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Math 447 Syllabus for Section 2
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Lecture: Mon Wed Fri 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM in SL 302
General Course Info / Math 447 Section 2 Web Site:
This syllabus is only a part of an entire course website for Math 447 Section 2.
Here is the
link to the home page
of that the Math 447 Section 2 web site.
The red boxes that come next have been written according to a provided Harpur template.
they are followed by additional information that is not part of the template.
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Bulletin Course Description
(A detailed course Description can be found further down):
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Basic concepts of probability
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univariate and multivariate distributions
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distribution theory
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central limit theorem
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Student Learning Outcomes:
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By the end of this course, students should have acquired the knowledge
to attend the Math 448 course (Mathematical Statistics)
any Math 400 level course in the area of mathematics and statistics.
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Contact Hours:
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This is a 4-credit course, which means that,
in addition to the scheduled meeting times,
students are expected to do at least 9.5 hours of course-related work
outside of class each week during the semester.
This includes time spent completing assigned readings,
studying for tests and examinations, preparing written assignments,
and other course-related tasks.
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Prerequisites:
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C or better in MATH 323, or consent of instructor.
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Course Schedule:
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See the
Schedule
page of the Math 447, Section 1 website.
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Course materials:
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- This instructor's Math 447 - Lecture Notes.
We abbreviate this as MF or the MF doc.
(Required)
A downloadable PDF of this document and additional background material
can be found on the
Course material
page of the Math 447, Section 1 website.
- Mathematical Statistics with Applications,
by Wackerly, Mendenhall, and Scheaffer, 8 Ed.
We abbreviate this as WMS.
(Required!)
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Assignments:
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Exams:
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There will be three midterm exams and one final exam.
No notes, books, cell phones, or laptops are allowed for tests.
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Exam dates can be found on the course home page and schedule page.
Make all arrangements necessary to take the tests at those dates
as it is extremely unlikely that they will be changed.
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Each midterm will last 60 minutes.
Number 1 counts 100 points; number 2 and 3 count 150 points each.
Make an effort to show up 10 minutes early for those exams
so they can start on time.
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The final exam counts 300 points and it will last two hours.
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I have published the date for the final exam on my home and schedule pages.
That is for your convenience only.
You are advised to double-check with the official schedule.
Makeup Exams:
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You can request a makeup final if you have another final at the same time
(direct conflict) or you have three final exams scheduled within 24 hours.
To request a makeup final,
please contact me by email no later than Monday, Nov 25.
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Quizzes:
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There will be approximately 15 quizzes.
The three lowest scores will be discarded.
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The sum of points of the other quizzes will be scaled to 300.
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No notes, books, cell phones, or laptops are allowed.
for the major exams.
By default, neither are calculators.
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Should I allow calculators for a specific quiz (very unlikely),
then note the following:
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Calculators can have statistical functions,
but they cannot be graphing calculators,
they cannot be programmable and cannot have internet access.
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The number of quizzes depends on how well the class understands how to aaply
the definitions, main propositions and theorems.
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Additional quizzes will be given if the class needs to do better.
Quizzes will often not be announced.
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Homework:
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Homework usually will be assigned weekly,
but it will not be graded.
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Some Homework will not be graded at all,
other Homework may only have part of its problems graded.
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Rather, homework assignments or just some fragments will become part of the quizzes
and you very likely will run out of time if you did not familiarize yourself
with the homework.
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How the Assignments Determine Your Grade:
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You can earn a total of 1,000 points in this course:
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| Final Exam |
300 pts |
300 pts |
| 3 Midterm Exams |
100 + 150 + 150 pts |
400 pts |
| About n=15 Quizzes |
20 points per quiz.
The total will be scaled to 300 points (based on n-3 quizzes). |
300 pts |
| Total: |
1,000 pts |
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TENTATIVE
Grading Scale
(unlikely to be adjusted):
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850 - 899 pts → A- |
900 - 1000 pts → A |
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700 - 749 pts → B- |
750 - 799 pts → B |
800 - 849 pts → B+ |
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550 - 599 pts → C- |
600 - 649 pts → C |
650 - 699 pts → C+ |
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500 - 549 pts → D |
Below 500 pts → F |
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Detailed Course Description:
This is an undergraduate level course on probability.
I will cover the following topics:
- Foundations of a mathematical probability theory
- basic combinatorial probability
- Discrete random variables in one dimension
- Continuous random variables in one dimension
- Random variables in multiple dimensions
(needs strong background in multivariable calculus!)
- Expectations, conditioning, moment-generating functions
- Order statistics
- Convergence of random sequences and limit theorems
- Sampling models and sampling distributions
Helpful , but not required:
Basics of linear algebra:
I will treat a sample as an n-dimensional vector.
See the bottom of the
Course material
page of the Math 447 website for more.
Lectures during campus wide class cancellations:
BU admin leaves it at the discretion of the instructor whether or not
lectures will be held in case of a cancellation due to inclement weather or other
circumstances that transportation to/from campus is suspended.
My policy for this situation, should it occur, is as follows.
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I will hold lectures via Zoom.
I will create a separate session for each such meeting
and publish the link for the meeting via email.
This may happen on short notice, so check your email for an announcement
in case there is a campus wide cancellation of classes.
- I plan to record those sessions and publish the links on the course materials page.
- If a midterm or quiz was scheduled for such a date, then it will be administered
during the next in-class lecture date.
MyCourses (Brightspace):
I plan to use Brightspace as little as possible.
I will only use this software to keep track of your grades.
In particular, all written announcements will be made
on the announcement page of this course site and/or by email.
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.
Once you are registered with SSD you should approach me during office hours or after lecture
so that you and I can discuss the implementation of your accommodations.
Success:
See the
Advice
page of the Math 447 website.
Attendance Policy and Make-up Policy:
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Attendance will not be taken, but you are advised not to skip lecture:
If you cannot spare the time to go to lecture then you should
consider dropping/withdrawing from the course before
your GPA is messed up.
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There will be no make-ups for the first three missed quizzes,
since those will be discarded.
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For all subsequent exams and quizzes you miss:
Make-ups will only be given in response to an excused absence.
Excused absences include illness, religious holidays, a major tragedy in the family,
and participation in official BU athletic events.
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To be excused, absences must be properly documented.
The document should be issued to you at 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.
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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.
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When you receive a grade, whether on MyCourses or in class,
you will have one week to discuss that grade before it becomes FINAL.
ChatGPT and other Generative AI tools:
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Generative AI is a moving target,
so the following may be subject to change on short notice!
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You may use generative AI in this course.
I do not consider it an issue for the following reasons.
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All exams and quizzes are taken in class without access to the internet
and they make up 100% of the grade.
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:
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Copying another student's work
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Letting someone copy your work
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lying to or intentionally misleading an instructor
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Signing someone else's name to a document
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Homework assignments only:
only having your name on the PDF but not understanding the proofs.
To eliminate suspicion, only writing/erasing utensils will be permitted
on desks during an in-class exam.
Best wishes for a successful semester!
Michael Fochler
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