| Topic |
Issue |
| General |
Q:
I just added the class. How can I catch up?
A:
You must read the text to catch up. That is by far the most important issue.
The book is very well written and quite suitable for self-study.
See your TA as soon as possible and make some friends among your peers.
|
| General |
Q:
I sent an email to my instructor/TA and there was no response
A:
Chances are that there is no response for the following reasons:
a. Your email's subject does not tell with sufficient clarity
what you want. We want to be able after a month to see from the subject
all correspondence related to your request without having to open your
email.
-
Bad examples:
"Math 148", "Missing Class" (when? why?),
"Missing Monday" (why?), "" (no subject!)
-
Good examples:
"Math 148: Missing class on 8/31 - Family emergency",
"Math 148: Missing class on 8/31 - Athletic competition",
"Math 148: Request makeup for exam 2"
b. Don't be cute and mask your sender's address.
If it does not show me that it comes from a @binghamton.edu address
then I consider it poisonous and won't open it,
regardless what the subject says.
c. The issue concerns your section and you did not put your
TA into the cc.
Such emails should be addressed to your TA and cc'd to me.
d. Show some respect: Chances are I am a lot older than your mom and dad
and I am not one of those cool grad students or post docs.
Please address me as Prof. Fochler, Professor, or just Prof.
Not as Mr. Fochler or by my first name.
e. You asked me something whicn is answered on this web site
in the home page, syllabus, announcements, or this Q&A page.
If I make an exception, chances are that you will see a one-liner
such as "Syllabus -- MF --".
|
| General |
Q:
I am a student with a disability/an athlete
and need special accommodations.
A:
Send me an email and bring the signed form
(athletes: your coach or team director,
Students with disabilities: see the syllabus,
"Students with disabilities" paragraph)
to me.
I'll take this form with me and will review it before I sign it.
If there are no issues I'll bring it to my next lecture
or give it to your TA if your email tells me your section.
If you have a disability, chances are that I want to talk
to you in person to understand better how I can accommodate you,
possibly in excess to what your form requests.
|
| General |
Q:
I found this cheaper version of the text: ________________.
Is that OK?.
A:
I cannot judge this.
You will run the risk that the exercises I assign as homework may
not match 100%.
You probably are OK if you have someone who does have the official
version and you can check whether the problems in question
exactly match what's in your version.
Note that fixing any issues you might run into is your responsibility.
|
| Absences |
Q:
I missed/will be missing class on --/--/----.
What did you/will you teach?
A:
a. The schedule shows you what I teach on a weekly basis as far
as the text is concerned and you should finish reading the chapter
on which I lectured before your absence,
then read the subsequent one, just in case I got ahead of schedule.
b. For the other things you may have missed:
Ask someone else who attends this class..
There are about 200 students and I expect you to form a working
relationship with at least one of them, preferably
someone in your section.
c. You can always talk to me during my scheduled office hours.
|
|
Absences |
Q:
I missed/will be missing class on --/--/----.
What about attendance?
A:
First off, I do not penalize you for not showing up,
so nothing will happen other than that you will not get
the bonus of 5 points. No exceptions to this rule!
This having been said, I generally won't take attendance immediately
before or after a recess, but I will send out an announcement to that
effect in such a case.
|
|
Absences |
Q:
What about makeup exams/quizzes/homework?
A:
Be sure to review the syllabus and what it says in the
"Attendance Policy and Make-up Policy" and "Exam dates" paragraphs.
|
|
Absences |
Q:
I will miss the next quiz/homework during discussion
since am leaving early for the xyz break.
Is there any way I could make it up?
A:
No, that is not possible. Remember though that the worst graded homework
and the worst two quizzes will be discarded.
|
| Final |
Q:
Is the Final cumulative?
A:
Definitely. Be sure in particular to review regression and probability,
two topics that are taught rather early in the semester!
|
| Final |
Q:
What chapters do we not need to worry about for the final?
A:
No decision has been made yet what material, if any,
we guarantee not to be on the final.
This will probably be decided in late October or early November
|
| Final |
Q:
What will be on the Final?
No decision has been made yet what material, if any,
will be on the final.
This will probably be decided in late October or early November
|
| Final |
Q:
How do I start preparing for the final?
A:
a. Start out by reviewing all "What have we learned?"
chapter summaries in the text.
They are short and list all newly introduced terminology.
b. Review the completely worked examples in the text book.
c. Solutions for some quizzes will be posted.
You should review those.
|
| Final |
Q:
Regarding the Finals Prep Sheet about chapter 22:
Do I need to know anything at all about the
two-sample t-test for difference between means
or can I stop after 22.5?
