The ORC describes this course as follows: "An introduction to the basic concepts of statistics. Topics include elementary probability theory, descriptive statistics, the binomial and normal distributions, confidence intervals, basic concepts of tests of hypotheses, chi-square tests, nonparametric tests, normal theory t-tests, correlation, and simple regression."

In addition to receiving this introduction, students will play an active role in learning to:

• Accurately interpret and understand statistics encountered in- and out-side of class;
• question statistical applications in the real world; 
• generate statistics from raw data; 
• work with their peers to deepen their understanding of statistical ideas; 
• and develop mathematical/statistical communication skills.

Every activity and assignment in this course will serve these goals, or help me gauge students' progress
toward them. If you are ever unsure of why I am asking you to do something, please ask.

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We will cover roughly a chapter during each class meeting, so it will be crucial that students keep up with posted reading assignments.  Practice poblems will be assigned to help students assess their progress and comprehension, but solutions will not be collected.  Instead, work on these problem sets will be graded through weekly quizzes (see below).

In addition to this self-monitored work, there will be two (graded) writing assignments. These will revolve around the use of statistics in the popular media.  As the logistics of these assignments will be affected by the number of students enrolled in the class, more information will be available after the beginning of the term.  

A list of assignments/practice problems, a reading schedule and further information about articles assignments can be found here or on the course Blackboard site.

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Weekly Quizzes

There will be a quiz the first ten minutes of class each Friday (except during exam weeks).  The quizzes will cover class/lecture material and discussions as well as the homework from the previous week.  These quizzes are not designed to "stump" you, they are meant to keep everyone up to speed with the course.  If you keep up with your reading, review your notes regularly and take the time to work out the assigned problems, you will have nothing to worry about.

Note that quizzes take place at the beginning of class, I suggest being on time.

Solutions to quizzes will be available here.

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We will plan to use the X-hour every week. Generally, we will use these sessions to go over homework, quiz or exam solutions, to answer general questions from class, and to do activities designed to help solidify the ideas covered during lectures.    

Materials relating to x-hours can be found here.

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There will be two midterm exams and a (cumulative) final exam.  The dates and times for the midterms are tentative and subject to change.  The date and time of the final exam are not.

Midterm 1:    April 20 5-7pm in Carpenter 013  
Midterm 2:    May 11 5-7pm in Carpenter 013
Final:              June 3 3-6pm

If you have a conflict with the time or date for either midterm exam, you must meet with me at least a week in advance to schedule a make-up time.  Barring an emergency, you will not be given an opportunity to receive any credit for an exam if you fail to make prior arrangements.  The registrar schedules our final exam time, so I can not make special arrangements.

Exam review materials will be available here.


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Though I will be keeping track of your numeric scores throughout the term, I will not assign a letter grade to any assignment until after the final exam is graded.  If you ever have a question about the grading policy, or about your standing in the course, please feel free to consult with me.

	Number Graded	% of Final Grade
Quizzes	7	20
Articles	2	5
Midterm 1	1	20
Midterm 2	1	20
Final	1	35

Dartmouth students are expected to adhere to the honor principle. In this course that means:

On Homework:  Since no written solutions will be graded, I don't expect we'll have any problem with this.  Students are welcome and encouraged to work in groups to discuss general ideas and specific problems. 

Articles and write-ups:  It will be the student's responsibility to verify that the article (s)he submits has not already been submitted by another student.  Critiques of the articles should consist entirely of the author's own original thoughts and words.

On Quizzes and Exams:  All quizzes and exams will be closed book.  This means that no help from any external source is allowed. Occasionally reference sheets may be provided, but this will be the only exception.

If you have any questions as to whether some action would be acceptable under the Academic Honor Code, please speak to me, and I will be glad to help clarify things.  This is a case in which it is definitely better to ask permission than forgiveness.

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