Course Syllabus
Fall 2009

MAT117
Applied Statistics

Textbook and Other Resources

Textbook: Statistics: The Arts and Science of Learning from Data by Alan Agresti and Chris Franklin (second edition), enhanced with MyStatLab published by Prentice Hall.

MyStatLab:  Our textbook for this course comes enhanced with MyStatLab which means that you will receive (with your textbook) a code to an online website http://www.coursecompass.com.  This site will allow you to complete homework assignments, work through practice exams, watch videos explaining how to do problems, see example problems worked out through videos and computer animations, and read the textbook online with direct links to practice exercises. Doing the homework problems online will provide you with unlimited practice problems as well as provide you with step-by-step directions for completing the assignments. 

If you would prefer a physical copy of the text, you must purchase a NEW book so that you have access to the online materials. (The bookstore usually has a limited number of used copies that they have repackaged with new online codes.) Students who feel very comfortable with reading the book on a computer may choose to by just the online code, since the entire textbook is included on the MyStatLab site. 

Registration:  Every student MUST register on the Course Compass website.  Our Course Name is "Ensley -- Fall 2009 -- MAT170 Statistics".  The directions to register are as follows:

• Go to:  http://www.coursecompass.com 
• Click on the “Register” button in the Students Section. 
• You will need to provide a valid ship.edu email address, provide our course ID which is ensley65326, and, if you purchased the textbook, provide the student access code which was bundled with the book.  

Be sure to use all CAPITAL letters when entering your student access code.  If you do not plan on purchasing the textbook, you can purchase the online access using your credit card.

For more help with registration, go to www.coursecompass.com and click Registration Help under Students. For help during registration, click the Video Tutorial link at the top of the registration pages.

Calculator:  In the course we will be using the Texas Instruments TI-83/84 graphing calculator on an almost daily basis; therefore, all students are required to have a TI-83/84.  Other calculators simply do not have the capabilities to do the statistics that we will be learning and consequently you will be at a disadvantage if you do not have the TI-83/84.  

Office hours. Please make use of my office hours for help outside of class. If the particular times I have listed do not suit you, see my complete schedule at http://webspace.ship.edu/deensley/schedule.html and send me e-mail to make an appointment during a time that I do not have standing obligations.

Goals and Expectations

• To prepare you to be proficient in using statistics to analyze social science data.
• To understand how to collect data, organize data, and make inferences from data.
• To develop our problem solving and critical thinking skills.
• To enhance learning and understanding of statistical concepts through the integrated use of graphing calculators.
• To enjoy the learning experience.

Information and material for this course will be distributed in class, through e-mail, and on the MyStatLab web site, which can be reached from http://webspace.ship.edu/deensley/. 

Schedule

We will be covering the following sections of our textbook in the order listed. The content of the exams might deviate from this if we have to rearrange our schedule as we move through the semester.

• Exam 1: Sections 1.1 - 1.2, 2.1 - 2.5, 3.1, 5.1-5.2, 4.1-4.3
• Exam 2: Sections 6.1-6.2, 7.1, 8.1-8.2, 9.1-9.2, 10.1, 11.1-11.2
• Exam 3: Section 7.2, 8.3, 9.3, 10.2, 14.1, 3.2 - 3.3

Graded Work

• Online Homework, scaled to 50 points (lowest 3 hws are dropped)
• Five In-Class Quizzes, scaled to 100 points  (lowest quiz is dropped)
• Final Project, worth 50 points
• Three Exams, each worth 100 points. The exam dates will be September 25, October 30, and December 4.
• Final Exam, scheduled during final exam week, worth 100 points. Do not make end-of-the-semester travel plans until you know your final exam schedule.

Letter Grades

Letter grades for this course will be determined using the following scale based on the total of 600 possible points.

Course Policies

You are responsible for checking your campus e-mail regularly. If you use a different e-mail service, then you must set things up appropriately so that mail that I send you through the info@ship system reaches you. I will use e-mail for reminders of activities, corrections, and adjustments to scheduled office hours.

Since you are all adults, there is no attendance policy for this course. However, course attendance is an indication of your interest and level of effort in the course, so I will take attendance daily for my own information. If you do miss a class, it is your responsibility to get material that you missed (handouts, notes, announcements, etc.) from another member of the class or from posted material on the class website.

Students are responsible for submitting required work on time and taking exams on the assigned dates.  If an exam is missed in the event of personal emergency, the student must notify the instructor within 24 hours after the exam date to make proper arrangements. Only in the event of a documented illness or emergency will arrangements be made. There will be no time extensions given for homework or quizzes, however one quiz grade and three homework grades will be dropped at the end of the semester.