| 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.
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 Math147B) plus discussion section in the subject.
If you are in discussion section A04
then start the subject with "Math147B-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 discussion.
-
Also let us know in the subject what your request is about.
-
Good subject examples:
1.
"Math147B-A05: Missing class on 10/31 - Family emergency",
2.
"Math147B-A04: Missing class on 8/31 - Athletic competition",
3.
"Math147B-A01: Request makeup for exam 2"
-
Bad subject examples:
1.
"Math 147B" (sections? issue?),
2.
"Missing Class" (course? sections? when? why?),
3.
"Missing Monday" (why?),
4.
"" (no subject!)
-
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 an athlete and cannot attend due to a competition.
A:
Bring me the form from your coach or team director.
I'll review it, sign it, and give it back to you.
In addition:
Email me and your TA about a week in advance of a competition that falls on a
potential exam or quiz date!
|
| General |
Q:
I want to discuss my SSD form with you
A:
If you have such an accommodation form then I definitely want to talk
to you in person to understand better how I can accommodate you,
possibly in excess to what your form requests. Best to contact me after lecture
and we can discuss your case right away.
|
| 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.
|
| General |
Q:
Do I really need the MyStatLab access code?
A:
There is no formal requirement for you to have that access code and no homework
or quizzes or major exams will be administered via that Pearson website,
but you are expected to get your work done with or without the resources made
available there.
The biggest plus might turn out to be your ability to review the slides I use
in lecture. See the course materials page for more on that.
|
| 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, and I will send out an announcement if
I decide to make an exception to that habit.
|
|
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.
What will be on the final is usually decided about three weeks
before the date of the exam.
|
| Final |
Q:
What will be on the Final?
See the previous item.
|
| 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.
|
| 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 MyCourses before
the following Monday, one given on a Friday should be recorded on MyCourses before
the following Wednesday.
There have been instances though where more time was needed.
|
| 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 give better grades to those who understand more
of the course material.
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, Student's t, or chi-square 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.
We recommend that you spend some time familiarizing yourself with Excel and some
statistical software.
|
| 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 for you to make the homework available
earlier than Thursday evening?
A:
Unfortunately, no. I can only guarantee that, most of the time,
the homework will be available by Saturday noon.
Note though that 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
office hours.
Also keep in mind that you can attend the office hours of
anyone of the Math 147B 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:
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.
|