NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE

COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE AND INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Course title:  Elementary Statistical Methods

Course prefix, number, and section number:  MATH 1342 0400

Semester/Year of course:  Spring 2024

Semester start and end dates: 1/16/2024 – 5/11/2024 (16-week session)

Modality:  Face to face

Class meeting location, days, and times: COR315, Mondays and Wednesdays, 8am-9:20am

Support course (if needed):  NCBM 0142 0400

Semester credit hours:  3 (Lecture hours: 48)

Course description:  Collection, analysis, presentation and interpretation of data, and probability. Analysis includes descriptive statistics, correlation and regression, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. Use of appropriate technology is recommended.

Course prerequisites:  Meet TSI college-readiness standard for Elementary Statistics; or equivalent

Required course materials:

Registration in the course automatically adds a textbook fee to your NCTC tuition and fees which gives you access to the online learning platform and e-book needed for MATH 1342 (MyLab Math).  You do not need to purchase a separate access code.  Instructions on how to get your access code can be found in a document on the Course Homepage or in the course Modules. (see * Inclusive Access below for more information)

TI-30X IIS or TI 83-84 calculator is required

NOTE: Phone calculators will not be allowed on exams.

Optional course materials:  Fundamentals of Statistics: Informed Decisions Using Data 6^th edition, Michael Sullivan III, 2022, Pearson

Name of instructor: Judy Keller

Office location: COR203

Telephone number: 940-498-6425

E-mail address: jkeller@nctc.edu

Office hours for students:

Monday & Wednesday           7:30am-8:00am

                                                       10:00am-12:00pm

Tuesday & Thursday                7:30am-10:30am

              Friday and evening times by appointment only

STUDENT HOURS (OFFICE HOURS)

Each week instructors have time set aside to meet with students outside of class. (Traditionally these times have been called “office hours”.) This is a time when a student may ask questions regarding the class, or discuss a particular problem/topic with an instructor one-on-one.  Student hours may be held in-person or online.  See below for instructions on where/when/how instructors will offer student hours in this class.

I will be am on the Corinth campus every morning (see times above). Any other times, you may contact me by email. If needed, we can set up individual or group meetings through Conferencing or Webex. I am available throughout the week, if the times above don’t work for you. Please email me if you have any questions.

MATH TUTORING LAB

Students who need help with any math class can visit the NCTC Mathematics Lab to receive assistance.  There are math tutors available on every campus and online.  This service is free for all students enrolled in an NCTC math class. Sign up for an appointment or see the most current tutoring hours for all campuses at https://www.nctc.edu/math-lab. 

SYLLABUS CHANGE DISCLAIMER

The faculty member reserves the right to make changes to this published syllabus if it is in the best interest of the educational development of this class. Any such changes will be announced as soon as possible in person and/or writing.

SUMMARY OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

List of graded assignments: 

Assignment Type                Number of graded element                              Percentage Value

Homework                                                Approx. 30                                                              20%

Quizzes                                                      14                                                                              20%

Tests                                                           3                                                                                45%

Final Exam                                                 1                                                                                15%

Final grade scale:  90 – 100% = A;   80 – 89% = B; 70 – 79% = C;  60 – 69% = D;  Below 60% = F

*The grading policy may be amended during the semester at the instructor’s discretion.

Late work policy:

No late quizzes will be allowed without a penalty, and individual make-up exams will be given in rare cases and only with instructor approval. The lowest test grade can be substituted with your final exam grade at the end of the semester.

*The lowest quiz grade will be dropped at the end of the semester.

*The final examination is a departmental comprehensive statistics exam and is required of all students. The final exam may also be used to replace the lowest unit test grade.

MyStatLab is an online system where you will be spending most of your time in this course. You will access MSL through the Canvas course page using the MyLab and Mastering tab.  It has video lectures, podcasts of lectures, PowerPoint notes, and other means of helping you learn the material.  It also gives you access to the ebook, so you don’t need to purchase a textbook.  MSL is where you will work on homework and quizzes.  These assignments are due on Sundays at 11:59 pm (unless otherwise noted).

Homework

Homework is 20% of your grade.  It will be divided into sections based on the sections of the textbook.  There will be anywhere from 2 to 4 homework sections due in a week.  They will be due every Sunday at 11:59 pm.

