Biol/Stat 2244B – Winter 2016 Page 1 of 13

BIOLOGY 2244B—Analysis & Interpretation of Biological Data

and

STATISTICS 2244B—Statistics for Science

Winter 2016

Calendar Descriptions Stat 2244: An introductory course in the application of statistical methods, intended for honors students in

departments other than Statistical and Actuarial Sciences, Applied Mathematics, Mathematics, or students in the Faculty of Engineering. Topics include sampling, confidence intervals, analysis of variance, regression and correlation. Cannot be taken for credit in any module in Statistics, Actuarial Science, or Financial Modeling.

Biol 2244: Measurement, sampling, estimation, and statistical hypothesis testing are considered: theory,

intuitive background, and practical relevance will be stressed.

Prerequisites: A full mathematics course, or equivalent, numbered 1000 or above. Statistical Sciences 1024A/B can be used to meet 0.5 of the 1.0 mathematics course requirement.

Anti-requisites: All other courses or half courses in Introductory Statistics except Statistical Sciences 1023A/B,

Statistical Sciences 2037A/B and Statistical Sciences 1024A/B. NOTE: You may not receive credit if you lack a pre-requisite OR have taken an anti-requisite course. Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it,

you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

Course Information Lectures: Sect 001: Wed and Fri, 12:30 pm–1:30 pm in SSC 2050 Sect 002: Tues and Thurs 3:30 pm–4:30 pm in NCB 101 Labs:

Section Day Time Location

003 Tu 6:00–8:50 pm SSC 1032 004 Tu 6:00–8:50 pm NCB 105 005 W 6:00–8:50 pm HSB 14 006 W 6:00–8:50 pm HSB 16 007 W 6:00–8:50 pm NCB 105 008 Th 6:00–8:50 pm HSB 13 009 Th 6:00–8:50 pm HSB 14 010 Th 6:00–8:50 pm HSB 16 011 Tu 1:30–4:20 pm HSB 13 012 W 1:30–4:20 pm SSC 1032 013 Th 6:00–8:50 pm NCB 105 014 Tu 1:30–4:20 pm HSB 16 015 F 11:30 am – 2:20 pm HSB 16

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Instructor Information

Name Jennifer Waugh Department Biology and Statistical & Actuarial Sciences Drop-in hours* Mondays, 11:30 am–1:30 pm in NCB 301L

Thursdays, 10 am–12 noon in NCB 301L

Emails Use OWL messages only (contact ‘Instructor Role’) - not UWO email *Check OWL announcements regularly. Any additional help sessions or drop-in hours before tests/exams, as well as any change to regular drop-in hours (these may need to be rescheduled from time to time), will be posted to OWL announcements. Drop-in hours are open to students in both sections and do not require an appointment. Please note that I will not be available for appointments outside my drop-in hours unless you have direct course conflicts with both time periods in their entirety.

Communicating with the Instructor

Course content questions should be directed to the OWL ‘Forums’ (after you have confirmed your question has not already been posted) rather than to your instructor by OWL message. To contact the instructor directly, do not send email to my UWO email address; the OWL ‘messages’ should be used to provide non-personal information or to ask a personal administrative question that requires a brief response. For more lengthy discussions, you should visit instructor drop-in hours. You can expect a response to an OWL message to the instructors or a posting to the discussion forum within about 48 hours during the work week (during busy times, it may take a little longer). Note that I will not answer messages or forum questions within the 24-hour period before the tests or exams. It is my expectation that you check your OWL messages and announcements on a regular basis.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, it is my hope that you will have the ability to:

Recognize different data collection procedures,

Select, calculate, interpret, and critically evaluate numerical and graphical summaries of data,

Identify, conduct, interpret, and critically evaluate statistical inference procedures,

Use statistical software (R) to summarize, interpret, and analyze data,

Critically evaluate statistical information, and,

Apply concepts learned in this course to your future courses, careers, and everyday life.

Required Text Resources

Baldi, B. and DS. Moore. 2013. The Practice of Statistics in the Life Sciences. 3rd Edition, W.H. Freeman and Company. The textbook is available at the UWO bookstore in ebook (12-month subscription which is available when you purchase the ‘Launchpad Etext Access Code for Practice of Statistics’) and printed options (either hardcover or loose leaf formats). I am “requiring” the Launchpad etext version only because I will be assigning readings and interactive activities on a regular basis from the online ‘Launchpad’ portal to prepare you for lecture. You will have weekly quizzes based on this assigned material (see more information below). One of the major benefits of using the Launchpad etext format (over a printed version) is that it shows instructor annotations directly on the text pages; these annotations provide clarification of common issues in the textbook, and identify sections/concepts that can be skipped. Note that, if you prefer to purchase a printed version of the book, a Launchpad access code is automatically included from the Bookstore. Several copies (6) of the hardcover textbook are also available on 1-day reserve in Taylor library.

