Syllabus for Math 461, Section G83-84
Fall 2011, CRN 39135, 33564, 39145, 33565
Final: December 12, 1:30-4:30 PM in Everitt 163
Instructor: Richard Sowers
Office: 347 Illini Hall
Phone: (217) 333-6246
email: r-sowers@illinois.edu. Note: this email may be forwarded to an off-campus email address.
Home page: https://faculty.math.illinois.edu/~r-sowers (this syllabus can be found there)
Office Hours: M 8-10 and by appointment
Class meets: MW 3--3:50 in 239 Altgeld (lab) and F 3--3:50 245 Altgeld Hall (lab)
Text: The text will be Probability & Statistics by Davis and Uhl at http://go.illinois.edu/NetMath461Courseware; also it is the Basics and Tutorials sections of the mathematica workbooks.
Course topics: Introductory Probability (see also the Course Catalog Entry for Math 461.
Grading policy: Final grades will be determined on the basis
of the total numerical score (0-500 points) achieved on exams and homework. Relative
weights are:
| Final: |
20% of grade |
| Hourly Exam 1: |
15% of grade |
| Hourly Exam 2: |
15% of grade |
| Quizzes: |
10% of grade |
| Homework: |
40% of grade |
However, to make sure that any joint work is only a supplement to your understanding of the material, your overall score in the class cannot be more than a letter grade higher than your score on the exams and quizzes.
- Final exam: Final will be 1:30-4:30 PM, Monday, December 12 in 163 Everitt.
- Hourly exams: October 5 and November 16. These exams will be given in class.
- Quizzes: There will be 7 surprise quizzes in the regular lectures, each worth 10 points. The two lowest scores on these quizzes will be dropped. These quizzes will often be on material which was covered the day before. There will be NO makeup quizzes (don't even ask).
Note: a very useful habit in college is to be in your seat and thinking about a subject when a class starts. Although it is of course unsettling for the students,
having surprise quizzes at the beginning of a class is a very simple way of ensuring that this happens.
Quizzes and Exams
- Homework: Homework will roughly be due once a week. The Give it a Try Mathematica workbooks are the homework. It should be uploaded to
Classcomm. You may do the homework in groups of 2. Note, however, that the maximum grade in the class cannot be more than a grade higher than the grade on quizzes and exams.
I will attempt to announce new homework and other things on Classcomm or my Twitter Feed.
- This is the first time I have taught 461 in the mathematica format.
We will jointly be learning how to understand probability via mathematica.
In fact, I am excited. When you graduate, most of you will be faced with huge amounts
of data. You will have to model phenomena and use computers to compare
the model to data, and to predict using simulations. We will try to equip you
with a blend of theory and computational insights which will give you the beginning of a solid footing in doing this.
Note, however, that this class will require work. It will also require you to keep up. If you lose focus for more than about 2 days, it becomes really difficult to catch up.
- TA: Jimmy Shan shan15@illinois.edu is the resident wizard of mathematica. He knows more than I do about it, so please email him if you have problems getting things running.
