Syllabus

Statistics 2600:

Welcome to stats! This course is built from the ground up, and has been fully rebuilt multiple times, around a few key ideas:

    • math is incredibly useful in the world and students deserve to be exposed to relevant applications of math in school

    • good teaching and learning is built around relationships between student and teacher and between peers, not studying content in isolation

    • team project learning motivates and contextualizes individual online learning -- together they help students build applied skillsets

    • lifelong learning follows classroom learning when it is interesting and fun

Your teacher:

I'm Mr. Andy Pethan, one of the BHS math teachers. I will be teaching all of the sections of Statistics this school year. You can reach me anytime via email at. I am very open and receptive to feedback, no matter how critical, so please share any concerns with me in person or via email as soon as they come up so we can quickly address them. For more about me and my teaching philosophy, see my college portfolio, teaching portfolio, or blog.

Honor Code:

Instead of a long list of rules, I will use the following values our classroom. These apply to both me and you:

    • Integrity: I will represent myself accurately and completely in my work, my words, and my actions in academic and in non-academic affairs.

    • Respect for Others: I will be patient with and understanding of fellow community members, and considerate of their inherent dignity and personal property. I will care for community resources and facilities so others may effectively use them.

    • Openness to Change: I will be receptive to change, supportive of innovation, and willing to take risks for the benefit of the class.

    • Do Something: I will strive to better myself and my community and take responsibility for my own behavior. When I become aware of a violation of the Honor Code or an issue within the community, I will take action towards resolution of the situation. I expect others to do the same.

(adapted from the Olin College Honor Code)

Open Source Course:

In most courses, teachers use a reference textbook combined with their own material to teach. In some courses, teachers or teacher teams develop their own materials instead of a textbook, but those materials are usually private or unable to be shared openly due to copyright restrictions connected to how they were made. This course has been fully developed from scratch without such restrictions and is released free on the web for any teacher or student to use or remix. As a result, I do not treat this curriculum as "mine" -- it belongs to the class and to the world. This also means that I encourage and expect you to contribute to its development and improvement. This occurs in a significant way through the "Course Improvement (CI)" project where, in teams, you either build a new learning module or target an existing module for major improvements. This also occurs in small ways though day-to-day feedback, generating new ideas, and improving practice problems and solutions.

iPads, PLDs, and calculators:

Our class will be held in a computer lab, each of you will have an iPad, and some of you will have an additional PLD with you. Since all of the course material is online, it is obviously important that you have an internet device and use it appropriately. I reserve the right to take your device away during class if you are using it inappropriately or it is preventing you from learning. PLDs may only be used in regard to course material (research, solutions, course videos, poll taking etc.). Inappropriate use (texting, games, Facebook, surfing non-related classroom material, etc.) will be turned into the office as a violation of PLD policy.

Since much of the calculation is based on simulation (using a website accessible from the iPad), you will not need a Ti-83/4 calculator as much as previous stats classes have needed it. However, the AP exam is fully based on normal-curve-based inference, which is a fancy way of saying that anyone with an interest in AP needs a TI-83 or TI-84 calculator. I also use the TI-83 in some of my video examples. If you don't already have access to one, I recommend saving some money and NOT buying a new one. See eBay or Amazon used listings.

On tests, you will be allowed to use a calculator (TI-83/84) or computer. On some tests, I may allow open internet, but I would then set a time limit on the exam.

Hybrid days:

During some weeks, you will be able to leave school 2 days to work from home or another location during our stats block. The purpose is to give you more freedom in how you complete your work while shrinking the class size on the days you do come in so you get as much 1-on-1 attention as possible. Unlike some other classes that have set online days, you will have the ability to choose which half of the hybrid days each week you want to work from home. If you have another hybrid class, you might line up the days with that, or you might sync up with members of a project team so you can visit relevant sites on the online days. Mondays will always be large-group days with a combination of class activities, lectures, and student presentations.

Rules for online days: 1st block students do not need to come to school until 2nd block. 2nd block students with 3A lunch do not need to return to school until 3B. 3rd block students can leave during 3A and stay out until the start of 4th block. 4th block students may leave for the rest of the day. If you have two online classes in a row, you do not need to check in with the office between classes. When you come/go, sign in/out by the lost & found in the office. If you choose to not go home, you may not linger in the building -- you must be in our classroom. You also may not leave part-way through the block or return to school more than 5 minutes before the bell.

Testing:

Tests are announced on the class schedule. The number and types of questions for each test are located on the module's page. Most tests have a free response question, but you are given 3 possible questions ahead of time to better prepare for the test (you will be randomly assigned 1 of the 3). You may not retake tests, so use the module resources to prepare ahead of time.

Honors credit

You have the option to take Statistics for honors credit. To do so, you will need to earn an additional 30 elective points per quarter. During quarter A, this means getting an early start on projects. During quarter B, this means extending your project work further and sharing a polished product.

New this year, I will pursue the possibility of adjusting the title of the course from "Statistics" to "AP Statistics" on your transcript for Statistics B (2nd/4th quarter). However, this requires approval of this course by the College Board (head of AP tests) and then follow-up discussion with the high school office. If you are interested in this, let me know, but there is no guarantee this will be possible. If it becomes a possibility, it would require that you go through a 20-day AP "boot camp" with me during 30 minute in-class sessions during quarter B. This will include taking and grading practice AP tests.

If you would like to receive college credit for statistics, you will need to take and pass the AP test. The school will pay for your testing, but I will only approve for the school to pay if you complete the required prep materials (past experience has shown a very low pass-rate for students who do not complete these and very high pass rate for students who prepped).

Quarter 1 grade breakdown:

    • 30% of the overall grade: Project work

      • Feedback

      • Surveys

      • Ultimate Frisbee

      • Cooking lab

      • Minute to Win It

    • 45% of the overall grade: Module tests

      • 1-variable core content: 6 tests

      • 2-variable core content: 4 tests

    • 25% of the overall grade: Cumulative tests

      • 1-variable final test

      • 2-variable final test

Grading scale: