Online Statistics (Math 16) Information

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Math 16 Online Elementary Statistics (Section )

Spring 2012 :

Mandatory Orientation: Saturday January 28 from 10am - 12, Room PS 103

Please email me as soon as you sign up for this course!! Be sure MPC has your correct email address - an information letter will be sent a few weeks before the orientation date.

Exams:
All exams are on Saturdays from 10 - 12 noon in PS 103.

Statistics is the critical thinking course for quantitative information. No one can make sense of numerical reports (e.g., about health risks, pre-election polls, global warming) without an intuitive or educated sense of statistical processes. Statistical understanding is your best defense against those who try to manipulate numbers (and you) to support their causes.

The course introduces you to data exploration, research design, data production, and inferential statistics. Data exploration involves shape, center, spread, and relationships (including regression). Statistical inference includes estimation, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing.

Course Materials

The hardcopy of the textbook can be found used online.

Students must have access to a reliable computer and be familiar with using the Internet.

The prerequisite for this course is Math 263, Intermediate Algebra. You may take Math 16 if you meet any of the following:

• You have passed Math 263 at MPC
• You have passed the equivalent of Math 263 at another college,
• You have a qualifying math assessment  score.

You must get your prerequisites cleared by a counselor here at MPC before you will be allowed to enroll in the course.

Taking an Online Math Course

If you meet the prerequisite, you can succeed in this class. And stats online is right for you if you work at it a bit every day, rather than one mega-day every week or two. Statistics is like a foreign language you can't learn to speak it unless you use it every day. It's true that you can go a while without having to demonstrate any progress in the class. But waiting until the last day to tackle three chapters and 93 homework problems is not a recipe for success.

An online class is right for you IF you are motivated and self-disciplined, have good study habits and work well without supervision, are a self-starter and a good reader, and communicate frequently with your instructor. That last point may surprise you, but experience shows that students who have regular and frequent e-mail contact with their instructor are more likely to succeed.

You can pass this course. But you are not likely to pass if you make the following choices:

• Reading and studying in a cursory rather than careful manner
• Taking too many units relative to your work and family obligations
• Working too many hours relative to your college and family obligations
• Not asking for help (from your instructor and statistics tutors) when you are confused
• Not learning how to use your calculator early in the term
• Not having a reliable computer, printer, and internet access
• Not finishing homework assignments
• Not studying homework answers and comparing them to your own work to observe your misunderstandings
• Not working with your instructor and statistics tutors to erase your misunderstandings

If you anticipate that these choices will apply to you this semester, don't take online statistics. You need the discipline of a regular on-campus in-person math class.

Student Learning Outcome

By the end of the course, your success will be clearly demonstrated by the following skills:

1.    Describe and represent data graphically and numerically.

2.    Demonstrate a basic knowledge of probability theory, identify and calculate probabilities using discrete and continuous distributions.

3.    Make inferences about population parameters based on sample statistics.

Notes

A detailed syllabus will be posted inside the course website.

Accommodations are provided to ensure equal opportunity for students with verified disabilities. Go to my MPC Homepage to review my office hours, then correspond with me, include a verification of your disability and a counselor's or specialist's recommendation for accommodating your needs.