| Topic |
Issue |
| COVID |
Q:
I am registered in your Math 148 class as a Fully Online student,
yet I'm scheduled for in person classes on Wednesday.
Do I need to attend those Wednesday classes in person?
A:
Nobody has to show up in class since everything will be streamed online
(and recorded).
|
| 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.
Communicate with your TA as soon as possible
and make some friends among your peers.
|
| General |
Q:
How should I design my emails to get a prompt response from
my instructor and TA?
A:
There is about 200 of you and only one of me,
thus I do not have the time, e.g., to look up who your TA might be
in case I need her/his input.
Here are some guidelines:
-
It will help greatly if you put your course
(I do not only teach Math148) plus
lecture and discussion section in the subject.
If you are in lecture section A2 and discussion section A04
then start the subject with "Math148-A2-A04".
That also is a convenience for you since you need not explain
who your TA is,
and what day of the week you attend lecture/discussion in class.
-
Also let us know in the subject what your request is about.
-
Good subject examples:
1.
"Math148-A1-A05: Missing class on 10/31 - Family emergency",
2.
"Math148-A4-A04: Missing class on 8/31 - Athletic competition",
3.
"Math148-A2-A01: Request makeup for exam 2"
-
Bad subject examples:
1.
"Math 148" (sections? issue?),
1.
"Missing Class" (course? sections? when? why?),
1.
"Missing Monday" (why?), "" (no subject!)
-
If you are one of the rather few fully online students and that has
a bearing on your request then do not forget to mention that.
-
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.
-
Don't ask me something which 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 sent an email to my instructor/TA and there was no response
A:
Chances are that there is no response because you did not reasonably
well follow the instructions given in the previous Q/A item.
For example:
-
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.
-
You wanted to be cute and masked your sender's address.
If I cannot see that your email comes from a @binghamton.edu address
then I consider it poisonous and won't open it,
regardless what the subject says
-
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.
|
| General |
Q:
I am a student with a disability/an athlete
and need special accommodations.
A:
Email me the form.
If you are an athlete then it must be signed by your coach or team director.
I'll review it, sign it, and email it back to you.
I addition:
Email me and your TA about a week in advance of a competition that falls on a
potential exam or quiz date!
If you have a disability, chances are that I want to talk
to you in person (Zoom) 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.
-
If you buy the book from the BU book store then you are guaranteed
to get the access code for the DVB (MyStatLab) website,
if you buy it used then you are guaranteed NOT to get that access code,
If you buy the book new but from an outside channel then I
cannot predict what your situation will be.
|
| Absences |
Q:
I missed/will be missing class on --/--/----.
What did you/will you teach?
A:
There will be Zoom recordings (links on the Course material page)
of all lectures.
|
|
Absences |
Q:
I missed/will be missing class on --/--/----.
What about attendance?
A:
Not an issue for lectures, since I do not take attendance.
Not an issue for discussion either since quizzes will be announced.
|
|
Absences |
Q:
What about makeup exams/quizzes/homework?
A:
Be sure to review the syllabus concerning those topics.
|
|
Absences |
Q:
I will miss the next quiz
since am leaving early for the xyz break and will be in transit
during quiz time.
Is there any way I could make it up?
A:
Leaving early for your break is not a valid reason for missing
any class related activities.
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.
But you will find the items from the previous semester in this
Finals prep sheet.
You can also find this link on the Course material page.
|
| Final |
Q:
What will be on the Final?
No decision has been made yet what material, if any,
we guarantee not to be on the final.
This will usually be decided about four weeks before the date of the final exam.
Again, you will find the items from the previous semester in this
Finals prep sheet.
|
| 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 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 do I prepare for the major exams?
A:
The worst you can do is work on problems
for which you do not know the correct solution.
What you should do instead:
-
Work through the examples in the text which come with detailed
solutions closed book.
If you get stuck then read enough to get past that hurdle.
Once you are done then you compare how you did it with how they did it.
-
In the 'Review of Terms' sections at the end of each chapter you
cover the terms on the left and try to figure them out from the
descriptions on the right.
For the important terms you should also do that in reverse.
|
| 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 Wednesday.
There have been instances though where more time was needed.
|
| Exam |
Q:
What calculator do you recommend for the exams?
A:
We do not make any restrictions concerning calculators
for the (online!) exams.
|
| 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.
In many problems you will be asked to compute a result.
We will very likely ask you to check one of usually eight(!)
answers which are sufficiently different so that you will not select the
wrong answer due to a rounding error.
And yes, some questions will be true/false, multiple choice,
and fill-in-the-blanks.
|
| 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.
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 talk to my TA during her/his office hours, 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 (Zoom) office hours.
Also keep in mind that you can attend the office hours of
anyone of the Math 148 tutors if you need 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:
You will find a link to the recorded session on the Course material page.
|