MA480-QL Introduction to Statistics, Spring 2014, V01
Course ID: johnson61082
Section QL First day of class: Monday January 6, 2014
Last day of class: Friday May 18, 2014
Final Exam due date: Thursday May 24, 2014
Note that there are no actual class meetings. The course is entirely on-line with telephone and email assistance from the instructor.
Instructor Walter Johnson
Introductory Math Curriculum Director
and Statistics Course Coordinator
UAB Department of Mathematics
(205) 934-2154
Audience MA480-QL is an on-line course designed to prepare Nursing students who have undergraduate degrees for graduate-level work in Nursing.
Format The course is taught entirely on-line with email assistance from Walter Johnson, the principal instructor. It consists of on-line homework exercises, on-line quizzes, on-line tests and an on-line final exam. The quizzes, tests and final exam are time-limited. All tests are open-book.
Textbook Elementary Statistics, by Mario F. Triola, 11th edition. Reading the textbook is required. It can be read on-line, if you can deal with that format. The ISBN for the basic book is 0-321-50024-5. Be aware that there are other ISBNs for the book which vary based on the packaging of optional items. Also required is a MyStatLab access code that can be purchased directly from the publisher at www.coursecompass.com.
If you live in the Birmingham, AL area you can purchase the book shrink-wrapped with an access code in the UAB bookstore or other near-campus textbook outlets. You can find it under “MA180 Elementary Statistics” or “MA418 Elementary Statistics.” The combination package of book plus access code will usually cost you less (about $185.00).
Tear-out card The text includes a folding tear-out formula card. The card is helpful when doing homework and in taking quizzes, tests and the final exam. If you purchase a used book, be sure you are getting the folding formula card.
Deadlines There are no make-ups for missed homework, quiz, test and final exam dates. This is because the work can be done at any time prior to deadlines, and because the work should be done in advance of the deadlines. Plan your schedule accordingly. (The problem with waiting until the last day is that you may encounter a computer or network failure and it will be too late for me to intervene on your behalf.) You can work through the entire course just as quickly as you wish, and in any order you desire.
UAB email It will be necessary that you establish a BlazerID and a UAB email address. (Separate from any UABMC email address you may have.) Official course communications will be sent to that address. (They can be forwarded to another email account of your choosing.) Go to www.uab.edu/blazerid for information on establishing your BlazerID. For UAB email account assistance, send an email to , or call (205) 934-3540.
Computers The homework exercises, quizzes, tests and the final exam are done using a computer program named MyStatLab. In order to register in the MyStatLab system you will need the access code that you purchase from the publisher. Be aware that you may have to download one or more plug-ins. Instructions for downloading the plug-ins will be displayed when you access the MyStatLab site. The site for registering and for completing the coursework is www.coursecompass.com. IMPORTANT: Use your entire UAB email address as your login name. Example: . This is required in order for you to view your course grades as you go along. (Make up your own password.) Do NOT use a UABMC email address, yahoo or gmail address for your login name. The Firefox browser works best with the MyStatLab system, although others may suffice.
Homework Homework problems can be worked over and over again until they are all correct. If you exhaust all your attempts at a particular homework problem, click on similar exercise at the bottom of the problem to have the problem refreshed. Note that there are learning aids associated with each homework problem such as Help Me Solve This and Show Me An Example. Results are automatically saved. Homework does not have to be completed in a single session. The problems do not have to be done in a particular order. Click on Ask my Instructor for help with homework.
Quizzes Quizzes have five problems and are 30 minutes in length. Each quiz can be taken two times (the higher grade will count). Do not hit the BACK button on your browser when taking a quiz. This will end your quiz and you will not be able to get back into it. You are given two attempts at each quiz to account for a network outage during a quiz, hitting the BACK button by mistake, your computer going down, making careless errors, etc. Click submit when you finish a quiz.
Tests Tests and the final exam are taken one time. Again, do not hit the BACK button when taking a test. You can navigate around the test by selecting different problems or by advancing or going to the preceding problem, but not by hitting BACK. Click submit when you are finished with a quiz, test and the final exam. There will be three one-hour tests and one three-hour final exam. The final exam is comprehensive.
Calculations The STATCRUNCH program, which is included in the list of tools available at the homework website, can be used for your statistical calculations. It comes at no additional charge. The instructor can assist you in learning how to use it. Alternately you can purchase a hand-held calculator that can do one-variable and two-variable statistics. STATCRUNCH or the calculator can be used for homework, quizzes, tests and the final exam. A good calculator is the TI-84 Plus, which costs about $120.00. Generally speaking, the better the calculator the easier it will be for you to do the required calculations. As an example, the TI-83 or TI-84 Plus do twice as much work but cost two times more than some cheaper versions. Students must take individual responsibility for knowing how to operate their calculator. The instructor can assist you if you have one of the models above. Also, your textbook contains instructions for the TI-83 or TI-84 Plus at the end of each chapter.
Rounding Pay particular attention to the rounding instructions given in each problem. It is best to perform all calculations without writing down intermediate results, and then rounding at the end. If you must do intermediate rounding, be sure to retain a sufficient number of significant digits such that you have an accurate number of significant digits at the end of your calculation.
Course Grade based on points earned (not on a percentage)
Homework (8 assignments @ 25 points each) 200
Quizzes (8 quizzes @ 25 points each) 200
Three tests @ 100 points each 300
Final exam 300
Total possible points 1000
Letter Grade based on points earned Note: 749 points is a C, not a B.
880 to 1000 A
750 to 879 B
620 to 749 C
500 to 619 D
Below 500 F
Checking Grades
Go to site https://secure.cas.uab.edu/mll/db/ to view your official course grades on an ongoing basis. I will let you know when the grade site is up and running. Homework, quiz and test grades must be reviewed and validated as soon as possible after completion. For example, assignments 1, 2 and 3 should be reviewed and validated prior to Test # 1. All course work must be reviewed and validated prior to the final exam. After the final exam, no previous course work will be reviewed.
Deadline Schedule
All homework deadlines are 10:50 PM on the date specified. The Quiz, Test and Final Exam deadlines are 11:50 PM on the date specified (this means these test items must be started in advance of these deadline times). HW and Quiz due dates are on Fridays. Test due dates are Mondays. The Final Exam due date is Thursday May 24, 2014. All coursework can and should be done in advance of these due dates.
Reading in Text / HW / Due / Quiz / Due / Test / Due1.1 – 1.5 / 1 / 1/17/2014 / 1 / 1/17/2014
2.1 – 2.5 / 2 / 1/31/2014 / 2 / 1/31/2014
3.1 – 3.4 / 3 / 2/14/2014 / 3 / 2/14/2014 / 1 / 2/17/2014
4.1 – 4.4 and 5.1 – 5.2 / 4 / 2/28/2014 / 4 / 2/28/2014
6.1 – 6.3, 6.5 / 5 / 3/14/2014 / 5 / 3/14/2014 / 2 / 3/17/2014
7.1 – 7.4 / 6 / 3/28/2014 / 6 / 3/28/2014
8.1 – 8.2 Part I and 8.3 – 8.5 / 7 / 4/11/2014 / 7 / 4/11/2014 / 3 / 4/14/2014
10.1 – 10.2 / 8 / 4/18/2014 / 8 / 4/18/2014 / Final / 4/24/2014