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Important Information

1. If you would like to make an audio recording of the lectures/tutorials in this course, you MUST ask permission first (through OWL messages sent to ‘Instructor Role’). According to intellectual property laws, not asking permission constitutes stealing. I will NOT permit videotaping or photographing lectures under any circumstances.

2. Course material (i.e. lecture slides, videos, quizzes, practice and actual exam questions and other supplementary material posted on OWL) is the intellectual property of your instructor and is made available to you for your personal use in this course. Sharing, posting, selling or using this material outside of your personal use in this course is considered an infringement of intellectual property rights.

3. The course website (http://owl.uwo.ca, “BIOL 2244B 001 FW15”) will be my primary method of

communication with students. This course site is shared all students registered in the course under Biology 2244B and Statistics 2244B, including sections 001 and 002 in both courses. It is your responsibility to check the website frequently. All important information (syllabus, lecture and lab material, assigned readings, quizzes, test/exam details, announcements, etc.) will be posted on the website. Outline lecture slides will be posted in .pdf format, 1 slide per page only, no later than 11:59 pm the night before lecture. Alternative file formats will not be available. Note that complete PowerPoint slides used in class will NOT be posted or distributed in any form under any circumstances.

4. The Forum tool is enabled on the OWL website. Please use this forum to post and respond to questions about course content (e.g., lecture, readings, practice questions, etc). The forum will be monitored on a regular basis and I will interject with corrections or responses as necessary. If you message me with a course content question, I will simply direct you to look/post on the forums. As this is an open forum, please be respectful of one another. Derogatory, discriminatory, or otherwise inappropriate language or topics will be removed and dealt with at the instructor’s discretion.

Assessment

Your final grade will automatically be calculated to give you the highest mark possible based on the following two schemes:

Course Component Scheme 1 Scheme 2 ‘Due Date’ Course Structure Quiz 1% 1% 11:59 pm, Friday, January 15 Clicker Participation 5% 0% During lecture, starting January 19/20 Pre-Lecture Quizzes 4% 4% Weekly; watch for schedule on OWL

Online Assessment 3% 3% Available online from 9:00 am Tuesday, Feb 23 until 11:59 pm Wednesday, Feb 24

5 Lab Assignments Highest lab

2nd

& 3rd

highest labs 4

th & 5

th highest labs

Pre-lab

22% total 6%

5% each 3% each

1% bonus

27% total 7%

6% each 4% each

1% bonus

Starting the week of January 18; see course schedule at the end of this

syllabus for lab dates

No Risk Test 1* 10% 10% Friday, February 5th, 6:30-7:30 pm No Risk Test 2* 10% 10% Friday, March 11th, 6:30-7:30 pm

Final Exam* 45% 45% During April exam period (Apr 9-30) *see information below regarding the ‘No Risk’ aspect and weightings of Tests 1 and 2, and the Final Exam.

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Course Structure Quiz: This OWL multiple choice quiz covers details from this course outline and features of our OWL course website, and will be available from the first day of classes (Monday, January 4) until 11:59 pm, on Friday, January 15. This is a graded quiz (e.g., if you answer 7 out of 10 questions correctly, you will earn 0.7% out of the possible 1% for the quiz). No credit will be given for quizzes that are not submitted by this due date. No accommodation will be made after the deadline for any reason (e.g., technical problems); attempt the quiz early during the availability period so that any problems that arise can be dealt with before the deadline. If you encounter a technical difficulty, report the problem immediately through OWL messages to the

“Instructor Role” and submit a problem report to ITS through https://servlet.uwo.ca/helpdesk/index.jsp.

Clicker Participation: Clickers will be used in every lecture after the first class. There will be ‘trial’ classes (lectures 2-4, January 7-15) to determine whether your Clicker is programmed correctly. If you plan to use a Clicker in the course, bring your Clicker/WiFi device to these trial days so we can determine whether you need to adjust your programming before Clicker participation starts to count the following class (January 19/20). Refer to the “Use of Clickers in this Course” section toward the end of this document for further details about Clicker use, and the marking scheme for clicker participation. See also the information on the OWL course site for programming and registering your Clicker properly.

