How Much Reading? Every week, zero-cost readings via Canvas and lessons in class are carefully selected to ensure your learning is nurtured. The readings may be challenging, yet effective time management is part of the college experience.

How Much Weekly Work? Two assignments accompany the readings each week: Focused Notes and Practice.  

• Focused Notes are provided to help you organize your learning and to help follow along with the class meetings.  Annotation is for you to make notes, as a class, on the readings in the textbook.  As a class, you all are writing notes "in the margins" of the text to help support each other and make the textbook better. 

• Practice is exactly what it is: Practice algebra.  These are "homework" assignments.

How Many Tests? In this class, we refer to tests as assessments.   There are 2 types of Assessments:

• • A Formative Assessment is a small and simple assessment designed to measure the process of your understanding of the course content.  Feedback provides you guidance toward your summative assessments.  Formative assessments are in-class work and homework.

  • A Summative Assessment is designed to measure your application of the unit course content. There are six summative assessments: five exams and one comprehensive final exam.

What is a Mathematician Presentation? To help us all learn about the history of mathematics and meet some interesting mathematicians, you will choose a mathematician from a provided list (or you can ask to get one not on the list approved) and create a short paper, video, or Slide/PPT presentation on that mathematician's life and work. You will only do one of these during the semester, but due dates will be staggered so we have about two presentations on Canvas per week. Those of you who don't have a presentation due that week should view it and provide comments on the discussion board. 

Strict Grading? A rubric is attached to each assignment.  A rubric contain evaluative criteria, quality definitions for those criteria at particular levels of achievement, and a scoring strategy.  Reading the rubric will guide you toward your best possible outcome. Feedback will enable you to understand how to maintain your focus toward a successful outcome.  Grading is usually completed within a week.

Any Extra Credit? One opportunity for extra points on the final exam, you can attend three virtual Smart Shops for three points added to your final exam grade.  You will need to make sure you complete the survey at the end of the Smart Shop to receive credit, and include my name as the only instructor. You won't be allowed to "double-count" a Smart Shop for two or more classes.

Course Calendar - Fall 2023

Here's a general guide to the content, but it is subject to change. 

Week 1: Get up and running - learn about the course, navigate Canvas, Annotate the syllabus, try MyOpenMath Orientation; start Ch 14.

Week 2: Learn Nature of Statistics (Chapter 1), Learn Probability (Chapter 4)

Week 3: Learn Probability (Chapter 4); Learn Frequency Distributions and Graphs (Ch 2)

Week 4: Ch 2 continued

Week 5:  Review for Exam 1; Exam 1 (Ch 1, 2, 4); Project Part 1 due

Week 6: Learn Data Description (Ch 3)

Week 7: Learn Discrete Probability Distributions (Ch 5)  

Week 8: Learn Continuous Probability Distributions (Ch 6)

Week 9: Review for Exam 2; Exam 2 (Ch 3, 5, 6); Project Part 2 due

Week 10: Learn Confidence Intervals (Ch 7) 

Week 11: Ch 7/8 continued

Week 12: Hypothesis Tests (Ch 8)

Week 13: More Hypothesis Tests (Ch 9) 

Week 14:  Ch 9 Continued

Week 15: Review for Exam 3; Exam 3 (7, 8, 9); Project Part 3 due

Week 16: Linear Regression (Ch 10), Chi-Square Tests and ANOVA (Ch 11)

Week 17: Review for Final Exam

Finals Week: Project part 4 due; Final Exam (cumulative; Ch 1-11)

Media Credits: 

Course Banner: Lego Stormtrooper on a Keyboard, Photo by James Pond on Unsplash 

Bottom Quote Background: Small Plant in Can, Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash