Elisabeth Chovick
Math 12 Online Elementary Statistics (Section 77177)
FALL 2012 :
Mandatory Orientation: Sat. 8/25/12, 2-4 pm, Room 716
Please email me as soon as you sign up for this course!! Be sure Cabrillo has your correct address - an information letter will be sent in mid August.
Exams:
the following SATURDAYS:
Sept 22, Oct 20, Nov 17, 2:30 - 4:30 pm room 711
Dec 8 (Final Exam) 2:30 - 5:30 pm room 711
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 Material:
| Required: | Student Access Code for the MyMathLab companion to Elementary Statistics Using the Graphing Calculator by Mario Triola (ISBN 0-321-19991-X). Available through the Cabrillo College bookstore, or online at www.coursecompass.com. |
| Required: | Calculator: TI-83Plus/silver edition or TI-84Plus/silver edition. It is possible to use an alternate calculator. It is your responsibility to ensure that you can do the assigned tasks with an alternate calculator. You may contact me to ask if your calculator has suitable functions for this class |
Strongly |
Elementary Statistics Using the Graphing Calculator 3rd edition by Mario Triola (ISBN 0-321641485) |
New: Check out www.rentcalculators.org. Here is a discount code for Cabrillo: CC95003. Here you can rent a TI-83+/TI83+.
The prerequisite for this course is Math 152, Intermediate Algebra. You may take Math 12 if you meet any of the following:
- You have passed Math 152 at Cabrillo College
- You have passed the equivalent at another college or earned a 3, 4 or 5 on the AP Calculus exam and have had your transcripts processed by a counselor here at Cabrillo.
- You assessed at the transfer level here at Cabrillo.
You must get your prerequisites cleared by a counselor here at Cabrillo 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.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, your success will be clearly demonstrated by the following skills:
Ability to distinguish and evaluate data production methods — sampling, surveys, observational studies, experiments.
Ability to describe, distinguish, and explain various data features (e.g., shape, center, spread, and relationships).
Ability to calculate certain statistics on your calculator -- sample means and standard deviations, correlation coefficients and slopes and intercepts, binomial probabilities, sampling standard errors, Z values and t statistics. We will also investigate other distributions (F, chi-square). The text provides detailed instructions for the TI-83/84.
Ability to calculate and interpret the meaning of probability in various settings.
Ability to choose appropriate statistical tools for different settings and use them appropriately.Ability to develop appropriate interpretations and conclusions from statistical research and calculator results.
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 Cabrillo 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. Get more information from Cabrillo College's Disabled Students Program and Services.
Internet Resources
Library Internet Resources
Resources and Labs
Counseling, Planning & Transfer Information