PROFESSOR: Ms. Sally Sievers.     Email: sievers@wells.edu Website: aurora.wells.edu/~srs
         Office: Macmillan 102. Phone: 364-3210 (office), 607-257-7641 (home).

I am on campus MWF from about 9:15 to 4-4:30. I teach at 9:30 and 11:30.  If not in my office, I am usually in one of the computer labs or math prof’s offices, or will leave a note on my door. Best is to let me know you want to see me and when (i.e. make an appointment, by phone, email, or at class time).

EXAMS: Exams will be in-class, closed book. For the final exam you may bring a sheet of notes and formulas; details at the time. Exam problems will require only a calculator with a square root function.  There may be announced quizzes if needed.

Exam 1 ........February 23 (F, class day 12)
Exam 2.........March 30 (F, class day 24)
Exam 3.........April 27 (F, class day 36)
Final Exam ...May 16 (Wednesday, 1-4 PM )

Homework, Quizzes, Class participation 15% (remember you can’t participate if you aren’t there)
Exams (3) 60% (20% each)
Final Exam (cumulative) 25%

• the techniques of data analysis--summarizing and interpreting collections of data;
• ideas important in the collection of data--as in designing experiments and sampling;
• and the ideas and techniques of statistical inference--drawing conclusions from a set of data about the world from which it came.

David S. Moore, The Basic Practice of Statistics, 2^nd ed. I think it is excellent, as statistics books go.
We will cover Chapters 1-4, and 6-7 (except for some starred sections), possibly material from the remaining chapters if time allows.
SPSS for Windows Manual for …Basic Practice… (bundled with book)

Optional: Study guide--some other people’s expansion on the text material, and some problems worked out with "guided solution" methods, and answers in great detail. (not always the ones I assign, unfortunately).

• Study guide (one copy)
• Solutions to all the problems in the text. (Odd number answers are also in the back of the book.)
• Just the Basics Please: A quick review of math for introductory statistics. If your high school math background is weak or forgotten this may be a help. Organized around the statistics topic you want the technique for.

• Computer statistical packages can carry out statistical techniques on big batches of numbers, so we can save some of our energy for understanding the information..

We will be learning to use SPSS, the very powerful package the Wells Social Science disciplines have standardized on. (Its usefulness is not confined to the social sciences.) I suggest working with a buddy.
• Everyone should have a calculator with at least a square root button to do simple computations.

Get a "homework buddy" or buddies to work with: you are each other’s best teachers and supporters--the best way to learn is by teaching!

Solutions are in the back of the book for all odd-numbered problems. Solutions to ALL the problems will be in the Math Library (Mac 121), and on reserve. Any staffer of the Math Clinic can help with general math questions. We will also have an assistant--name and schedule soon.

With the "answers" available, what you need to focus on in homework is how you get the answer. Mathematics is a language, and often just a shorthand for English, so write your solutions so another person can read and understand it. Also, many of the problems want discussion, not just computation. These parts are at least as important as the "math."

If you don’t "get" a problem, don’t try to fake it--set down as clearly as you can how and where you went wrong. It is better to know that (and what) you don’t know than to not know that you don’t know. Bring remaining questions to class. Homework and class participation will be marked more on conscientiousness, effort and engagement with the process than with "correctness."

Class participation presupposes attendance and preparedness (reading the assignment, working on the problems.) I will take attendance at random.

CLASS WORK: Again, you are each other’s best teachers and supporters; the best way to learn is by teaching.

To this end, in the first several minutes of each class you will check over your homework with a neighbor in the class, (not your "buddy") and try to resolve any difficulties or questions. When you as a pair have resolved what you can, take your further questions to another pair--or if you have no more questions, take your expertise to people in the class who need it. I will bring in the Solutions folder each day.

The next part of the class will be devoted to a brief discussion of any remaining questions or ideas that were prompted by the homework assignment, of interest to much or most of the class.

The third part will be the introduction of new material.

Study skills:
In 1995 American college freshmen reported that they spent an average of 3 hours a week studying in high school. This is less than the amount spent PER DAY in any other industrialized country.
The classic rule of thumb for college courses used to be two hours of study for every hour of class time, but for some courses this is more than enough and for some it is not nearly enough. (A recent survey of an elementary statistics class at another college found the average time was 11 hours per week.) Also time put in may or may not be effective or productive. Try to figure out what is most efficient for you; ask buddies, Math Clinic staff, me, for help and suggestions.