Class Time: Tuesday and Thursday 11:00a - 12:20p, Humanities 217A.
Instructor: Dr. Corbett Redden. Corbett.Redden [att] liu.edu. Phone 516-299-3487. Office Hoxie 109
Office Hours: Office hours are, broadly speaking, Tuesdays and Thursdays during common hour 12:30p-1:45p. I will alternate between how these are held. Some will be in my office (Hoxie 109). You are allowed to try dropping in for these, but it is preferred that you email in advance in order to minimize waiting. On other days, I will host these office hours in a classroom and for a specific course. Students with questions about other courses are welcome to attend, but preference will be given to students in that specific course. See the link in Blackboard for an updated schedule of office hours.
Course webpage: http://myweb.liu.edu/~dredden/51f21/ and also Blackboard
Complete Homework & Schedule: Coming Soon!
Textbook: "Introduction to Probability" (2nd edition) by Joseph K. Blitzstein and Jessica Hwang. Chapman & Hall/CRC Texts in Statistical Science, 2019. ISBN-13: 978-1138369917.
A free online version of the book based is available at http://probabilitybook.net. Print copies of the text may be purchased from CRC Press or Amazon.
Important Resources: Students are encouraged to utilize the existing resources for Harvard's Statistics 110: Probability course, for which the above textbook was written. The site contains the textbook, handouts, and more. Complete lecture videos are available on YouTube, and an online version of the course is freely available (in audit mode) on EdX. While none of these resources will be required for this MTH 51 course, they provide students with extra layers of support, and I will include links to specific material as the course progresses.
Class Procedures: This course will operate as a 100% in-person class. Exceptions to the following policies will only be made for individuals that have officially been granted remote access by LIU Post (see below). My "default setting" will be to not broadcast lectures on Zoom or record them. If you are absent for any reason, you can get notes from a classmate and/or read the relevant section in the textbook. Students must complete in-class assignments (i.e. Quizzes, Tests, and Final Exam) while physically in the classroom (or under DSS supervision). Classroom windows will be kept open when possible, so you may wish to bring a jacket or sweater. Masks must be worn by all individuals, including the professor, while in the classroom. There will be times when we don't observe social distancing, such as working in groups and/or when I'm helping individuals at their desks. If this is problematic for you, please discuss this with me and I will try to accommodate you.
Remote Students: Exceptions to the above procedures will only be made for a student that has been officially designated as a "Remote Student" by the university. If you receive this status, you must email the professor in order to coordinate the logistics of remote learning. These details will be arranged on a case-by-case basis in order to accommodate the needs of both the individual student and the larger in-person class. If a student is given temporary remote status, the professor will determine whether "in-person" assignments are to be completed synchronously or if they must be completed in a proctored environment after returning to campus.
Description from Catalog: This course covers probability theory with applications to discrete and continuous random variables. Prerequisites of MTH 9 and 20 or department permission are required. (3 credits)
Software: An optional part of the course will involve RStudio, a user-friendly coding language designed for statistical analysis. An open-source desktop version can be freely downloaded here. RStudio can also be downloaded through the Anaconda Navigator.
Grading Scheme:
| Homework | 30% |
| Tests | 40% |
| Final Project | 30% |
Homework: I will assign weekly homeworks. While you may work with other students on homework, the writing and final document you turn in must be entirely your own. It should be written clearly and neatly as a final draft, not a hastily done rough draft. Assignments will be graded on some combination of effort, completeness, and correctness; the relative weighting may vary from week to week. Late assignments will not be accepted, but the lowest 3 homework scores will be dropped.
Tests: There will be two or three Tests during the semester. The exact dates have not yet been determined, but they will be announced at least two weeks ahead of time. Test problems will be adopted from problems appearing in lectures or homeworks.
Final Project: There will be a Final Project at the end of the semester. Details will be announced later in the course, but there will be varying ideas that each focus on particular topics such as: statistical software (e.g. R), probability/stats in Adolescent Education, the P1 Probability actuarial exam, and statistical analysis of experiments. Students may be required to give short presentations on their project during the final class meeting and the Final Exam period.
Attendance: You will not be formally graded on your attendance. However, your final grade is far more likely to receive a beneficial bump if you actively participate and/or attend regularly.
Help: Help is available from a number of places and people. The resources at Stat110 are extremely valuable. You are welcome to ask Prof. Redden questions during class, office hours, or via email. Finally, you are encouraged to work with others on homework. Explaining concepts and techniques to fellow classmates is an excellent way for you to better understand them yourself.
Students with Disabilities: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and to facilitate learning for all students, I will make accommodations for students with disabilities. It is necessary for those students to inform me of these accommodations by the end of the second week of classes. Please contact the Academic Resource Center (299-2937) so that steps can be taken to develop an appropriate educational plan. If you are a student with a documented disability, medical condition, or think you may have a disability, and will need accommodations, academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, or other services, please contact Marie Fatscher in Disability Support Services (Post Hall, Lower Level, C10) at 516-299-3057 or marie.fatscher@liu.edu to request services, accommodations or for additional information. Additional information is also available on the DSS website: www.liu.edu/post/dss
Technology: If you have problems, please contact IT (Library 236A, M-Th 8am-8pm and F 9am-5pm; it@liu.edu; 516-299-3300). You can access online tutorials for Blackboard as needed: http://www.liu.edu/Information-Technology/Info-Tech/Tutorials (Step by Step Guides and Videos)