Instructor: Joe Schafer, 412 Thomas Building, 863-4918, jls@stat.psu.edu. I have a second office at Henderson S-156, 863-9795. Office hours are Wednesday and Thursday 2-3 pm in 412 Thomas, or by appointment.
Really nice and very helpful teaching assistant: Anastasia Pashiardi, 301 Thomas, 3-2314, pashiardi@stat.psu.edu. Office hours are Tuesday 12:30-2:30 and by appointment.
Meetings: Class meets MWF 11:15-12:05 in 201 Thomas.
Text: The required text for this course is Statistical Methods in the Biological and Health Sciences, Third edition by J. Susan Milton. We will cover the following chapters: 1, select portions of 2-5, 6, and 8-12.
Computing: We will be using Minitab, which is available at any of the CAC computer labs on campus. You may wish to purchase personal copy of Minitab for your own PC. It is available at the Penn State Microcomputer Order Center (MOC) for about $90.
Exams: There will be three in-class exams (September 25, October 25, November 25) and a final exam. You need a calculator for the exams; it doesn't need to be a fancy one, but make sure that it calculates square roots. Each student should bring a calculator to each exam. If you must miss an exam due to a bonafide sickness, family emergency, etc. you should contact me ahead of time to make alternate arrangements; if you miss an exam without contacting me, you will receive a zero grade.
Homework: Homework will be assigned approximately every 1.5 weeks and graded. Most of the homework problems will be taken from the textbook. A few homework assignments may have a writing component. For these problems, students are expected to answer with complete sentences and sensible paragraphs. Homework should be turned in at class on the due date. It may be turned in later the same day without penalty (place in my mailbox in 326 Thomas or slip under my office door at 412 Thomas); no credit will be given for homework turned in after the due date.
Grading: Grades will be determined by homework (30%), in-class exams (40%) and the final exam (30%). The lowest homework assignment score will be dropped. For example, if you fail to turn in one homework assignment during the semester, you will receive 0% for that one assignment, but that zero will be ignored when your grade is computed at the end of the semester.
Academic integrity and collaborative work: All Penn State and Eberly College of Science policies regarding academic integrity apply to this course; see http://www.science.psu.edu/academic/Integrity/index.html for details. Everything that you turn in must be your own work. Collaboration on homework assignments is encouraged, but each student must turn in written work which reflects his or her own individual understanding of the material. Cheating on an exam will not be tolerated and will result in a zero grade for the exam.