Syllabus
Exam Formula Sheet
(.ps)
Splus
MatLab| Lectures: | Tue Thu 9:10-10:25am | Physics 05 | |
| Prof: | Robert L. Wolpert | TA: | Joe Lucas |
| E-mail: | wolpert@stat.duke.edu | joe@stat.duke.edu | |
| Office: | Old Chem 211c, 684-3275 | Old Chem 211b, 684-4558 | |
| OH: | Wed 2-3pm | Tue+Thu 2:30-4:30pm | |
| Tue Thu 10:25-10:40am (in classroom) | |||
| Course: |
Syllabus |
Exam Formula Sheet
(.ps) |
|---|---|---|
| Computing: |
Splus |
MatLab |
The course text is Sheldon Ross, A First Course in Probability (6th edn). All class materials are distributed on-line via the web; for example, you will be able to view homework assignments (and sometimes class notes) on the Syllabus.
The only way to be sure you're learning the course material is to solve problems (or, as Sophocles put it, One must learn by doing the thing; for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try.) Ten weekly problem sets are assigned through the on-line syllabus. Homeworks are collected at class each Thursday, and are (usually) returned the following Tuesday class after which solutions will be posted on the web. Late homeworks are accepted with a penalty of about 10% per day, up until the solutions are posted. Lateness penalties are waived for students with a Dean's Excuse, and for all students the lowest homework score will be dropped.
You may work with other students on the homework problems, but your final answers should be written up independently: copying homework solutions is not allowed. You are encouraged to ask the professor and the TA for help on your homework (in person or by e-mail), after you have tried to solve the problems on your own. Questions about homework scores should first be addressed to the TA.
HELP is available! The TA and I both have office-hours (see above); in addition, Duke Statistics maintains an open Help Session every Sun-Fri in the Statistical Education and Consulting Center (detailed times and staffing are listed on the SECC website), located in room 211b Old Chem, where a statistics graduate student will be happy to help you. There may also be grad students from other departments, helping students in the introductory statistics courses--- be sure to find an Duke Statistics grad student (our own TA, Joe, will be there every Tuesday and Thursday, for example).
Some homework assignments will have a computing component. You may use whaterver computing environment you prefer; good choices include MatLab, R, S-Plus, C, Mathematica, or Maple (all of these will become tools you can use in later work, making them preferable to spreadsheets like Excel, old-fashioned statistics environments like SAS or SPSS, introductory languages like BASIC or Pascal). If you are undecided I would recommend Matlab or R or S-Plus, for which you can get help from your instructors and can find a free primer or notes on the web. A Duke site license allows students in statistics courses (like this one!) to get a free copy of S-Plus for use on their home computers. There is also an open-source work-alike called R which is in some ways superior to the commercial products, and is of course free.
In each week's lectures I will try to help clear up topics that many find difficult, and will try to illustrate tough (or fun) ideas with interesting examples. I can not cover every important topic in class, however, there just isn't enough time. The syllabus lists reading assignments each week (it's just the textbook chapter preceeding the next week's homework problems); you are responsible for learning the material from any combination of the text, problems, and lectures. Please ask questions in class or office-hours or by e-mail if you are struggling (or just curious) about topics from that week's readings.
On some Tuesdays we will have in-class quizzes on the previous week's material, to help you judge your progress and to help me set the course pace. Missed quizzes are not made up; it's impossible to do so in a fair way, because quizzes are so tightly tied to the material for that week that it would be unfair to the class to let a student take it late, and unfair to the student to ask him or her to take it before the material has been presented. Instead, I will drop each student's lowest five quizzes, so everyone is welcome to miss about half the quizzes for any reason whatever-- a team athletic trip, a religious holiday, an illness, etc. Thus no make-up quizzes are allowed for any reason. Quizzes are open-book and open-note, and you may use a calculator if you wish, but (of course) collaboration is not permitted. Past quizzes will be added to the syllabus web page.
In-class Midterm Exams and Final Exam are closed-book and closed-notes with a formula sheet permitted (one-sided, 8½"×11" for each midterm, and two-sided, 8½"×11" for the final). You should bring to each exam a calculator capable of computing exponentials, powers, and factorials. Any questions regarding exam grades should be taken up with the professor. Tests from recent STA104 offerings are available to help you know what to expect and to help you prepare for this year's tests:
| Fall 1999: | Midterm (pdf) | Final Exam (pdf) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2000: | 1st Midterm (pdf) | 2nd Midterm (pdf) | Final Exam (pdf) | ||||
Course grades are based on two in-class Midterm Exams (20% each), your best five of the ten in-class Quizzes (5% total), ten weekly Homework assignments (20% total), and a cumulative Final Exam (35%). Lowest homework and lowest five quizzes are dropped, but missed quizzes and homework receive zero scores. Late homeworks are penalized. Histograms and summary statistics of midterm and final exam grades will be added to the syllabus web page. Each student's current average and course grade are available from the instructor at any time.
Cheating on quizzes or exams, plagiarism on homeworks and projects, lying about an illness or absence and other forms of academic dishonesty are a breach of trust with classmates and faculty, and will not be tolerated. They also violate Duke's Community Standard and will be referred to the Undergraduate Judicial Board (UJB).
Students who miss tests or assignments due to family tragedy, religious holiday observance, varsity athletic trip or class field trip, etc., or who have three examinations scheduled within 24 hours, may be eligible for a Dean's Excuse; check with your academic dean for details. No excuse is needed simply for missing class, only for missed assignments and examinations. Duke no longer issues Dean's Excuses for short-term illness; if you are too ill to complete an assignment or attend an examination, inform your instructor as soon as possible and make arrangements to make up the missed work. Note that the Community Standard sanctions apply for abuse of this procedure.