STAT 305. Engineering Statistics
Learning Objectives
- Students will understand statistical studies. They will learn about observational studies, experimental studies, key differences between the two, and the types of conclusions that can be drawn from each.
- Students will learn how to summarize data using numerical summaries and statistical plots. They will learn how to use these tools to draw key information about the data relevant to the problem at hand.
- Students will understand the concept of a random variable and learn how to model measured quantities in statistical studies as random variables. They will use random variables to calculate means, variances, probabilities, and quantiles. They will learn to work with commonly used random variables such as binomial, geometric, Poisson, normal, and t random variables.
- Students will understand confidence intervals, along with how to use and interpret them effectively. They will also learn how to rigorously draw conclusions from data using hypothesis tests.
Instructor
Will LandauEmail: landau at iastate (Put "[STAT 305]" in the subject.)
Office phone: 515-294-6609
Office hours: Wed 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM or by appointment in Snedecor Hall 3211. For appointments, you can check my calendar for openings.
Teaching Assistant
Guillermo Basulto-EliasEmail: basulto at iastate (Put "[STAT 305]" in the subject.)
Office hours: Mon 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM or by appointment in Snedecor Hall 2211
Meetings
MacKay Hall 0213Tue/Thu 12:40-2:00 PM
No class on Tue, March 19 or Thu, March 21.
Optional Sessions
Optional sessions may be scheduled outside class time to review for exams or to introduce JMP 10, a statistical software program that students will use on some homework assignments. More details TBD.Required Text
Basic Engineering Data Collection and Analysis Stephen B. Vardeman and J. Marcus JobeISBN-10: 0-534-36957-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-534-36957-6
Statistical Software
JMP 10, freely available for download.You can find on-campus computers equipped with JMP.
Course materials
All course materials will be posted at will-landau.com/stat305/materials.html. These include lecture notes, homework assignments, data, and any supplemental materials.The Wiki
There is a wiki for this class at https://stat305d-spring2013.wikispaces.com/home. To access the wiki:- Go to wikispaces.com and create an account if you don't already have one. Please try to pick a username that resembles the username in your @iastate.edu email address. Otherwise, please write in your profile either your full name or some other obvious clue that tells me who you are.
- While signed in, visit https://stat305d-spring2013.wikispaces.com/home and request to join. If you are a student, I will accept the request.
- Test problems. There must be absolutely no discussion about test problems. However, you may discuss the practice tests and practice problems posted on the course website.
- Solutions to homework problems. You may ask questions and give hints, but you must not give away solutions.
Surveys
The following surveys are not required, but participation will help your grade.- At the top of the first homework assignment, you will see a link to a survey at surveymonkey.com. I created this survey to find out the distribution of majors in the class and allow students to vote on my office hours. Students who complete and submit the survey by 12:40 PM on Thursday, January 24 will receive five percentage points of extra credit on the first homework assignment.
- The Departments of Mathematics and Statistics are jointly conducting a three-year
study funded by the National Science Foundation to explore the gender gap and the
performance of community college transfer students in the STEM sciences. The survey
will be given at the beginning (week 2) and at the end of the semester (week 14)
through Course Climate and students will receive an e-mail invitation with a link
to the survey automatically.
The exact dates for the survey are:
Pre-survey: 01/21 - 01/27/13 until 11 PM
Post-survey: 04/22 - 04/28/13 until 11PM
Students who complete both the pre-survey and the post-survey will receive one percentage point of extra credit on their final grades.
Grading
You can check your grades on Blackboard.Your final grade is a weighted average of homework (25%), exam 1 (25%), exam 2 (25%), and the final exam (25%). Your lowest homework grade will be dropped before making the calculation.
For example, suppose:
- You earned a total of 889 homework points over the whole semester.
- There were 1100 possible homework point in all.
- Your lowest homework grade was 61 points out of 100.
- You scored a 97% on exam 1.
- You scored a 85% on exam 2.
- You scored a 91% on the final exam.
Your final grade is (82.8% + 97% + 85% + 91%)/4 = 88.95%.
