MIS 24056 Spring 2011 Brown

M&IS 24056: Fundamentals of Business Statistics

Spring 2011

Section 002

Course Description

This course is an introduction to concepts in statistical methods and their applications to real-world problems. This course will examine both the theoretical and practical side of the different methods. Students will be given ample opportunities to apply the techniques to different problems. The goal of the course is for students to understand fundamental statistical concepts and methods, and their applications.

Course Requirements

Last day to withdraw from a course: Sunday, March 20, 2011

Prerequisites: Math 11011 (Algebra).  Students attending the course who do not have the proper prerequisite risk being deregistered from the class.

Enrollment: It is the student’s responsibility to ensure proper enrollment in classes. You are advised to review your official class schedule during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure proper enrollment. Should you determine an error in your class schedule, you have until January 23, 2011 to correct it with your advising office. If registration errors are not corrected by this date and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester.

Students With Disabilities: University policy 3342-3-18 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through the Student Disability Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability for more information on registration procedures).

Class Time

Class time will be devoted to lectures, problem solving, statistical software, and testing. As we will make extensive use of statistical software, and interactive technology, please bring your laptop to class.

To aid comprehension, I will be providing online access to class lectures from a previous semester in multimedia format. These multimedia lectures will cover the same material that I give in class, but may not line up perfectly. These multimedia lectures can be accessed through the web.

Quizzes and Examinations

There will be 6 quizzes, 3 examinations, 1 project, and in-class assignments.

All quizzes and examinations will be taken online, and are best taken using a standards-compliant web browser like Mozilla Firefox. Examinations and quizzes will consist of multiple choice, true or false, fill-in-the blanks, short-answer, matching, and calculation type questions. All online testing material can be found at the course web site on Vista WebCT, and can be taken from anywhere (home, work, school, BSA computer labs, in the airport, from a hammock sipping Mango juice, etc.) the student has access to the Web. All tests are open-book, open notes, but before taking any test, the student will be asked to indicate his/her agreement to an Academic Honesty Statement. This statement will certify that the student agrees to abide by university rules on cheating, and any failure to do so will result in a failing grade. Thus, for example, while you are allowed to use books and notes for the tests, it is cheating if you ask other students to help you while taking the tests. This statement is available online at your course website. Do this first before doing anything else.

Quizzes: There are 6 quizzes for this class. Each quiz is worth 10 points. The amount of time allotted for each quiz may vary, but will typically be around 25 minutes. You will have two attempts to take each quiz. The average result of the two attempts will be your score for that quiz. If you are happy with your first attempt, there is no need to take the second attempt.  Results for the quizzes will be known immediately. Only the best 5 quizzes will be considered for your grade. Thus, the maximum points from quizzes is 50.

Examinations: There will be 3 examinations. Each examination is worth 50 points. Each exam (including the final) will take approximately 75 minutes. All examinations are cumulative. You will have only one attempt to take each examination. Results for the examination will be known only after the examination closes for all students. From the first two examinations, Exams 1, and 2, only the best examination score will be considered. Exam 3 (Final Exam) is required for all students. Students will receive a score of 0 for any missed examination. Thus, the maximum score from examinations is 100.

Projects: The project will be assigned in class. This project will be done in groups, and will involve the student in all aspects of statistical data analysis. The project will be graded at each milestone, and the final score for the project for the group will be a cumulative total of the scores at each milestone. Individual student scores for the project will depend on the final project score for the group, and peer evaluation. The project is worth 50 points.

In-Class Assignments: As this class is built on data exploration and interactivity, frequently, you will be asked short questions in class. The frequency, time, and format of these questions will depend on the subject matter. You will use your Clicker to earn these points. Since some of the questions require JMP, you will be able to collaborate with your group so please ensure that each group has a working laptop with JMP statistical software installed.  In-class assignments and questions are worth a maximum of 50 points.

Attendance: While no attendance is taken, you are nevertheless  responsible for all content, including projects and assignments, presented in class. Any missed in-class assessments cannot be made up.

Dates and Timings: Approximate test (quizzes, and examinations) dates are posted at your course website, and also given below. Tests can be taken at any time during which they are available. As a warning, please do not wait until the last minute to take your tests. As you must realize in dealing with technology, several things can and will go wrong. The only condition under which I will extend the due dates is if the Vista server goes down on the last available day. Any problems with your computer will not change the due date. As such, it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete the tasks in a timely fashion. You will get zero (0) points for all missed tests. Please ensure that your tests have been graded correctly, and notify the instructor immediately of any concerns. Specifically, you will have one week after the test scores are posted to notify the instructor of any errors. Projects will be assigned in class. Due dates for project milestones will also be specified in class.

