Math 309 Mathematical Statistics

Welcome!

Welcome to Math 309 - Mathematical Statistics at Albion College. This site has all the class information that you need to be successful. Here you will find the class schedule; class policies; homework, quiz, and exam details; and various opportunities for help & support. In addition, student rights, access, accomodation, and related information can be found here.

Who, What, When, Where?

Course Policies

• Device Etiquette: Using devices during class time for non-class activities (i.e., YouTube, Twitch, Tik-Tok, gaming, etc.) is prohibited. Professional and courteous behavior is demonstrated by turning off distractions and focusing on class. We owe this to each other.


• Email/Writing Expectations: All correspondences to me should be courteous and professional, following standard rules of grammar. One way to guarantee that you don't get a response from me is to send an email that opens with "Hey how do i do problem X". You will get a helpful response if you write "Hi Professor Mason, I am working on problem X and I am stuck. I don't understand how to find the standard deviation. Thank you, Student Name". Regardless of your career path, professional correspondence is a necessity. If not already present, it is a good habit to aquire at this stage of your life.


• Intellectual Property: As members of a learning community, students are expected to respect the intellectual property of course instructors.  All course materials presented to students are the copyrighted property of the course instructor and/or the associated text.



• AI Use: This course requires you to complete various assignments that assess your understanding and application of the course content. You are expected to do your own work and cite any sources you use properly. You are not allowed to use any artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as chatbots, text generators, paraphrasers, summarizers, or solvers, to complete any part of your assignments. Any attempt to use these tools will be considered academic misconduct and will be dealt with according to the college’s academic integrity policy. Students are expected to complete all work independently and without the assistance of AI-generated content. If you have any questions about what constitutes acceptable use of AI tools, please consult with the instructor before submitting your work.



• Social Media Guideline: Unless explicitly given permission by the instructor, students may not record any classroom activities. This includes posting anything from class to Tik-Tok, Snapchat, YouTube, Kik, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Doing so is a violation of the privacy expectation of your fellow students and the instructor. Any student violating this policy may face academic disciplinary sanctions.


• Attendance and Participation:
  
  
  • Daily attendance and participation in class is required and is worth 5% of your final grade.  Coming to class for the time we will meet counts as part of your attendance. If you do not come to class you will not receive attendance points for that day. NOTE: If you are late to class (within reason), you will still earn your attendance score, provided you tell me that day that you arrived late! So don't blow off class!
  • Attendance for quizzes and examinations is required. Legitimate reasons to miss an examination include a  family emergencies (i.e., a death, hardship, car accident, etc.), student illness with a written excuse from a medical professional / appropriate college official, or a college sanctioned event (e.g. class field trip or athletic events).    Students who do miss an exam due to an excused absence must make arrangements as soon as possible to make up the missed work.  If you know in advance that you will be gone, you need to make arrangements with Dr. Mason before the date of the examination in question.
  • Participation requires coming to class ready to learn.   This includes reading the material being covered in class before coming to class. If you must miss class, then get a copy of a fellow student's notes as soon as possible. Read those notes as you are responsible for all content in the class, even if you are absent.
  • The Albion College policy on attendance is at the bottom of page 23 in the student handbook.


• Time Commitment OUTSIDE of class: Anywhere from 0 hours to 4+ hours per day of classroom instruction.  Typical time commitments that correlate with success in this course is 1-3 hours/day, at least five days per week.  Precisely how much time you will need to spend studying outside of class is based on, at least, how well you are prepared mathematically and the grade you want to earn in the class. Preparation for exams will add to the time you need outside of class.   Your mileage may vary.  

• Homework: Homework problems are assigned in the schedule portion of this website. Most homework will consist of using the online homework system, with the remainder consisting of computation problems that can be solved using Python, R, or Mathematica. Homework is worth 25% of your grade. See the homework section for more detail.

• Quizzes: There will be five quizzes during the semester and only the top four quiz scores will count. Therefore, each quiz is worth 5% of your final grade for the course so that quizzes account for 20% of your final grade. If you miss a quiz for illness or any other reason, that will have to be the quiz that doesn't count (so don't waste a quiz by skipping class). All quizzes are closed book and closed notes. An authorized calculator is allowed. More information is available in the quiz section of the website.
  

• Examinations: There will be two exams during the semester. Your lowest scoring exam is worth 10% of your final grade and the highest scoring exam is worth 20%. Therefore, both exams are worth 30% of your final grade for the course. Each examination is closed book and closed notes. However, you can use an authorized calculator. More information is available in the exam section of the website.

• Final Exam: The final examination for this class will be at 03:00PM - 05:00PM on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. The test is cumulative and accounts for 25% of your final grade.

• Grading: The following table provides the basic partition of points for this class:
  
  

  Evaluation	Attendance	Homework	Quizzes	Exams	Final Exam
  Weight	5%	20%	20%	30%	25%

  
  

  • Using the above table as a guide, here are step-by-step instructions on how to compute a "ball-park" estimate of your grade.  First, let your average percentage score be A for attendance, H for your homework, Q your weighted quiz score, S your weighted exam score, and F the score on your final project, with each corresponding to a number between 0 and 1.  Your total raw score R in the class is then determined by the equation R = 0.05A + 0.20H + 0.20Q + 0.30S + 0.25F. The maximum possible value for R is 1.0; the minimum possible value for R is 0.0.  Then, your grade in the class will be calculated according to the following rubric.