Pre-Lecture Quizzes: Short quizzes will be assigned and administered through the OWL ‘Tests & Quizzes’ tool on an approximately weekly basis throughout the course. Each Quiz will be available for a short period of time (e.g. 1-2 days) and will have a specific time limit for completion (e.g. 15 minutes once the quiz has been opened); students will have one attempt to take the Quizzes anytime during the availability period. Students should expect the Quizzes to be composed of approximately 2–5 multiple choice or numerical response questions. The specific content (i.e. assigned textbook readings and/or LaunchPad activities) testable on each Quiz and the number of questions involved will be posted on OWL, along with the availability period. Note that Quizzes will assume understanding of previously tested/taught material, even if not explicitly stated. These quizzes are incorporated into the course to: (i) encourage students to actively complete and engage with the course material on a regular schedule; (ii) review new and previous course concepts that will be drawn upon during upcoming lectures; (iii) ensure students are prepared to get the most out of lecture; (iv) provide students with regular feedback on their understanding of fundamental course concepts. These quizzes are not intended to represent the level of difficulty or comprehension involved in labs, tests, or exams; they are testing for foundational knowledge and understanding only. Each quiz will be assigned a specific number of ‘points’ (based on the number of questions involved) for students to collect. Quizzes will be graded for correct answers and the number of ‘points’ collected will represent the individual’s grade on the quiz. All quizzes will have a specified deadline for completion. No credit will be given for quizzes that are not submitted by the deadlines (i.e., no late submissions will be accepted). At the end of the course, the total number of ‘points’ a student has accumulated will be tallied, and expressed as a percentage out of the total number of points ‘offered’ across all quizzes presented during the course (during the Fall 2015 offering, the total points offered was 40; this term may be slightly more or less). This percentage of points collected by the student will be used to determine the student’s final Pre-Lecture Quiz mark for the course, using the conversion scheme presented in the table shown at right.

Points collected (% total presented)

Final Pre-Lecture Quiz Mark (/4%)

0 0

0 < % collected < 25 1

25 ≤ % collected < 50 2

50 ≤ % collected 75 3

75 ≤ % collected ≤ 100 4

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Because of the ‘flexibility’ in the grading scheme for the Quizzes (i.e. a student only needs to achieve 75% across all the Quizzes to obtain the full 4% allocated to Pre-Lecture Quizzes in the course), there are no make-up Quizzes nor accommodations for any reason (e.g. technical issues, forgotten deadlines, conflicts, etc.). Students are strongly advised to complete the Quizzes using a reliable internet connection (e.g. Ethernet as opposed to WiFi), and to not attempt the Quizzes during the last minutes of the availability period.

Online Midterm Assessment: There will be one Online Midterm Assessment worth 3% administered through the OWL ‘Tests & Quizzes’ tool; the Online Assessment will be available from 9:00 am on Tuesday February 23rd to 11:59 pm on Wednesday February 24th, 2015; students will have a limited amount of time to complete the assessment once started (e.g. 30 minutes – this will be posted on OWL) at any time during the availability period. The Online Midterm Assessment will be composed of approximately 5–8 multiple choice and/or numerical response questions. Each student will have the option of taking two (2) attempts at completing the Online Assessment during the availability period. The questions asked on each attempt may differ, but will be equivalent in difficulty. The higher grade of the two attempts will be counted as the final grade for the Online Midterm Assessment. Specific details of the testable material, exact number of questions, and amount of time for completion will be outlined on the OWL course site prior to the availability period. The purpose of this Online Midterm Assessment is to provide students with low-weight, early feedback (i.e. before Test 2) on foundational course concepts that are necessary for success and understanding of material presented in the second half of the course (i.e. Statistical Inference). Because students have two attempts at the Online Assessment, there will be no make-ups for the Online Midterm Assessment for any reason (e.g. technical issues, forgotten deadlines, conflicts, etc.). Students are strongly advised to complete the Online Midterm Assessment using a reliable internet connection (e.g. Ethernet as opposed to WiFi), and to not attempt the Online Assessment during the last minutes of the availability period. Students who fail to complete the Online Assessment and receive academic accommodation from an academic counselor covering the entire availability period will be accommodated by having the weight of the Assessment (3%) shifted to the Final exam.

