COVID-19:

There is relatively little to say since for almost all of you this is not your first semester at BU during the COVID pandemic.

Course Description:

This course aims at exploring basic statistics concepts, including sampling, probability, binomial distribution, normal distribution, sample average, sample standard deviation, confidence intervals, tests of statistical hypotheses. Understanding statistics as a powerful tool for analyzing data will be achieved through examination of various examples. We will cover the majority of parts I through VI (ch. 1 - 25) in the textbook (De Veaux/Velleman/Bock: Stats - Data & Models, 4th edition) and also, time permittting, ANOVA (ch.26) and multiple regression (ch.28). We will focus on numerous examples on our way to understanding how statistics is a powerful tool for analyzing data. Although tailored for biology students, this course will not particularly focus on examples drawn from medicine and biology. Rather, we assume the following: You are accustomed to dealing with formulas, You do not need any remedial algebra. Knowledge of calculus is not assumed but you should be familiar with summation notation and indexed variables such as a4 and xn. Accordingly you should not have any problems with formulas such as   Σxk . The first homework assignment has already been posted on the Homework page of this web site. It asks you to read a couple of web links which teach you the mathematical prerequisites for this course. Check them out NOW!    You should follow the advice just given since I personally do not check for any prerequisites such as Math 107. If the system lets you register for this course then you are registered. Note though that if your lack of mathematical understanding results in a bad grade then there is nothing I can do for you. If the system keeps you out since it enforces prerequisites then you have to talk to the Math admins in the WH building or to your student adviser. I do not handle such matters.

General Course Info / Math 148 web site:

This syllabus is part of the instructor's website for Math 148. You can link to its home page from the instructor's web page of the BU Math department's website. Here is a direct link .

Discussion Section Info:

A schedule for the discussion sections can be found on the Math 148 home page . TA's office hours will be held online via Zoom webconferencing.

Prerequisites:    

Major in biology or a related field. As stated above we do not enforce any prerequisites but we take it for granted that you are comfortable with material from the hard sciences. You should be comfortable with formulas if they are used instead of verbal descriptions: The course is not a mathematical statistics, and knowledge of calculus is not assumed. However, formulas will be used in lecture to a larger extent than in the text. You may have problems following the material if you are not to some degree quantitatively oriented.

Textbook:    

Stats - Data & Models (4th edition) by De Veaux, Velleman and Bock (REQUIRED).
ISBN: 0134243900 (three hole bound version with MyStatLab). Most of the homework will be chosen from this book and only references to the problems are given. If you do not obtain your book from the BU bookstore then there is a possibility that your copy is not in sync with the official version and it is your responsibily to ensure that you work on the correct problem. We refer to this book simply as "SDM" (abbreviation for "Stats: Data & Models") or as "DVB" (the initials of the authors).

SDM Website:    

The text comes with a DVD and an access code that allows you to register to Math 148 on the Pearson (the publisher) website. We also refer to this site as the DVB website or the MyStatLab website. I created on that website a course with the following attributes:

1. Course name: Math 148 Intro to BioStats - Spring 2021
2. Course ID: fochler54150

The instructions for registering with Pearson are found on the Course material tab of this website. The direct link for those instructions is here. If you review those instructions then you see that you need to provide the course ID (fochler54150) to access the site.

Strictly speaking, you do not need to visit the SDM website to pass the course, because it is only used to provide optional homework which will not be graded. Nevertheless there are good reasons why you should familiarize yourself with it.

• If you do not understand the material, these optional practice problems come with some online guidance on solving them.
• The "regular" homework problems (the ones assigned weekly on the Homework page of this site that you must turn in during discussions) are kept computationally very simple so that you can do them with a simple calculator and some lookup tables whereas the optional problems might be more real-world like and solving them is done best with some statistics software. The SDM website allows you to import your data into ...
• ... StatCrunch, an online package for statistics problems which you can run from the SDM website.
• The book gives instructions on how to accomplish certain tasks with Excel, DataDesk (on your DVD) and other software. They are found in the "On the Computer ..." sections of each chapter, just before the exercises.
• It also explains in those sections how to use a TI-83 or TI-84 calculator for this purpose.
• This class is "technology neutral" We do not mandate any specific technology, and it is up to you to use whatever you feel comfortable with. You are strongly encouraged to check out the DVD that comes with the book and install the software (Windows and Macintosh versions) on your laptop.