    
    

    If R ≥	0.90	0.85	0.80	0.75	0.70	0.65	0.60
    Your grade is ≥	4.0	3.5	3.0	2.5	2.0	1.5	1.0

    
    




• Important Dates:
  
  

  Event	Date
  Last Day to Drop/Add	Wednesday, September 04
  Last Day to Withdraw (W)	Monday, November 04
  Last Day to Register for CR/NC option	Friday, December 06




• Ethics: As an academic community, Albion College is firmly committed to honor and integrity in the pursuit of knowledge. Therefore, as a member of this academic community, each student acknowledges responsibility for his or her actions and commits to the highest standards of integrity. In doing so, each student makes a covenant with the college not to engage in any form of academic dishonesty, fraud, cheating, or theft.
  
  
  • For detailed information on the expectations of academic honesty by Albion College, please look here.
  • Violation of this policy will be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by the College.
  • Documented cases in this class will, at a minimum, result in a ZERO on the corresponding assignment as well as a 10% reduction in your final grade. So be sure to NOT violate the copying policy discussed above.

• Reporting Discriminatory Harassment: Albion College seeks to create a welcoming environment in which all students can learn, but we recognize that harassment may still occur. If a student experiences harassment or discriminatory treatment, there are several ways they can report it. For details, please use this reporting form.

• Bias Reporting: In line with our commitment to fostering a culture of belonging on campus, we have created a bias reporting system for use by all members of our community. This tool allows students, faculty, and staff to report individual incidents of bias on or off campus and serves as a mechanism to help us address systemic issues of bias more broadly.

• Title IX Office and Resources for Survivors of Sex-Based-Discrimination and Harassment: Albion College is committed to providing an educational environment where we are all able to learn, teach, and work freely and where the dignity, safety, and self-respect of all members of our community are protected. Sex-based discrimination, Sex-based harassment, Sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking are incompatible with this mission and will not be tolerated at Albion College.
  
  On-campus confidential resources for victims/survivors of sexual assault include Lisa Winchell-Caldwell, Director of the Center for Gender Equity/Victim Advocate (517-629-0613) and Counseling Services (517-629-0236). More information can be found here.
  
  Beyond campus, Sexual Assault Services of Calhoun County, Bronson Health (888-383-2192) provides 24/7 resources for survivors. For additional information about resources on and off campus, visit here.
  
  If you have been the victim of sex-based discrimination, sex-based harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, or sexual assault, please contact the College’s Title IX Coordinator, Kelly Finn (titleix@albion.edu).

• Cutler Center Information: The Cutler Center for Student Success is located in the Stockwell Library. The Cutler Center provides a number of services to support student success and serves as a one-stop hub connecting students to resources across campus. Through the Cutler Center, students access peer tutoring and writing consulting, accessibility services and accommodations, the TRIO SSS program and other services. To connect with the Cutler Center, please email us at cutler@albion.edu or stop by to be connected to the resources you need to be successful this term.

• Accessibility Services: It is the policy of Albion College to accommodate students with disabilities and qualifying diagnosed conditions in accordance with federal and state laws. Any student who feels that they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a learning, psychiatric, physical, or chronic health diagnosis, should contact Accessibility Services Director, Elizabeth Rudolph (erudolph@albion.edu), to meet and develop a plan for reasonable accommodation(s) based on supporting documentation.
  
  If you have completed this process and requested accommodations for this semester, plan to meet with Elizabeth as early as possible to discuss a plan for implementing these modifications in this class. It is best to schedule these meetings at least one week prior to their implementation.
  
  Accessibility Services is housed in the Cutler Center on the first floor of the Stockwell Library and is open Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm. Elizabeth Rudolph, the Director for Accessibility Services can be reached at 517-629-0628 or email erudolph@albion.edu for more information.

Class Schedule

This is a tentative schedule of what we will be covering in Math 351H this semester. In the case of unforeseen delays or modifications to our daily life, its subject to change.

Online Homework

The online homework system MyStatLab is where you can

• Complete your required homework assignments.
• Self-test & work-through practice exercises with step-by-step help to improve your math skills.
• Study more efficiently with a personalized study plan and exercises that match your book.
• Get help when YOU need it. MyStatLab includes multimedia learning aids, videos, animations, and live tutorial help.

To register for MyStatLab (MSL) you need:

• A MyMathLab student access code (packaged with your new text, standalone at the bookstore, or available for purchase with a major credit card at www.pearsonmylab.com). NOTE: There is a 14-day free trial so you can get signed up and working immediately!
• The Course ID for this section: mason06776.
• A valid email address.
• A PDF "getting started" guide is available here.

Homework Hints/Guidelines

• For most problems, you have three chances to give the correct answer before the problem is marked wrong.
• For help, most MSL problems provide you with solved examples of the same type, hints, and the Ask The Instructor option, which allows you to ask me a question about a problem within the software.
• You can also email Dr. Mason directly to get help, usually within a day (if not sooner).
• For most homework assignments, you are allowed to submit answers up to FOUR days late. The late penalty is 20% per day ONLY on late problems (not the entire assignment). Always try to complete homework assignments, even if some of the problems are not finished on time.

Getting Technical Help

• If you need help, contact Pearson Technical Support at www.mymathlab.com/student-support for live chat, email, or phone support.
• If that Pearson Technical Suport is not helpful, please contact me ASAP and I will help you.

Quizzes

There are five quizes during the semester, listed in the below table along with practice quizzes and solutions. With the exception of the last quiz - which takes place at the beginning of class on MONDAY, all quizzes take place at the beginning of class on FRIDAY.

Grading Note: The semeseter quizzes count for 20% of your final grade, with your lowest score being dropped. Hence, each counted quiz is worth approximately 5% of your final grade.