Lab Assignments: There will be five, 3-hour labs throughout the term (see course schedule below) plus one Pre-Lab during the week of January 18-22, with corresponding lab assignments. Lab assignments must be completed in lab, using the data collected for your lab period in your lab section. Occasionally, marked components of the Lab assignment may need to be completed in advance of Lab (using the OWL ‘Tests & Quizzes’) tool; information will be posted on OWL in these situations. Lab assignments are submitted electronically through the OWL course site (through the Tests & Quizzes tool) by the end of the lab period in which the lab exercise occurred. Lab assignments must be submitted by 2 hours and 50 minutes into the lab period (i.e. in time for class change). No extensions will be provided. While discussion among peers is acceptable during lab periods, any assignment submitted by an individual must be written in his or her own words. If two or more similar lab assignments are discovered that do not appear to be independent work, then 0% will be recorded for each of them. NOTE CAREFULLY: The OWL ‘Tests & Quizzes’ tool is a reliable tool for submitting lab assignments, provided you follow some simple guidelines. These guidelines will be posted in the ‘Labs’ page on our OWL course website. You should review these guidelines and follow them in each lab. Failure to follow the posted guidelines may result in lost lab assignments or lost marks on assignments. No accommodation or exceptions will be made in situations where students fail to follow the guidelines. Lab attendance for assignments is mandatory. Because using statistical software is one of the learning outcomes for this course, students must attend, complete, and receive a grade for a minimum of three (3) labs in order to earn credit for 2244. You must attend your lab section only. If you miss a lab, you will not be permitted to attend another lab section for any reason. For any missed lab, you must obtain recommendation for academic accommodation from your Dean’s Office, otherwise a grade of zero (0) will be awarded for the missed lab. Up to two (2) missed and accommodated labs will have their weighting(s) (starting with the lowest

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weighting) calculated as the average mark for the other three completed lab assignments. If more than two (2) labs are missed with appropriate accommodation, the student will be issued a course grade of ‘incomplete’ and will be required to make up the remaining missed labs in the next offering of the course. No accommodation will be granted for the 1% bonus if the Pre-Lab (during the week of January 18) is missed for any reason. To receive full credit for a lab assignment, you must be present at the beginning of the lab period when attendance is taken; this requires signing the attendance sheet as a record of your presence and the time you arrived. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure you signed the attendance sheet in proper time. If you arrive and sign-in at lab up to 30 minutes late (i.e., sign the attendance sheet late, but within the first 30 minutes), you will receive a 20% penalty on that lab assignment grade; in other words, your highest possible grade on that lab would be 80%. If you arrive and/or sign-in at lab more than 30 minutes late, and/or fail to sign the attendance sheet at all, your assignment grade will not be recorded and you will receive no credit for the lab assignment even if you complete it. There are no exceptions to this policy because the first 30 minutes in lab involve an introductory talk, instructions for the lab, and/or data collection. To be successful on the lab, it is imperative that you are present for these activities/instructions so you understand the lab, how the data were generated, and the software. Labs are cumulative in the sense that each lab assignment assumes knowledge of the concepts and R steps/output from previous labs and lectures. Should you miss a lab, it is your responsibility to work through the assignment on your own with relevant lab data posted on OWL. If you have questions about lab assignment grading after you have carefully reviewed the feedback provided with your assignment by the TAs grading your assignment, please follow the process for asking grading questions outlined on the OWL course website under “Course Materials/Labs/Grading Questions Process & Deadlines.” Grading questions/concerns for a given assignment will only be addressed within the one week after the graded assignment has been returned electronically (a schedule of the grading period will be made available on the Labs page on OWL, indicating when each graded lab assignment will be returned; the one-week period will start upon return of each graded assignment). Lab exemptions for repeating students: Students who are repeating Biology/Statistics 2244 (i.e. have taken 2244 as either Biology 2244A, Biology 2244B, Statistics 2244A, or Statistics 2244B during the 2014-2015 academic year or Fall 2015 term) are eligible for a lab ‘exemption’. Students who are repeating the course have the option of using their lab grades (Assignments 1 to 5) from the 2014-2015 or Fall 2015 term as their grades for the five individual lab assignments (plus Pre-Lab bonus if applicable) for this term. Choosing to use the previous year’s lab grades is referred to as a “lab exemption”. If you have previously taken and completed 2244A/B in Fall 2014 or later, and are consequently repeating the course, you must read the information titled, “Lab exemption for repeating students”, posted on the OWL course website under ‘Course Materials/Administration. You must also complete a ‘Lab exemption form for repeating students’ through the OWL course site by 11:59 pm on Friday, January 15th (More information about this form is provided under the information for ‘Lab exemption for repeating students’ on OWL). Eligible students who choose to be exempt from Labs are responsible for ensuring that they review and understand the Lab material and assignments, as they will be held accountable for this material on Tests and/or exams. Exemption from Labs will not be accepted as a basis for appeal for poor performance on, and/or failure to answer course components that relate (either directly or indirectly) to that component of the course.