Extra Credit: Periodically, you may be given additional homework / quizzes in class or online, each of which will count as extra credit towards your final grade. As missed quizzes / examinations cannot be made up, it is in your best interest to attend class regularly. Please check your electronic calendar regularly for any announcements about quizzes, etc.

Academic dishonesty: Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers, cases, online quizzes) so as to get undeserved credit. The use of the intellectual property of others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense. It is the University's policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course. Repeat offenses result in dismissal from the University. Students must indicate their acceptance to this policy before they are allowed to take any quiz or exam. As soon as you log into your Vista course website, please take the Academic Honesty Statement quiz first. You will not have access to any other quiz or exam until you do so.

Class Materials

This class makes extensive use of statistical software, and interactivity.  I will be using these in the lectures.

JMP statistical software. This is available at the bookstore for a yearly license fee of only $15.  I highly recommend its use.  It is also installed in the computer labs.  I will be demonstrating and using this software in class.  See here for more information.  There are installation instructions in Vista in the “Tutorials” folder.

Book. There are no required books for this class. I will be using “Introduction to the Practice of Statistics,” by David Moore and George McCabe, as the guide for the materials in class. The current version is 6, but both the 5th and 4th editions can be used as a cheaper alternative. This is not a required book, and most students have done well without a book.

1. If you want the latest version, it might be cheaper to rent it for the semester, rather than buy it.  The bookstore may be offering this option.
2. Ultimately, whether you want to buy a book, and which edition you want, is up to you. The book is not required.

Laptops. I will be making extensive use of JMP in class. In class, I will require each group to have access to at least one laptop with JMP installed.

Clickers. The university has adopted  clickers from Turning Point. We will be using this in class for both assessment and learning. If you don’t have one already, there are several options to purchase this.

a.           Go to https://store.turningtechnologies.com/index.cfm for the Kent State Store. When prompted for school code, type SUQ5

b.          A new clicker that you can use in all your classes costs $40. I believe you can also buy used clickers at the bookstore for $33.75. When you are ready to sell it, the bookstore should be buying back used XR's from students for $22.50. Note that is a one-time cost, and the clicker can be used in any class that uses that system for however long you remain at Kent.

c.           If you have a web-enabled device, like a laptop, or a smart phone, you can instead buy a responseware license for $15 / year, or $32 / 4 years. This allows you to use the technology using your preferred device like an iPhone or laptop. The session ID to use this in our class is ________. It is important that before you buy this option, you ensure that you are able to connect to the Internet in the classrooms where you have classes. Most rooms at Kent have an acceptable WiFi connection, but please ensure your device can use them, or your cell phone plans allow data access. Note that not all instructors may support this web-enabled approach. Please check with your other classes to determine your most cost effective solution. If you go this route, be forewarned that I cannot give credit if for some reason you are unable to get online.  Make your decision with this in mind.

d.        Register your clicker - it’s in Vista in the “Clicker Information” folder.

Lecture Notes. I will post lecture slides for each class on the Vista website. Please download them before class. You can review them at any point.

Grading

The maximum points for this course is 250 (50 quizzes + 100 examinations + 50 project + 50 in-class). The grading scale for this class is as follows:

1. None of the assessments, examinations, quizzes, projects, or in-class assignments, can be made up. You will receive a score of zero (0) for any missed assessment.
2. Please print and keep a copy of your tests after each exam or quiz. That will be the proof I will require if there are any disputes about test scores.
3. You will have one week after receiving the score for each assessment to request any corrections.

How to Access and Use the Course Web Site

1. To ensure that the content appears correctly on your browser, please use a standards-compliant browser like Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/) rather than Internet Explorer. The course can be accessed directly at: https://vista8.kent.edu/webct/logon/993507381011
2. While I will be using several websites to provide a more engaging learning environment, the central website to access your course is through Vista, the course management software for Kent State University. To log into Vista, do the following:

1. Go to https://vista8.kent.edu/webct/logon/993507381011 and log in using your Kent username and password.

                - OR -

2. Go to http://flashline.kent.edu.
3. Enter your Kent username and password
4. Click on My Courses tab. You should see all your courses. Click on the link for http://vista.kent.edu to take you to the course website

Course Schedule

The following tables contains the class schedule. Note that all online tests remain open for at least 7 days and are available from 12:01 AM of Day 1 until 11:50 PM of the final day.

Please Do The Following Immediately

1. Log into Vista and answer the quiz on Academic Honesty. You will not be able to take any quizzes or examinations until you do.