FAQ
This page collects together some questions that come up on a regular basis. You need to read it at the start of the semester, and it's not a bad idea to re-read it once we're 3 or 4 weeks into the semester and you've established a rhythm for the class.
Logistical Questions
-
My preference is for you to call me by my first name: Andy. My feeling is that in college you're learning how to work in the world of adults, and often (but not always) in that world you'll address people by their first name even if they are a few years older than you.
Disclaimer: many professors do NOT want you to address them by their first name. In general, if you're not sure how to address your professor, you can use ``Professor " without creating any offense.
-
If you've taken Math 205, you should be ready to tackle this material.
-
The short answer: Past experience suggests that many students who haven't yet taken 205 will find (at least parts of) 220 quite difficult; in general, it's not advisable for students to take 220 without having completed (at least significant portions of) 205.
The long answer: There is a portion of a handful of classes in the middle of the semester when we discuss multivariable probability distributions, and during these portions of the class we'll use techniques from Math 205 freely. Students who haven't taken 205 will -- at a minimum -- need to independently learn about partial derivatives, multivariable integration, and the process by which one sets up 2-dimensional (and perhaps 3-dimensional) domains of integration. I can offer some guidance for students attempting to learn this material (pointing you to relevant sections in a calculus text or answering specific questions you have developed while learning the material), but I won't offer lectures on these topics.
-
The second edition of the text has ISBN-13 number 978-1-1383-6991-7. The authors say the differences in the second edition show up in terms of certain examples and problems, as well as some improved exposition. When I post assignments from the book, I'll be sure to list if there is a discrepancy between assigned problem numbers between the first and second edition.
-
I'm very happy to meet outside of office hours, but it will take a little work to coordinate a time that is amenable to both of our schedules. (Remember that this coordination takes time, so the sooner we can be in touch the better.) Contact me via email and let me know the dates and times that work well for your schedule.
-
The syllabus gives you the breakdown I use for each component of the course, together with information about any grades that might get dropped. The challenge in computing your current course average is that you'll have lots of data: we'll likely complete about 10 homework sets, 10 quizzes, 2 midterms and a final. If you want to know how you're doing in the course, I advise you to create a spreadsheet with those grades. Your current scores in each of the four components of the course (homework, quizzes, etc.) can then be calculated pretty easily. Of course I'm also happy to do this for you if you want to set up a meeting.
-
Unless you hear from me otherwise: no. Sometimes I'll try to hold office hours on a holiday, but this depends on many factors; if I am able to hold an office hour on such a day, you'll hear from me by email.
-
If the College is choosing to pretend that Xday is instead Yday, then I'll follow suit and have my schedule structured according to my "usual" Yday schedule.
-
A standard deck comprises 52 cards. Each card has two characteristics: a suit (chosen from $\{\heartsuit, \diamondsuit, \clubsuit,\spadesuit\}$, with names "heart", "diamond," "club" and "spade") and a value (chosen from the set $\{2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K,A\}$, the latter four named "jack", "queen", "king" and "ace"). So a typical card might look like $2\heartsuit$ or $J\clubsuit$.
-
Get in touch with one of your classmates to get a copy of the notes. After you've reviewed the notes and read through the relevant section of the book, feel free to ask me questions about anything that doesn't make sense.
-
This course draws students from a variety of backgrounds, and it covers a wide array of topics that have real world (!) applications. At the end of the day, though, it is a mathematics course. So you should expect to spend a considerable amount of time: working through psets; thinking abstractly; producing computations; extrapolating from abstract constructions to produce specific computations; listening to, understanding, and occasionally producing careful mathematical proofs. We will move at a very fast clip in this course, and each class period will find us delving into some new topic.
-
I'm under no illusion that everyone who takes this class is in love with mathematical abstraction, and there's no doubt that there's a place in this class for discussing specific examples. Indeed, a substantial portion of our class time is spent on working through specific examples! However, there are good reasons for approaching this course material abstractly (even if you hate the idea of mathematical proof). On the most broad level, the careful analytical thought process that underlies mathematics is a wildly applicable skill across all disciplines. More specific to the broader applications of the material in this course, however, a solid understanding of probability (and the mathematical language it is written in) is what provides a foundation for thinking statistically; without a sense for the mathematical underpinnings that produce probability, it's all too easy to abuse statistical techniques when interpreting a data set. Finally, unlike many other math classes, probability is a discipline in which many students come in with preconceived ideas and intuition about the subject; unfortunately, most people's intuition about probability is simply incorrect! By carefully setting probability on a solid mathematical foundation, we ensure that our computations give us accurate reflections of reality.
It's also worth noting that statistics is an entire discipline, and not simply a single class. This course offers the beginnings of the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline. One can dig much deeper into foundations, but one can also spend many semesters studying specific offshoots of the ideas we present in this course. Follow-up courses at the 200- and 300-level in statistics are planned in upcoming semesters, with some delving into other theoretical issues and others focusing on more "applied statistics."