I will assign letter grades as follows:
| Letter Grade | Percentage Grade X |
|---|---|
| A | X ≥ 93.000% |
| A- | 89.000% ≤ X < 93.000% |
| B+ | 86.000% ≤ X < 89.000% |
| B | 83.000% ≤ X < 86.000% |
| B- | 79.000% ≤ X < 83.000% |
| C+ | 76.000% ≤ X < 79.000% |
| C | 73.000% ≤ X < 76.000% |
| C- | 69.000% ≤ X < 73.000% |
| D+ | 66.000% ≤ X < 69.000% |
| D | 63.000% ≤ X < 66.000% |
| D- | 59.000% ≤ X < 63.000% |
| F | X < 59.000% |
Homework
Homework rules are as follows:- SHOW ALL YOUR WORK! THE INSTRUCTOR AND TA KNOW THAT THE ANSWERS TO MANY BOOK PROBLEMS ARE AT THE BACK OF THE BOOK. IF YOU SHOW ONLY PART OF YOUR WORK AND SKIP TO THE ANSWER, WE WILL NOTICE AND YOUR GRADE WILL SUFFER.
- You are encouraged to work on homework with your peers. However, your problem sets must be written by you and only you, in your own words, and only with the calculations that you yourself did. You may not copy anything from another student’s work, an answer key, a solutions manual, or any other resource that has the final answer or solution to a homework problem on any assignment that you have not yet turned in.
- Homework solutions will be emailed individually to those who have completed the respective assignments. You are not allowed to share a solution set with a peer who has not completed the assignment.
Each homework assignment is worth 100 points, and the sum of the points you earn on homework assignments is your overall homework grade. Your lowest homework grade is excluded from the calculation of your final grade.
I will formally extend due dates for individuals with unusual and adverse circumstances (family crisis, serious illness, etc.). Otherwise, the following late policy applies:
| First late | No penalty if handed in by April 25 Score = 0/100 if handed in after April 25 |
| Second late | 5 point penalty if handed in by April 25 Score = 0/100 if handed in after April 25 |
| Third late | 10 point penalty if handed in by April 25 Score = 0/100 if handed in after April 25 |
... | ... |
| n'th late, where n is the total number of homeworks |
5 × (n-1) point penalty if handed in by April 25 Score = 0/100 if handed in after April 25 |
Exams
The exam rules are as follows:- All the usual exam ethics apply. Please ask the instructor if you have questions.
- You may bring ONLY the following materials to the exams:
- A writing utensil.
- An approved hand-held calculator: You will not need anything more powerful than a 4-function calculator, but you may bring anything as powerful as a graphing calculator such as a TI-83 or TI-89. However, you may not use anything more sophisticated or powerful than a graphing calculator or a device with networking capabilities (i.e., no computers, tablets, smart phones, cell phones, etc.). Please contact me if you are not sure if your calculator qualifies.
- An 8.5" × 11" sheet of paper of your own notes to help you during the exam. You may use both sides of the page, and you may write anything you want except for solutions to example problems and exam notes copied from another student.
- During an exam, you will be provided with:
- Enough scratch paper.
- Enough computer output (i.e., from JMP) to complete the exam.
- All necessary probability tables, which may include standard normal tables, Student t tables, chisquare tables, or F tables.
| Exam | Date | Location | General Topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam 1 | Feb 14, 12:40 - 2:00 PM | NSRIC 1131 | Ch. 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Exam 2 | Mar 14, 12:40 - 2:00 PM | NSRIC 1131 | Ch. 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.5 |
| Final Exam | May 10, 9:45 - 11:50 AM | Gilman 1352 | Ch. 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 9.1, 9.2 |
Lecture Rules
Please bring your calculators to class because I will often have you do in-class exercises. Also, please bring any probability tables (standard normal table, Student t table, etc.) to class after I have taught you how to use them.Other than that, all the usual rules of classroom etiquette apply. Please be respectful to your peers and your instructor. We need a quiet, distraction-free environment. For example: if you want to use your cell phone for anything other than checking the date or time, please exit the classroom and come back when you’re done. If you’re using a personal computer, please only use it to take notes. Screens that show Facebook or soccer games are too distracting to your peers.