Colorado State University — Pueblo; Fall 2014
Math 156: Introduction to Statistics
Course Schedule & Homework Assignments

Here is a link back to the course syllabus/policy page.

In the following all sections and page numbers refer to the required course textbook, The Basic Practice of Statistics (6^th ed.), by Moore, Notz, and Fligner.

Also in the following, the image means that class was videoed that day: contact me and I will send you a link to the video. Note that if you know ahead of time that you will miss a class, you should tell me and I will be sure to video that day.

When there is a reading assignment, please read the named section(s) before that day. Homework for a particular day is due that day, either in class or handed in at my office by 3pm.

This schedule is will be changing very frequently, please check it at least every class day, and before starting work on any assignment (in case the content of the assignment has changed).

• M: Mostly bureaucracy and introductions. Read the course syllabus and policy page. HW0 Send me e-mail (at jonathan.poritz@gmail.com) telling me:
  1. Your name.
  2. Your e-mail address. (Please give me one that you actually check fairly frequently, since I may use it to contact you during the term.)
  3. Your year/program/major at CSUP.
  4. What you intend to do after CSUP, in so far as you have an idea.
  5. Past math classes you've had.
  6. The reason you are taking this course.
  7. Your favorite mathematical subject.
  8. Your favorite mathematical result/theorem/technique/example/problem.
  9. Anything else you think I should know (disabilities, employment or other things that take a lot of time, etc.).
  17. [Optional:] The name of a good book you have read recently.
  Please do this some time Monday. But as some direct incentive: I will only enter your name into my gradebook and give you your Homework Late Passes when I get this e-mail, so you really need to do this assignment as soon as possible.
• W: Read To the Student and Chapter 1.
• F: [Re]read Chapter 1 and read Chapter 2. Quiz 1 today. Hand in HW1: 1.{26, 34, 38, 40}
• NOTE: Friday is the last day to add classes

• M: Reread Chapter 2.
• W: Read Chapter 3.
• F: Read Chapter 3. Quiz 2 today. Hand in HW2: 2.{29, 37, 39, 41}, 3.{17, 19}
• NOTE: We do have class on Monday, September 1^st, even though it is indeed the federal Labor Day holiday.

• M: Read Chapter 4
• W: Read Chapter 4. Discussion of ASEs — see this page for information and examples.
• F: Read Chapter 5. Quiz 3 today. Hand in HW3: 3.{32, 36, 43}, 4.{22, 26, 28, 38}
• NOTE: Monday is the last day to drop classes without a grade being recorded

• M: Read Chapter 5. Hand in ASE1 (for information, remember this web page).
• W: More Chapter 5, and start review
• F: Quiz 4 today. Review for Test I, see this review sheet. Hand in HW4: 5.{33, 37, 44}

• M: Test I on Chapters 1-5.
• W: Test I post-mortem.
• F: Read Chapter 8. Hand in Test I revisions, if you like.

• M: Read Chapter 8. Hand in ASE2 — please try to find one which mentions correlation, or even regression, extrapolation, "best linear approximation/fit", etc. [Here's one example of such an ASE.]
• W: Read Chapter 9
• F: Quiz 5 today. Read Chapter 9. Hand in ASE3 — please try to find one which mentions sampling.

• M: Read Chapter 10. Hand in HW5: 8.{38, 45, 47} and 9.{28, 30, 48}
• W: Read Chapter 10
• F: Quiz 6 today. Read Chapter 11

• M: Read Chapter 11. Hand in ASE4, which is a special one: read this article and then do as detailed an ASE as you can on this topic. Also include a section discussing the ethics of this study, for which the discussion on pp. 247-254 of you textbook, called Commentary: Data Ethics is an important foundation (make sure you read that Commentary!).
• W: Read Chapter 12. Hand in HW6: 10.{42, 44, 48} and 11.{24, 26, 30}
• F: take-home Quiz 7 was announced today; it is: do problem 11.38 from your textbook, on your own, in one sitting (but no specific time limit), using only your book, class notes, and calculator (e.g., consult no other human being and no Internet resource); it is due in class on Monday. Read Chapter 12

• M: Read Chapter 13. Hand in Quiz 7 at class.
• W: Read Chapter 13. Hand in ASE5 — please try to find one which uses independence in some way: explicitly mentioning it, testing for it, or using the multiplication law for probabilities of independent events, etc.; this may not be possible (in which case just do another general ASE), but please try.
  UNLESS you did a general ASE last week, not about the specific Facebook mood-manipulation experiment as was assigned: if you skipped the Facebook-ASE, do it now
• F: Read Chapter 13. Review for Test II, see this review sheet. Hand in HW7: 12.{30, 32, 38}, 13.{22, 24, 30}; the chapter 13 homework can come in next Monday, though, if you are not finished with it.
• NOTE: Friday is the last day to withdraw (with a W) from classes

• M: More review for Test II, this review sheet is still useful. Chapter 13 homework from HW7 is due today.
• W: Test II
• F: Test II post-mortem.

• M: Read Chapter 14. Hand in Test II revisions, if you like.
• W: Read Chapter 14
• F: Quiz 8 today. Read Chapter 15. Hand in HW8: 14.{8, 10, 20, 24}

• M: Read Chapter 15
• W: Read Chapter 16
• F: Quiz 9 today. Read Chapter 18. Hand in HW9: 15.{28, 40}, 16.{12, 18}

• M: Read Chapter 18.
• W: Review for Test III. See this review sheet.
• F: Test III on Chapters 14, 15, and 16.

• M: Test III post-mortem. Read Chapter 20. Hand in ASE6, either on
  • the subject of ethics of possible ebola treatment studies (see, e.g., this story, or this one or any similar one); or
  • on hypothesis testing which mentions p-values (try a site-specific google search by including site:yourfavoritesite.com among your search terms; fivethirtyeight.com has some interesting ones; don't just use one which explains what p-values are, instead find one which actually talks about p-values from real data).
  • Note: the due date on this ASE is fairly flexible — any time this week is fine — since it was assigned over the Thanksgiving break. But there are several other things due this week, so it is a good idea to get this one done as early as possible.
• W: Read Chapter 20. Hand in Test II revisions, if you like.
• F: Quiz 10 today. Final review. See this review sheet. Hand in HW10: 20.{12, 26, 28, 40}.
  Today is the last day to hand any HW you still owe and any unused late HW passes.

• Exam week, no classes. Special last-minute office hours at 9am, though -- and, of course, contact me before then at any time by e-mail.
• Our [comprehensive] FINAL EXAM is Monday, December 8^th, 10:30am-12:50pm in our usual classroom. Don't forget to bring your calculator and page of formulæ — see the final review sheet for other information about the final!
• Course and final exam grades are now available, to those students who remember their secret codes from the front page of their final exam booklet, on this page.