STAT 3021: Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Fall 2011Home / Announcement / Schedules / Course Notes / Assignments
Lingzhou Xue
498 Ford Hall / 400 Lind Hall
Email: lzxue@stat.umn.edu or xuexx041@umn.edu
Office hour: 350 Ford Hall, Mondays, STSS 118 Fridays, 2:20pm - 3:20pm or by appointment.
Daniel Eck
350 Ford Hall
Email: deck13@stat.umn.edu
Office hour: 350 Ford Hall, Tuesdays, 1:00pm - 2:00pm or by appointment.
Ronald E. Walpole, Raymond H. Myers, Sharon L. Myers, and Keying Ye. (2010),
Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists (9th Edition), Prentice Hall.
ISBN-10: 0321629116 | ISBN-13: 978-0321629111
This course will start with an introduction of probability, including interpretations of probability, axioms of probability, counting methods for solving probability problems, conditional probability, Bayes theorem, independence, random variables and distributions, expected values, the common distributions (Binomial, Poisson, Gaussian and others), the law of large numbers, and the central limit theorem. Then we will cover applications of the above to the theory of statistical inference, including point estimation, confidence intervals, and hypothesis tests.
Homework: 20%; Midterm Exam I + II: 20%+25%; Final Exam: 35%
Your final grade for this course will be determined entirely by your performance on homeworks, midterms, and the final exam. Final grades may be adjusted. If you are taking the class S/N, you will need a C- or higher to earn an S grade.
There will be no make-up for a midterm. If you miss a midterm for a compelling reasons such as emergency medical conditions and family emergencies (proper documents must be submitted), the midterm score will be replaced by your final exam score. You are required to take the final exam at the time announced. Only documented illness or a family emergency are legitimate excuses for missing the final. See the University and 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.
Homework will be assigned on a weekly basis and it is due on Wednesdays in class meetings. No late homework will be accepted without official excuse. It is possible that only part of the assigned problems will be graded. It is fine for students to work together on homework problems, but write-up of the solutions must be done independently. Your understanding of the lecture will be tested in each test. It is your responsibility to seek help on all problems that you cannot do.
Midterm I: 3:35pm - 4:35pm Wednesday, October 19
Midterm II: 3:35pm - 4:35pm Wednesday, November 23
Final: 10:30 am -12:30 pm Thursday, December 22
There will be three exams in this course: each midterm takes one hour and the final will last 2 hours. If the exam date above overlaps with another exam you have, you need to inform the instructor and resolve this by the first three weeks of class.
You will be allowed to use a one-page, two-sided "cheat sheets" for each exam. You may also use a standard calculator that does not have external memory drives or data ports . However, calculators that can be used as communication devices may not be used. You may not use laptops for any quiz or exam. Wireless communication devices may not be used. If you have doubts about whether your calculator meets these requirements, contact me.
University and department policy is that "I" grades are used only when there is a small amount of unfinished work that the student can complete on his or her own before the end of the following semester, when there was a legitimate excuse why the work could not be done on time, and when arrangements have been made with the instructor as to when the work will be done. "I" grades are not given when there is a large amount of work undone and the student would need to attend the class in the next semester to learn the material.
Please contact Mary, School of Statistics, 313 Ford, 625-7300.