Questions about homework
-
Since you typically won't be allowed to use calculators (or other technological tools) when completing quizzes and tests, it's best to complete your homework without relying heavily on these tools. To do otherwise would be a disservice to your preparation for these other assessment tools. On the other hand, using these kinds of tools to double-check your computations can be a great idea, because then you can determine whether you need to brush up on some of the computational techniques we'll use in the course.
-
Working collaboratively on a problem set has huge pedagogical benefits for everyone involved; you're highly encouraged to do this. Issues of academic integrity come into play only when one student is siphoning off answers from other students without meaningfully engaging in the process.
If there is true collaboration between students on a problem, there's little risk of cheating. If, instead, one student asks another student how to solve a certain problem, there is the potential for a violation of academic integrity. To avoid this, follow this simple guideline. If you're a student asking another student how to solve a problem, have a discussion with that student so that you learn how the problem works. Take notes if you like. Once you feel you understand what's happening, take a 20 minute break and then return to the problem without the use of your notes. If you can complete the problem from start to finish on your own, then you truly understand the problem and can write up your solution formally. If you find that you have to reference your notes from the discussion with your helper, carry through to the end and make yourself comfortable with the problem. Take another 20 minute break and return to the problem, again without notes. If you can complete the problem without referring to your notes, formally write it up and submit it. Otherwise, repeat the process above until you can work the problem entirely on your own.
The process above is intended for those students who genuinely do not know how to approach a problem and are guided from start to finish by a helper (classmate or professor). Of course if you worked on a problem and got almost everything right, but found a small computational error with the help of a friend, you don't have to go through the whole process again. For situations between these two extremes, err on the side of caution when it comes to exercising your ability to complete problems independently after coaching from someone else.
Questions about quizzes and/or tests
-
The answer depends on the type of question. For problems that involve computations, relevant material is whatever was covered in the problem set(s) due since the last quiz. For problems that are theorem or definition restatements, or problems that involve giving simple examples of some mathematical object or phenomenon, relevant material is whatever was covered in lectures given since the last quiz.
-
Absolutely not. I consider this a serious breach of academic integrity. If I find out that a student has viewed copies of old tests, or has otherwise solicited information about tests from former students, I will bring up a formal honor code case.
-
No. See the above.
-
The easiest way to make sure everyone is on a level playing field is for students to wait to talk about the quiz/test until they've heard from me that everyone has taken the quiz/test. If you must talk about the quiz/test with someone before you've been told everyone has taken an exam, only speak about the quiz/test with people that you know have taken the quiz/test already. Do no speak about the quiz/test in the company of others who have no taken the quiz/test. It's obvious that you shouldn't divulge specific information (like particular questions), but you also shouldn't give qualitative information (you felt the quiz/test was ``easy" or ``hard" or ``fair", etc.) or even logistical information (the test was 12 pages long, or printed on white copy paper, or stapled in the top left corner). In short: don't say anything about a quiz/test to a person who has not taken the quiz/test until after you've been told by the professor that it's ok.
It would impossible for me to administer exams and quizzes in this way at an institution that didn't have a robust honor code. It is a privilege --- for you and for me --- that we're at a school where integrity counts. It is your responsibility to ensure that you live up to this standard so that everyone gets the chance to take quizzes and exams under the same conditions, and therefore so that these instruments can reflect each individuals understanding of the course material.
-
No. Experience has shown me that practice tests are not effective in getting students to prepare for exams, and they typically do more to hurt than facilitate student learning. Students are better served reviewing the relevant notes, creating their own study sheet, determining their strengths and weaknesses, and then allotting study time accordingly. Much like completing homeworks, this kind of preparation requires an investment of time and energy. Of course, that investment of time and energy doesn't have to be done independently! Collaborating on test preparation with peers or the instructor has the same pedagogical benefits as collaboration on psets, and is highly encouraged.
-
Possibly. Please let me know as soon as you can so I can determine if an accommodation is warranted.
-
Our exams will be mostly computational in nature, but I'll also ask questions that test your understanding of the fundamental theory which drives the material we've learned in the class. Computational problems are best prepared for by doing lots of computational practice problems; there are a wealth of such problems at the end of each section of your text, and of course you'll have done computational problems on homeworks and quizzes. When combing the text for problems, it's useful to know that typically the first few questions in a section are quite straightforward, with more challenging problems towards the end of the section. It's not a bad idea to start off with the simpler questions, and then later see if you can tackle more substantive ones. To prepare for questions which are more conceptual in nature, you're encouraged to review your notes and think carefully about the ``big ideas" that we've used in the class. Work to have a solid understanding of how the various topics in the course fit together. If we develop some computational tool, be sure to remember not only the kind of problem that tool is meant to address, but why this particular gadget is effective in answering that question.
-
Why does anyone do anything?