Course Information for Stat 5101
Theory of Statistics I
Fall Semester, 2017
Lectures: MWF 09:05 AM - 09:55 AM
Room: Vincent Hall 16, TCEASTBANK


Course website: http://users.stat.umn.edu/~jiang040/175101_Fall.html
Instructor: Tiefeng Jiang.

E-mail: jiang040@umn.edu.

Phone: 612-624-3850.

Office Hours: 1:30 pm-2:30 pm Mon. and Wed. at Ford Hall 365.
TA for Sessions 002, 003 and 004: Guangwei Weng.
Lab 002: Tue. 09:05 am - 09:55 am at Ford Hall 150.
Lab 003: Tue. 8:00 am - 8:50 am at Ford Hall 150.
Lab 004: Tue 10:10 am - 11:00 am at Ford Hall 150.
E-mail: wengx076@umn.edu; Office Hours: 5:20 pm-6:20 pm on Wed and 10:00 am-11:00 am Thurs at Ford Hall 495.

Credits: 4

Prerequisite: Calculus and Linear Algebra.

Contents : This course includes discrete and continuous probability distributions, and mathematical terms to characterize them. Some of these are mathematical expectations, variances, density functions and moments. Several special distributions such as Binomial distributions and Normal distributions will be introduced.

Textbook: Probability and Statistics, 4th Edition by Morris H. DeGroot and Mark J. Schervish.

Homework Assignments:

 Homework assignments will be due every Fri. in class. Students can pick up their graded homeworks in the TA session. Homework will count 20% of your course grade. There is a 20% penalty per day for late homework - unless you provide a written medical excuse for not handling in homework on time.
Grading Policies:

Exams: There will be two midterms and a final in this course. These will be closed book but you will be allowed one sheet of paper (8.5 in x 11 in) on which you can write anything you like on both sides (no maginifier is allowed though).

Grading: Your final grade will be determined by a weighted average of homework and examination scores: the homework weights 20%, each of the midterms counts 20% and the final is 40%

Missing Exams: If you miss a midterm for a legitimately documented reason, such as illness confirmed with a written excuse, the midterm score will be replaced by your final score. If you can not attend the final for a legitimately verifiable reason, you must provide a written excuse to receive an incomplete. See the School of Statistics policy on incompletes below. Otherwise, if you miss the final, you will receive a zero for the exam. Note that social/vacation plans are not legitimate reasons for missing an exam.

Incompletes: According to U of M grading policies, ``The I shall be assigned at the direction of the instructor when, due to extraordinary circumstances, the student was prevented from completing the work of the course on time. The assignment of an I requires a written agreement between the instructor and student specifying the time and manner in which the student will complete the course requirements during the student's next period of enrollment.'' In this course an I grade will be given only in cases of extreme hardship. Poor performance in the course is not grounds for an incomplete.

Examination Dates:

  • Midterm 1: Mon, Oct 16, same meeting time and location as usual.

  • Midterm 2: Fri, Nov 17, same meeting time and location as usual.

  • Final Exam: 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Tue Dec 19, same location as usual.