No Risk Tests 1 and 2: There will be two 60-minute, cumulative, ‘no-risk’ Tests (Friday, February 5th, 6:30-7:30 pm, and Friday, March 11th, 6:30-7:30 pm). Each Test will consist of 10–15 exam-difficulty multiple choice questions (the specific number depends on the complexity of material tested and estimated time required to answer the questions; the exact number of questions will be posted to OWL with other relevant details about the Tests closer to the date of each Test).

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These Tests are considered ‘No Risk’ because of the manner in which your final grade for the course will be calculated. Each ‘No Risk’ Test is initially worth 10% of your final grade. However, your final course grade will automatically be calculated under each of the following scenarios; whichever scenario gives you the highest final course grade will be used when submitting your course grade:

Item Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3 Scenario 4

No Risk Test 1 10% 0% 10% 0% No Risk Test 2 10% 15% 0% 0% Final Exam 45% 50% 55% 65% Explanation: Standard distribution

of test marks Redistribution of Test 1 weight: half to Test 2, half to Final Exam

Redistribution of Test 2 weight: all 10% to

Final Exam

Redistribution of Tests 1 and 2 weights: all 20% to Final Exam

The purpose behind the Tests is to provide you with two opportunities during the course for feedback on your understanding of course material under exam-style conditions. Making them ‘No Risk’ means that—if you discover that your understanding is not complete or you perform below your desired level of success during the Test(s)—you still have another opportunity to improve on your achievement for that component of the course grade on the next Test and/or Final Exam (i.e. after you seek additional help/clarification to improve your mastery of the material). Because all assessments in this course are cumulative, the relative weighting of ‘early’ versus ‘late’ course material will be approximately equivalent under each scenario. Note that there are no make-up tests nor accommodations for either of these two ‘No Risk’ Tests. If you have a conflict with the Test time(s) or miss one/both Tests for any reason, you do not need to obtain documentation or request accommodation for your absence. Your grade will automatically be calculated under all four scenarios and the highest grade will be submitted at the end of the course.

Final Exam: The Final Exam is a cumulative 3-hour exam consisting of 45-multiple choice questions. The exam will be held during the April exam period (April 9–30) and will be scheduled by the Registrar’s Office. Do not book travel during this time period until the exam schedule is finalized in mid-March.

Comments on Assessments

Students should expect the Quizzes, Online Midterm Assessment, ‘No Risk’ Tests, and Final Exam to include questions derived from content discussed or taught during lectures, labs, assigned readings/activities, and any supplementary material posted by your Instructor to the course website. A more detailed breakdown on coverage for each Assessment will be posted to OWL prior to the Assessment. Non-programmable calculators are permitted for use during the Tests and Exam. No other aids are allowed. Cellular phones, iPods, and other similar technology are not permitted in the exam room. This means that cellular phones, iPods, and other similar technology cannot be used as a timekeeper/clock, calculator, or for any other purpose. The Quizzes and Online Midterm Assessment are “open-book” in the sense that you welcome to use your textbook and course notes (plus a calculator) as needed. Keep in mind, though, that the expectation is that you complete these assessments independently (i.e., no help from anyone in or outside the course). I strongly encourage students to complete these Assessments under ‘exam-style’ conditions (i.e. closed book, no collaboration) in order to give students a more representative picture of their preparation and understanding. It is Faculty of Science policy that a student who chooses to write a test or exam deems themselves fit enough to do so, and the student must accept the mark obtained. Claims of medical, physical, or emotional distress after the fact will not be considered. The Course Structure Quiz, Quizzes, Online Midterm Assessment, ‘No Risk’ Tests, Labs, Clickers, and Exam will not be re-weighted to accommodate perceived poor performance on any assessment in this course, nor for

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any absence(s) which I have not been recommended to accommodate by an academic counselor. Additional assignments will not be accepted in lieu of a missed Assessment, or to account for perceived poor performance on any graded component of this course. No special rounding rules (e.g. to meet GPA cut-offs, minimal requirements for programs, etc.) are applied in this course when calculating final grades. There are no exceptions to this policy.