Math 148 does not have the TA resources to teach you how to use StatCrunch or the programs you can install from your DVD (DataDesk is among them). Accordingly you have to figure out these things on your own. I have instructed my TAs to help you during their office hours with software related problems.

Blackboard:

Grades will be recorded in the Blackboard online gradebook. Stay on top of your grades! If your grade is incorrect you must contact your teaching assistant for a correction immediately. Grades will not be corrected more than one week after their posting date except in case of a prolonged and excused absence, e.g., a hospital stay. Visit Blackboard frequently!

Lectures:

• The lectures provide the main presentation of course material. I will follow as closely as possible the week-by-week schedule published on this website.
• Attendance in lecture is not required.
• You are responsible for learning lecture material missed due to an absence. This should be easy since I will record all my lectures and make those recordings available on the Course Materials page of this website.

Discussion Sections:

• Each one of you is assigned a discussion section, which meets once a week on either Tuesday or Thursday.
• These sections are a valuable opportunity for open discussion of the lecture material and assigned problems in a smaller class setting.

The first discussion sections take place on Thursday, February 11.

Attendance in discussion, be it in the class room or online, is required; a significant portion of the points that determine your grade in the course is earned in your discussion class. More importantly, if you skip discussion then you will perform significantly below your potential when taking the exams and those count for 75% of the grade. Note that one period per week is generally not adequate to answer all questions. Be sure to take advantage of the opportunities outside of class for additional help.

Your main resource person is your teaching assistant. S/he is available during office hours (or by appointment) to answer your questions about the course material. Your TA is responsible for recording all quiz, homework, and exam scores. If you have concerns about your discussion session which cannot be handled by your TA or the head TA, contact the lecturer, Dr. Fochler. As mentioned above, you should check the course website and Blackboard regularly and consult with your TA if you have any questions about recorded grades.

Record Keeping:

You must retain all returned files and papers in case of any discrepancy with your course grade. We cannot correct mistakes in grading or recording of scores without the original document. We will not review disputed points after the final. All grading issues must be settled within one week of the publishing of the grade.

Transfer to another section:

If you want to transfer from a section to a different one then you must talk not only to me but also to BOTH TAs involved. If we can satisfy your request (this may not be possible) then your Blackboard grades must be manually transferred from the old section to the new one, and it is your responsibility to check that your grades are in fact visible in the new section!

Exams:

There will be three midterm exams and one final exam. Each midterm exam will be worth 150 points and the final exam will be worth 300 points.

All exams will be given online and they will be open book. Thus there are no restrictions on index cards, calculators, and the like. The exams will be given via Blackboard or another online method. Details are still to be determined.

Exam Dates and times can be found on the Math 147 Home Page. Make all arrangements necessary to take the tests at the dates you see listed there. Those times and dates are non-negotiable.

Final exam and final exam makeup:

The final exam will be comprehensive and you must take it at the scheduled time. You can request the makeup final only if you have another final at the same time (direct conflict), or if you have three final exams scheduled within 24 hours. If you want to request to take the alternate final then you must do so no later than Monday, May 2, in writing: Send an email to me and to your TA. If you cannot take either the final exam or the makeup for the final at its specified time then the only other option will be an incomplete which might require you to retake the final exam with an instructor who will choose a different text.

Students With Disabilities:

Students requesting disability-related accommodations should register with the Services for Students with Disabilities office (SSD). They are the appropriate entity on campus to determine and authorize disability-related accommodations. For more info please click here. If you are already registered with SSD you should send me asap an email. Please attach your SSD letter. You should approach me during office hours or after lecture so that you and I can discuss the implementation of your accommodations.