For most of the homework problems, except some multiple choice problems, you will have 3 chances to get the problem correct.  If you are not correct on the third try, it is marked wrong.  However, you can click on the button at the bottom of the homework window that says “try again”.  You will get a whole new problem (similar to the original), that you can have another 3 chances at (and if you get this one correct, then it is not marked wrong anymore).  In other words, you have 15 chances to get most problems correct.  So there really is little reason why you cannot get near 100% on all the homework assignments!

Quizzes

Quizzes are 20% of your grade.  You will have 1-3 quizzes each week, over the same sections as the homework.  You cannot check each problem separately in the quizzes as you can in the homework.  You must complete the entire quiz and submit it.  Then you will be told your grade, and you can review problems you missed.  You may take each quiz five times, and your highest grade will be the one recorded.  These will also be due Sundays at 11:59pm.

Tests

There are three tests (45% of your grade) and a final exam (15% of your grade) for this course. The test dates and times for the exams are posted on the calendar and in Canvas.

Calculators

A scientific calculator is required for this class.  The recommended one is the TI-30X IIS.  There will be specific instructions on how to use this calculator for some statistical calculations posted in Canvas and MSL. A graphing calculator is not required, but not forbidden either.  The textbook and MSL do give instructions on how to do different procedures with one. 

You may not use your cellphone (iPad, tablet, etc.) calculators for tests.

SEE CANVAS FOR THE COMPLETE COURSE CALENDAR, OUTLINE, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF GRADED WORK, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIAL.

COURSE POLICIES

Academic Integrity Policy:

Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation, and collusion.  The use of online math solvers with submitted work is considered academic dishonesty.  Faculty members may document and bring charges against a student who is engaged in or is suspected to be engaged in academic dishonesty.  See Student Handbook, “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Code of Conduct ([FLB(LOCAL)]”.  

Consequences for academic dishonesty may include:

1. Zero on the assignment
2. Failing grade for the course

Attendance Policy:

Regular attendance is expected and necessary for student success in this course. For more information on attendance regulations please see the 2022-2023 NCTC Catalog.  (https://www.nctc.edu/catalog; Click on 2022-2023 CATALOG and go to page 138 to see Attendance Regulations)

Withdrawal Policy

A student may withdraw from a course on or after the official date of record. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete a Withdrawal Request Form.

Last day to withdraw from a 16-week course with a “W” is: Monday, April 1, 2024

Student Learning Outcomes:  At the successful completion of this course the student will be able to:

1. Explain the use of data collection and statistics as tools to reach reasonable conclusions.
2. Recognize, examine, and interpret the basic principles of describing and presenting data.
3. Compute and interpret empirical and theoretical probabilities using the rules of probabilities and combinatorics.
4. Explain the role of probability in statistics.
5. Examine, analyze, and compare various sampling distributions for both discrete and continuous random variables.
6. Describe and compute confidence intervals.
7. Solve linear regression and correlation problems.
8. Perform hypothesis testing using statistical methods.

Core Objectives:

X           Critical Thinking

X           Communication

X           Empirical and Quantitative

Teamwork

Personal Responsibility

Social Responsibility

COLLEGE POLICIES

STUDENT HANDBOOK

Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the Student Handbook. To access Student Handbook go to NCTC homepage (www.nctc.edu), scroll to bottom and click “Student Handbook”.

ADA STATEMENT

NCTC will adhere to all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Office for Students with Disabilities to arrange appropriate accommodations.  See the OSD Syllabus Addendum.

STUDENT SERVICES

NCTC provides a multitude of services and resources to support students.  See the Student Services Syllabus Addendum for a listing of those departments and links to their sites.

* Inclusive Access

The NCTC Bookstore and Pearson Education have partnered to provide the best learning resources on the first day of class so that students can gain access to Pearson’s adaptive online platform with the latest version of the eBook at a discount. If students would like to purchase a physical copy of the textbook, they can purchase it through the bookstore.

Students who drop before the add/drop date will have their book fees credited back to their student account, and students who remain in the course will be charged a materials fee by the school to have continued access of the online platforms.  If you remain enrolled in the course but wish to opt-out of access to the book please email the NCTC Bookstore within the first two weeks of class with your name and student number.

QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or COMPLAINTS