Assigned readings

A complete list of assigned material from the textbook will be posted on the course website for each lecture ‘topic’; students are expected to complete all assigned material. However, the specific assigned readings/activities testable on a given Pre-Lecture Quiz will be continually updated throughout the course as the material is incrementally identified and Quizzes are created. Note that ‘assigned’ means that you are expected to read and understand the material contained within the reading. While some of the material may be discussed in lecture, this is not guaranteed. It is your responsibility to cover the assigned material at the appropriate time during the course. All of the assigned reading material (i.e. that tested on Pre-Lecture Quizzes, as well as other assigned material from each lecture topic) is testable on the Labs, Quizzes, Online Midterm Assessment, Tests, and Exams. Be sure to review the Annotations in the etext as you progress through the assigned material.

Advice for Success in this Course

Read this course syllabus in its entirety and understand the policies; Attend class regularly (and participate with a Clicker!), take notes, & complete textbook readings/activities

on schedule; Complete the Pre-Lecture Quizzes and Online Midterm Assessment by the deadlines; Prepare in advance for and attend labs, and work through the lab assignments thoughtfully; Follow the guidelines posted to OWL on the Lab page for successful completion of lab assignments; Practice! Work through at least some of the suggested textbook/LaunchPad exercises immediately after

lecture to make sure you understand the basic concepts. The course is cumulative in the sense that every new concept introduced depends on earlier material. You need to study and do practice problems frequently (not just in the week before the Tests/Exams) to keep up in the course. As Test/Exam dates approach, switch from textbook questions to the sample exam-style problems that will be posted on OWL;

Take advantage of the help available & ask questions (lectures, labs, drop-in hours, forums) on a regular basis.

Extra Help

Test/Exam questions: Sets of exam-style questions will be posted on OWL for your practice prior to the Tests and Exams; bring your questions to drop-in hours or post to the Forum;

Instructors’ drop-in hours: These are (informal) periods to ask questions, discuss concepts, and/or work quietly in the presence of your instructor. I encourage collaboration among all students who come to see me during drop-in hours, so think of these as small, friendly tutorials customized to address whichever questions/ideas students have at the time.

Forums on OWL: This is an open discussion board for posting course material related questions, and responding to each other’s questions. Your Instructor will always review and address (as necessary) all postings.

Statistics Help Centre (MC 275 - hours will be posted on OWL once it opens for the term): This is a graduate-student led help centre that welcomes students from 2244 (and other introductory statistics courses). Check the hours for the centre once posted; drop-in for help as fits your schedule (no appointment necessary).

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Support Services

Learning-skills counsellors at the Student Development Centre (http://www.sdc.uwo.ca) are ready to help you improve your learning skills. They offer presentations on strategies for improving time management, multiple-choice exam preparation/writing, textbook reading, and more. Individual support is offered throughout the Fall/Winter terms in the drop-in Learning Help Centre, and year-round through individual counselling. Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western (http://www.health.uwo.ca/mental_health) for a complete list of options about how to obtain help. Additional student-run support services are offered by the USC, http://westernusc.ca/services. The website for Registrarial Services is http://www.registrar.uwo.ca.

Policy for missed Tests/Exams

If you are unable to meet a course requirement due to illness or other serious circumstances, you must provide valid medical or supporting documentation to an Academic Counselor in your Faculty’s Dean's office as soon as possible, and contact your instructor immediately (especially for a missed Exam). If you are a Science student, the Academic Counselling Office of the Faculty of Science is located in WSC 140, and can be contacted at 519-661-3040 or scibmsac@uwo.ca. Their website is http://www.uwo.ca/sci/undergrad/academic_counselling/index.html A student requiring academic accommodation due to illness must use the Student Medical Certificate (https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/medical_document.pdf) when visiting an off-campus medical facility. For further information, please consult the university’s medical illness policy at http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/accommodation_medical.pdf If you miss the Final Exam, please contact your faculty’s Academic Counselling Office as soon as you are able to do so. They will assess your eligibility to write the Special Exam (the name given by the university to a makeup Final Exam). You may also be eligible to write the Special Exam if you are in a “Multiple Exam Situation” (see http://www.registrar.uwo.ca/examinations/exam_schedule.html). Students who miss a graded component in this course and do not receive appropriate accommodation from their Dean’s Office will be awarded a ‘0%’ for that component. There are no exceptions to this policy. Note: This applies to the Labs, Online Assessment, and Final Exam. Refer to the above descriptions of the other 2244 assessment components for exceptions to this policy (i.e. ‘No Risk’ Tests, etc.)

Classroom Environment

The Department of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences has adopted a "Mutual Expectations" policy governing the classroom environment and all work submitted by students. The full text of the policy can be found at: http://www.stats.uwo.ca/modules/undergraduate/index.php?id=12. In summary, the policy was developed under the premise that all interactions between students and faculty should be governed by the principles of courtesy, respect and honesty.

