Home

Statistics II
MTH242.001A.11811 Spring 2012
Tuesday 1930-2210 AE208

This page can change thru the first day of class.

Course description

Syllabus (on Blackboard, available first day of class)

Lesson Plan (available first day of class)

Shared links for all courses (includes information on calculators and self-study resources)

Course text website (click 8th Edition image and then the Student Edition link)

• Data files (in diverse formats) used in the text can be downloaded by those who want to avoid manual entry
   
• From the drop-down menu, choose a chapter and then click an item to display the chosen section's
   
  • Step-by-step solutions to problems found in the book (eProfessor)
  • Videos for selected exercises
  • Lecture videos
     
• We won't use MegaStat (an Excel add-in) because students must pay extra for it

Prerequisites.  MTH241 or equivalent.  MTH241's prerequisites are MTH152, MTH163, or MTH182.  You're expected to firmly grasp and correctly use the concepts found in these courses.

Course Text.  Elementary Statistics (8th Edition) by Bluman (e-copy is at www.CourseSmart.com).  A copy is found in our campus library reserves.  Use another text at your own risk.  We won't use the online resources that accompany the text and as noted above, we won't use MegaStat.

Calculator.  We will use the TI-83+ (or TI-84) but if you use another device or text, then do so at your own risk.  Those who want to use the TI-89 should see me.  See Shared Links for rental and purchase options.    

Preparation.  Everyone presumably understands the concepts found in MTH241 (click here for the link to my Fall 2011 course).  If not, you should review these concepts (page numbers are those in the course text) that we'll discuss in our first class.  Here are other resources that may help you to brush up on background concepts:

• In the text website above, study the Appendix A videos that explain basic concepts used in statistics

• You may like the Khan Academy videos:

  • Those on probability and statistics may be useful later on

  • Click here for those videos most relevant to the prerequisite course MTH241
     

• Take advantage of self-study resources found under Study Aids in Shared Links

• Free tutoring is available in the Math Lab (AA161) but only addresses what's in the text

• Those who may want a non-technical overview of statistics may like the small book Statistics:  A Brief Overview, by David J. Hand (about $7 at Barnes and Noble).  This book is not part of this course and is mentioned for those who are interested.

Diary

10 January 2012 (all other Diary entries will be on Blackboard).  First day of class. 

We will correspond from our NOVA email accounts.  Make sure that your:

• NOVA mailbox isn't full (if a message is undeliverable, then you're still on the hook)
• Phone number is current in NOVACONNECT

To learn how to use Blackboard, email, NOVACONNECT, etc, please click Getting Started with Student Technology.  Click here for other instructions on using email.  

Study Groups 

You're encouraged to form study groups.

• In its first meeting, a group may want to discuss their learning styles (www.vark-learn.com or click here for a 1-page summary)
   
• As members become friends, the study group will also become a social group that can address emotional and attitudinal issues that affect learning.  I am interested in any issue (whether or not mathematical) that the group wants to share. 
   
• Each group should establish basic rules of conduct so that everyone pulls their own weight (slackers can be expelled and left to deal with me).  Study groups are voluntary associations of students who are free to conduct themselves as they see fit, subject only to NOVA rules that govern student and campus activity.