Faculty Syllabus

Tests: There will be an exam at the end of each section and a final exam given the last two days of classes. The final will be comprehensive, covering material from the whole course. THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO MAKE IT TO AN EXAM, YOU MUST INFORM ME BEFORE THE SCHEDULED EXAM. IF

YOU DO NOT RECEIVE PRIOR APPROVAL, YOU WILL RECEIVE A ZERO FOR THAT EXAM. Cheating will not be tolerated and will result in a zero on the exam.

Exam 1: Section 1.1-1.3, 2.1-2.4

Exam 2: Section 2.5-2.6, 3.1-3.4

Exam 3: Section 4.1-4.5, 5.1, 6.1, 6.3

Exam 4: Section 4.4, 6.2, 6.4, 6.5, 7.2, 8.1, 9.1

Online WileyPlus Homework: The text is split into numerous rather short sections. We will have an online assignment from each section due at the following class meeting. These are the main assignments in which you work problems to solidify your understanding. You must keep up with these from week to week. The point of that grading method is to encourage you to not waste time being “stuck” but to write questions (and seek out answers later) and go on. There will be a 10% penalty for up to 7 days late and 20% afterward.

Written Assignment: You will be tested on your skills at writing solutions and using software to produce output that enables you to answer statistical questions. The written work assignments are practice for that testing. Written assignments will include problems that can be handwritten and problems that are best completed as a word-processing document with software screenshots and typed interpretations and conclusions. Each of these is due online through Blackboard on each class at 11:59 pm. Please submit in a pdf, jpeg, or doc. Each problem will be worth between 2 and 13 points, depending on the complexity. You will be able to learn up to over 350 points. There will be a 15% penalty for up to 36 hours late and 40% afterward.

Research Project: You will use the ACC library database to find research articles. The analysis completed on a research article will be due March 22nd. See handout.

Semester Project: There will be a comprehensive project due at the end of the semester. The project will be presented in front of the class on May 5 or May 11. Please sign up for presentation dates on Blackboard. The completed project will be due on May 13. See Project handout.

This is a First Day™ class. The cost of required course materials, including an online version of the textbook and software access, has been added to your tuition and fees bill.

Textbook: Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data, 3rd Edition by Lock, Lock, Lock Morgan, Lock, Lock. Wiley (WileyPlus software) ISBN: 9781119682288

Access to videos: of examples and explanations

Access to Statistical Applets: for students to explore the concepts

Required Technology:

Scientific calculator

Internet access to use the statistical software StatKey, the Visualize applets, and the material in WileyPlus.

Access to a webcam and microphone are required for this course. Eligible students can check out required technology at https://www.austincc.edu/students/student-technology-services

Course Description

Credit Hours: 3, Contact Hours: 3

MATH 1342 – Elementary Statistics (3-3-0). A first course in statistics for students in business; nursing; allied health; or the social, physical, or behavioral sciences; or for any student requiring knowledge of the fundamental procedures for data organization and analysis. Topics include frequency distributions, graphing, measures of location and variation, the binomial and normal distributions, z-scores, t-test, chi-square test, F-test, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, regression, and correlation.

Course Rationale

Students will learn to

Determine the aspects of a question, if any, for which statistics can provide relevant information.

Analyze statistical studies, particularly regarding appropriate sampling and experimental design.

Select and use appropriate statistical analyses to get useful information from data.

Communicate knowledge using standard statistical language and also interpret it in non-technical language.

This course meets the Core Curriculum requirement in mathematics.  It meets the requirement for an introductory statistics course for students in many majors such as business, health sciences, and social sciences.

Common Course Objectives

Interpret ideas of population versus sample, random variables, and techniques of descriptive statistics including frequency distributions, histograms, boxplots, and scatterplots. 

Calculate and interpret measures of central tendency and dispersion, including mean, median, standard deviation, and quartiles. 

Find and use empirical probabilities in bootstrap distributions to find confidence intervals and in randomization distributions to test hypotheses.

Find and use theoretical probabilities from normal, t, chi-squared and F distributions to form confidence intervals and test hypotheses. Apply the 95% rule to normal and to approximately normal distributions.

Analyze relationships between two quantitative variables using correlation and linear regression.

Analyze data presented in two-way tables to provide information about relationships between categorical variables.

Apply ideas of appropriate sampling techniques and experimental design to data production. 

Use the sampling distributions of sample proportions and sample means to answer appropriate questions. 

Estimate single means, difference of two means, single proportions and difference of two proportions using confidence intervals. Interpret the results. 

Demonstrate skills in hypothesis testing for means and proportions, for single populations and comparison of two populations. 

Demonstrate skills in hypothesis testing using chi-squared tests.

Demonstrate skills in inference for regression and ANOVA techniques.

Throughout the course, students will use statistical applets to do computations and produce graphical displays needed to analyze data.  Students will do some statistical calculations by hand with a scientific calculator.  

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, a student should be able to:

Explain the use of data collection and statistics as tools to reach reasonable conclusions.

Recognize, examine, and interpret the basic principles of describing and presenting data.

Compute and interpret empirical and theoretical probabilities using the rules of probabilities and combinatorics.

Explain the role of probability in statistics.

Examine, analyze, and compare various sampling distributions for both discrete and continuous random variables.

Describe and compute confidence intervals.

Solve linear regression and correlation problems.

Perform hypothesis testing using statistical methods.

General Education Competencies

Critical Thinking – gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and applying information - is covered in every SLO. 

Quantitative and Empirical Reasoning – applying mathematical, logical, and scientific principles and methods - is covered in every SLO.

Technology Skills- using appropriate technology to retrieve, manage, analyze, and present information - is covered in SLOs # 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Written, Oral and Visual Communication – communicating effectively, adapting to purpose, structure, audience, and medium is covered in every SLO.