Stat128 Syllabus
Course Description: Computer methods for accessing, transforming, summarizing, graphing, and making statistical inferences from data. Focus is on open-source, command-line software, but menu-driven statistical software may be introduced. Students will learn to apply computer methods to solve problems selected from the areas of modeling, simulation, inference and statistical learning. The intent of this course is to provide students with the software skills needed for statistical work in industry or academia. 3 units.
Term: Fall 2020
Instructor: Dr. Clark Fitzgerald About me
Contact: I value clear, direct, and timely communication with students. Here’s an explanation and video demonstration of how to communicate in this class.
For the fastest response to questions that aren’t personal, please use Canvas discussions so that other students can see and respond to your questions. For personal communication about a particular assignment, please use the assignment comments box. For other personal communication you can contact me at fitzgerald@csus.edu or through Canvas messages. Please allow up to two business days to respond.
Prerequisites: (STAT 1 or STAT 50) and (MATH 26A or MATH 30) or consent of the instructor.
Course Meetings: MWF, 12-1pm via Zoom
Office Hours: after class, and Tuesdays at 8 and 10:30 AM. Tuesday office hour Zoom links
Drops: College Drop Policy Note that for the first two weeks, you can drop yourself on My Sac State.
Course Materials
Textbook: All textbooks and course materials will be freely available online to Sac State students, either through public websites, or with electronic access from the library. For example, follow the link to The Art of R Programming, click on “Safari Books Online”, enter your CSUS email, and you should have online access.
Software: Install R and Rstudio, both free. We’ll use various other software from CRAN.
Computer and Internet Access: You’ll need a computer or tablet with reliable internet to attend course meetings and office hours through Zoom video. I highly recommend you turn on your video so that you can have better interactions with your classmates in group activities. Headsets and noise cancelling headphones can be very useful if you live with other people.
Other Technologies: We will also make videos, so you’ll need access to a smartphone, webcam, or at least a microphone. Video editing software is nice, but not essential.
Inclusive Access: If you have trouble obtaining any of these materials, please contact me ASAP so we can work out alternatives. Many resources are available to help you succeed. For example, I can request a long term laptop checkout for you.
Grading
| Percentage | Category | Description & Purpose | Collaboration Policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | Homework | The core course component where you will practice data analysis and programming. I will grade a subset of the prompts in the assignment and provide you with feedback. The assignment submission comments are also where you can communicate privately with me. The lowest score will be dropped. | Talking about problems is allowed, but you must state who you work with. |
| 15 | Participation | Setting up online profiles, Canvas discussions, making review videos, and anything that doesn’t fit cleanly somewhere else. The purpose is to provide experience producing different media, and to make our online class feel more like a community by having some interaction with each other. | Collaboration is allowed. |
| 15 | Final Project | Culminating project that allows you to do something more involved and open ended than the homeworks. Treat this as an opportunity to show off your skills, and make something that you can show to a potential employer or graduate school. | To be determined |
| 10 | Midterm | Motivates the video review assignment. 😁 This will give me some idea of your understanding, and what we need to spend more time on. | Do not collaborate. |
| 10 | Final Exam | This is a standard comprehensive final exam to assess how well you’ve learned the class concepts. | Do not collaborate. |
| 5 | Review | Short assignments. Some will be automatically graded, and some will be ungraded. I’ll provide solutions so you can check your answers. These have several purposes: they give you practice with standard calculations and concepts, show me your understanding of the lecture material, and encourage regular review. The two lowest scores will be dropped. | Collaboration is allowed. |
I designed this grading scheme to minimize stress on you, the students. The exams are not worth a large percentage of your grade, and you will have plenty of time to finish them.
Late Assignments: Due dates keep you on track; they benefit you! If you realize you’re going to be late, then please submit what you have on the due date, and let me know in a submission comment what’s going on and when you expect to finish. If you have a personal emergency or schedule disruption, then communicate with me, and tell me what you need. A one time due date extension of a few days is no problem in most cases.
Final Grades: The course grade cutoffs will follow the conventional scheme:
- 90-100% A
- 80-90% B
- 70-80% C
- 60-70% D
- Below 60% F
I may adjust these grade cutoffs lower, so that students receive higher grades. I will not raise the cutoffs. This means, for example, that if you score 80% of the points, then your course grade will be a B- or better.
Academic Honesty
All assignments and midterms are open book, open notes, open internet. If you happen to find a solution for the exact question online, please let me know.
Submit your own assignments, always. Don’t copy others’ work, because that wastes everyone’s time. On the above assignment sections, “Collaboration is allowed” means you can help each other and work freely together, no worries. “Do not collaborate” means you shouldn’t receive any outside assistance, so don’t talk about them. The only exception is that you can ask me, the instructor, for clarification.
The category of the homework requires the most explanation. You may work together and talk through the problems, but you need to understand each and every step in the solution that you turn in. If you work together, please note on your submission who you worked with, and on which parts.
It’s your responsibility to know and adhere to the University Policies regarding academic honesty, in particular, the Academic Honesty Policy and Procedures. I will fully prosecute violations of these policies. If you have any question about what’s appropriate, please ask.
Class Meetings
Class will meet synchronously through Zoom, unless otherwise announced.
Attendance: Class is where we’ll cover the core material and do practice problems and other interactive activities, so plan on attending. Experience shows that students perform better when they attend class, even online.
Participation: I will occasionally “warm call” students for class discussion questions by cycling through the Zoom attendees. The purpose of calling on you is to increase your engagement with the material, and to provide you with practice speaking and participating in a virtual environment. You may skip your turn, but I encourage you to participate.
Studying: Expect to spend approximately 2 hours on activities outside of class for every 1 hour in class. Some weeks will require more, some less. Depending on your background, programming might take longer, or maybe you’re working extra hard to earn a good grade. That’s OK!
Recording: I plan to record class meetings and make them available if you need to miss class for any reason. Zoom recordings will be available through Canvas for current students in this course for this semester only, and not to the general public. Do not make personal recordings of class meetings, or allow anyone not in this course to access course video recordings. This policy means that students can have the same expectation of privacy in a virtual classroom as they have in a physical classroom. Zoom breakout rooms are not recorded.