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Scholastic Offenses

Absolutely no cheating on the Lab assignments, Quizzes, and Tests/Exams will be tolerated. Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at this website: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf Computer-graded multiple-choice quizzes/exams may be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating. During tests/exams, proctors will inspect all personal belongings on your desk (and even your baseball cap if you are wearing one). If any items are discovered that are not permitted (e.g. any electronic device other than a non-programmable calculator, or notes) they will be confiscated and the incident will be officially reported as an academic offence. Proctors have the discretion to move students between desks during the Tests or Exam periods.

Clicker Use in this Course

A “clicker” is a small radiofrequency transmitter that resembles a TV remote (purchasable from the Bookstore), or, a browser page opened on a personal WiFi device (e.g. a smartphone, tablet, or laptop). In class, instructors can ask a variety of structured questions to which you may respond by pressing the appropriate button on your respective device. Individual responses are collected and summarized in a graph at the front of the room. If the instructor chooses, individual responses may also be saved for future analysis. In 2244, clickers will be used primarily to promote engagement and evaluate student understanding during class. They will also provide you with credit and feedback on your lecture preparation and/or participation. The information below provides further details. Clickers For Biol/Stat 2244, we subscribe to and use clicker software produced by Turning Technologies Canada because it is the company supported by the University technology services. Students can therefore participate with a clicker in one of two ways for this course: (a) by bringing and using their own WiFi-enabled device (e.g. a smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc) to connect to Western’s ResponseWare website through a web browser (these are referred to as ‘virtual clickers’), or (b) students can purchase (from the Bookstore or second hand) and use a ‘physical clicker’; for 2244, we only support the “ResponseCard NXT” clickers (with alpha/numeric feature) produced by Turning Technologies Canada as physical clickers, because they can be programmed with your Western UserID (enabling collection of data for individual student participation marks). We cannot support other Turning Technology clickers that are not programmable in this manner. Clicker Responsibility It is your responsibility to ensure that your clicker (be it a physical clicker or a virtual clicker) is functioning properly; the course is not responsible and therefore, no accommodation will be made for WiFi failure should you choose to use a virtual clicker. I will endeavor to post your current Clicker ‘record’ to OWL’s Gradebook on a regular basis during the term (announcements will be made when new updates are posted). Monitor this record throughout the course to confirm your clicker responses are being received and be sure to deal with any concerns about your clicker record immediately. NOTE CAREFULLY: Your clicker record (and consequently, your clicker participation mark) for this course is tied to your ‘DeviceID’. Your ‘DeviceID’ is a unique number printed on the back of your physical clicker, or assigned to you when you create a virtual clicker account. At the start of the course, students opting to use a clicker (physical or virtual) will be required to take a ‘Clicker Identification Quiz’ (administered through the OWL ‘Tests and Quizzes’ tool) to register their Device ID for the course. Accurate completion of this Clicker

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Identification Quiz is required in order to receive clicker participation marks for the course. Only the student whose DeviceID is identified through the Clicker Identification Quiz will receive participation marks for the data recorded for that DeviceID. That means that two 2244 students cannot share a clicker device or account for this course. It also means that you need to use the same virtual clicker account or physical clicker for the whole term to ensure your responses are being recorded properly. Students are also advised to program their physical or virtual clicker with your UWO ‘UserID’ (i.e. the section of your UWO email address before the ‘@uwo.ca’) as a back-up identifier. See the instructions in the physical clicker box on http://presswestern.uwo.ca/students.html for details of how to program your Western UserID into your physical clicker and confirm that it is working properly. If you are using a virtual clicker, follow the instructions posted on OWL for setting up and using your clicker so that it is connected to your UWO UserID. If you have problems with your clicker, consult the ITS Help Desk. Since all physical clickers on campus look identical, it may be best for you to customize yours in ways that make it identifiable to you. If you have to replace a lost or defective physical clicker during the term after you’ve completed the ‘Clicker Identification Quiz’, or if your DeviceID changes at any time during the course, please inform your instructor immediately by OWL message to ‘Instructor Role’. Note, again, that students attending 2244 this term cannot effectively share a physical clicker even if they reprogram UserIDs between responses; only one student’s UserID will be associated with the Device ID for that clicker, and only that student will receive the record of participation. Clicker Academic Record

Your clicker use will be recorded in lecture and will become part of your academic record. As such, your clicker record will be afforded the same degree of security, confidentiality and transparency that is customary for test marks, etc. Note that it is considered an academic offense to answer a question with someone else’s virtual or physical clicker in class.

