course, timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the APSU Help Desk by calling 931-221-HELP or by going to the APSU Help Desk website.