I am asking because the homework for chapter 23
is using the two-sample t-test.
A:
The Finals prep sheet for Spring 2019 states the following:
<<No need to know that formula about degrees of freedom
for a confidence interval or a test concerning the difference
of two means in the footnote on p.598>>
It nowhere states that you need not worry about doing a two-sample t-test
for means: if you need the dfs then they will be given to you.
|
| Exam |
Q:
... How quickly will the midterms be graded?
A:
A midterm given on a Wednesday should be recorded on BB before
the following Monday, one given on a Friday should be recorded on BB before
the following Wewdnesday.
|
| Exam |
Q:
1.Can I write on both sides of the index card?
2.Can it be anything?
A:
Yes to both questions.
|
| Exam |
Q:
What calculator do you recommend for the exams?
A:
We do not allow programmable calculators and graphing calculators
for the exams (see the syllabus).
Suggested calculators (August 24, 2016):
-
TI 30X IIS scientific calculator:
I have seen that one for less than $10.00 at Walmart.com with
no S/H cost if you pick it up in store.
-
TI BA II Plus financial calculator:
Costs a little bit more than $30.00.
This calculator has statistical functions but they won't do you
a lot of good because you are required in your exams and quizzes
to write down the actual formula with your specific data
to get credit (see next item).
|
| Exam |
Q:
You recommended the TI 30X IIS and TI BA II Plus calculators.
I bought a different one. Can I use it?
A:
A recommendation is just that. You can use a different calculator
as long as it does not have a graphical display and is not programmable
(see syllabus).
|
| Exam |
Q:
What is the format of the exams?
Will there be multiple choice and fill-in-the-blanks questions?
Must we write down formulas?
Will table lookup pages be provided or can we use
our calculator?
A:
My intent is to reward those who understand more
of the course material than those who understand less.
Everything else is a consequence of the above:
You should be able to judge which subjects are
of central importance and which are peripheral.
One item that I'll be happy to clarify:
If you are asked to compute a number such as
the standard deviation of a list of, say, 5 specific numbers,
then you must provide the formula where those numbers are plugged in.
That will get you most of the credit whereas
just writing the result (which you might have gotten
by pushing a couple of buttons on your statistics calculator)
will give you very little credit.
And, yes, you are expected to know definitions such as those
of the SD of a list (how else could you write down
the formula with the values plugged in?)
or of a histogram or of the regression line so you'll be able
to graph them in case you are asked to do so.
And yes, some questions will be multiple choice and fill-in-the-blanks.
Table-lookups:
If you need to get numbers that are associated with
the normal curve then you must do the look-ups in
the tables in the back of the book
(they will be attached to your exam) and write down those numbers,
even if they are not the final result.
That way we know that you know how to do a table look-up
without the help of a calculator.
|
| Homework |
Q:
What calculator do you recommend for doing homework?
A:
The book explains how to work certain kinds of problems with a
TI 83/84, so this would be a natural suggestion.
Note though that that kind of calculator is
not allowed for exams!. This having been said,
this instructor thinks that
a calculator is a poor substitute for a computer with a spreadsheet, or
a statistical program such as StatCrunch from the SDM website or
ActivStats from the DVD that comes with your text.
|
| Homework |
Q:
Do I have to use StatCrunch to do the graphics for my homework?
A:
No. You can do whatever is expedient, but it must look neat: Use a ruler
for straight lines and erasable pencil rather than a pen so you can correct
mistakes cleanly.
|
| Homework |
Q:
Is it possible to upload the homework earlier than Thursday evening?
A:
Unfortunately, no. I can only guarantee that, most of the time,
the homework will be available by Saturday noon, but an effort is made
to publish the homework on Thursday night whenever possible.
|
| Help |
Q:
I cannot get a tutor in my time range so I was wondering
if I could possibly meet with you and get some help?
A:
You are welcome to come to this instructor's office hours.
Remember that the Math 148 helproom (WH 236)
is open most of the time on weekdays,
probably starting with week 2 of the semester.
This is also the place where your TA holds his/her office hours:
This is noted in the
Helproom 236 schedule
.
If you look at this schedule early in the semester, be sure to check whether
it refers to the current semester and not to the last one!
You can ask anyone of the Math 148 tutors manning the
Math 148 helproom for assistance.
|
| Help |
Q:
I wasn't able to make my statistics class this morning.
Can I have a brief summary of the topics we went over today?
A:
There are more than 200 students in this class
and close to 25 or even more in your section.
At least one of them should be your best friend,
happy to let you ask them for lecture notes.
|