Clicker questions will be asked during lecture. The proportion of questions that you answered will determine the fraction of the available clicker participation grade (5%) that you earned, as shown in the table at right. I will aim to ask around 3 clicker questions per class. However, some classes will have more or fewer questions. When I compute clicker grades, I will ensure that each class is weighted equally regardless of number of questions actually asked during a class (i.e., if you miss a 5-question class, you won’t be missing more toward your clicker grade than if you missed a 2-question class instead). For a given lecture, you can earn credit for answering clicker questions in either lecture section (i.e. it doesn’t need to be the section you are officially registered in), but not both. That is, you can earn credit from either Tuesday or Wednesday’s lecture (but not both during the same week), and either Thursday or Friday’s lecture (but not both during the same week). Clicker participation only requires that you try; you do not have to get the questions right to get this part of your course grade. Notice that you can miss up to 20% of the clicker questions for any reason without affecting your grade; this ‘buffer’ accounts for any technical problems that may arise during the course, as well as days on which you forgot your clicker or had to miss or were late for class/left early. Please note that no accommodation will be made for missed clicker participation or incorrectly programmed/registered clicker IDs. Your clicker participation mark will be calculated based solely on the data in our records. Consequently, it is imperative that you monitor your clicker mark throughout the term when updates are posted and deal with concerns as soon as they arise.

% Questions answered Final Clicker Mark (/5%)

0 0

0 < % answered < 20 1 20 ≤ % answered < 40 2 40 ≤ % answered < 60 3 60 ≤ % answered < 80 4

80 ≤ % answered ≤ 100 5

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Research

Your clicker data will not be used for any non-academic or research purpose without your consent. For any research study in which you are invited to participate, you will be provided with a Letter of Information with an opportunity to give or withhold consent. Such research will not replace the usual end of term Course Evaluation given by the University. Academic Integrity

Use of a clicker associated with a UserID other than your own is an academic offense. Granting permission for someone else to submit answers on your behalf in your absence is an academic offence. In a test, lab, lecture, or tutorial, possession of more than one clicker, or one associated with the UserID/Device ID of another student, will be interpreted as intent to commit an academic offense and will be reported as such. This means that it will be considered an academic offense to answer a question with two or more virtual or physical clickers in class.

Accessibility Statement

Please contact the course instructors if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 661-2111 x 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

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Course Schedule

This is the tentative schedule for course topics. Some adjustments may be made as the course progresses, depending on the rate at which individual topics are covered. At certain points during the term, you will be responsible for covering some course material on your own time (e.g. through readings or posted videos). Lab topics (e.g. ‘Probability and Sampling Distributions’ are tentative and may change depending on rate of progress through course material).

Week Tentative Topics Important Reminders Jan 4-8

Introduction to course, and Sampling Clicker trial days

Jan 11-15

Study Design, and Descriptive Statistics

Clicker trial days Course Structure Quiz (1%) due 11:59 pm, Jan 15th

Clicker identification Quiz due 11:59 pm, Jan 15th Lab exemption form for repeating students due

11:59 pm, Jan 15th Jan 18-22

Descriptive Statistics, and Probability Pre-Lab (1% bonus) Clicker participation starts counting (Jan 19/20)

Jan 25-29 Random Variables, and Binomial Distribution

Lab 1: Descriptive Statistics in R

Feb 1-5 Normal Distributions, and Sampling Distributions

Test 1 (10%): Friday, Feb 5, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Feb 8-12 Confidence Intervals for mu (μ) Lab 2: Probability and Sampling Distributions Feb 15-19 No classes – Reading Week

Feb 22-26 Confidence Intervals for p Assessment (3%) due 11:59 pm, Wed. Feb 24

Feb 29-Mar 4 Hypothesis Tests for mu (μ) and Paired Sample Inference

Lab 3: Probability & Confidence Intervals

Mar 7-11 Two‐Sample Inference and Correlation Test 2 (10%): Friday, Mar 11, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm Mar 14-18 Regression Inference

Lab 4: Hypothesis Tests

Mar 21-25 Regression (continued) and One Factor ANOVA

No class Friday, Mar 25; Good Friday

Mar 28-Apr 1 One Factor ANOVA (continued) Lab 5: Regression Apr 4-8 Multiple Comparisons (One Factor

ANOVA) No class Thursday, Apr 7 (002): Exam Study Day

No class Friday, Apr 8 (001): Exam Study Day Apr 9-30 April Exam Period (do not book travel during this time)