Quizzes:

There will be as many as 12 quizzes, each worth 15 points. Quizzes are administered online. They will be given in your discussion section.

The lowest 2 quizzes will be dropped. No make-ups will be given unless a student has more excused absences than dropped quizzes.

Homework:

Homework will be assigned weekly and a list can be found on the Homework page of the course website. You must turn in your assignment online.

Only five of those homework assignments will be selected for grading: Your TA will grade some or all of the problems of those selected assignments and you can earn up to 25 points for each graded assignment.

The lowest homework will be dropped. No make-ups will be given unless a student has more excused absences than dropped homework assignments.

Late Adds to the Course:

If you were added late to the course and you missed quiz 1 and/or quiz 2 and/or the first graded homework for that reason then quiz 3 will also count for quiz 1, quiz 4 will also count for quiz 2, and the second graded homework will also count for the first.

Your Grade:

You can earn a total of 1,000 points in this course:

TENTATIVE grading scale:

Attendance Policy and Make-up Policy:

• Attendance will not be taken. Even the in class lectures will be recorded, and links to those recordings will be posted on the Course Material page of the course website. You are advised not to skip lecture or the recordings. If you cannot spare the time to go to lecture or view the recordings then you should consider dropping/withdrawing from the course before your GPA is messed up.
• Make-up exams and quizzes will only be given in response to an excused absence. Excused absences include illness, religious holiday, a major tragedy in the family and participation in official BU athletic events.
• To be excused, absences must be properly documented. The document must cover the day of the test. The makeup will be scheduled within 3 or 4 days after the missed exam. You must request a make-up in writing by sending an email.
• The rules for Doctor's notes have changed since the start of the pandemic: As of the time of this writing (December 3, 2020), If you are ill then you no longer need to provide a Doctor's note. To avoid abuse, I will make the makeup quiz/exam slightly harder than the original.
• If the Dean's Office should decide that instructors can/should request proof for an absence due to illness then I will change the above policy for Doctor's notes accordingly.
• Except in very exceptional circumstances such as a prolongued illness, you will NOT be given the opportunity to complete old assignments at the end of the semester to improve your grades. When you receive a grade, whether on Blackboard or in class, you will have one week to discuss that grade before it becomes FINAL.

Success:

Success in this course depends largely on your attitude and effort. Attendance and participation in class is critical. It is not effective to sit and copy notes without following the thought processes involved in the lecture. For example, you should try to answer the questions posed by your lecturer. Students who do not actively participate have much more difficulty. However, be aware that much of the learning of mathematics at the university takes place outside of the classroom. You need to spend time reviewing the concepts of each lecture before you attempt homework problems. It is also important to look over the textbook sections to be covered in the next lecture to become familiar with the vocabulary and main ideas before class. That way you will be much more apt to grasp the material presented by your lecturer. As with most college courses, you should expect to spend a minimum of 2 hours working on your own for every hour of classroom instruction (at least 6 hours per week). It can also be very helpful to study with a group. This type of cooperative learning is encouraged, but be sure it leads to a better conceptual understanding. You must be able to work through the problems on your own. Even if you work together, each student must turn in his or her own work, not a copied solution, on any collected individual assignment.

Academic Honesty:

Incidents of academic dishonesty will be dealt with severely. There is precedent for giving an "F" for the course to a student who attempts to advance his/her grade illegally.

Dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:

• Copying another student's work
• Letting someone copy your work
• lying to or intentionally misleading an instructor
• Signing someone else's name to a document
• Homework assignments only: only having your name on the PDF but not understanding the proofs.
• I will make spot checks (one-on-one ZOOM interviews) for exams, quizzes and homework to ascertain that the student did not get to the correct answers on her/his own.

Best wishes for a successful semester!

Michael Fochler