Mathematics 311: Probability and Statistics
Fall 1998

Professor: John Verzani
Office: 1S-224
Telephone: 982-3623
e-mail: verzani@postbox.csi.cuny.edu
www: http://www.math.csi.cuny.edu/~verzani
Office Hours:
Required Text: Probability; Pitman
Meeting Time and places: Tuesday 6:30-8:10, 1S-219 Thursday 6:30-8:10, 1S-219
Exam dates: Special dates: Please see pg. 7 of the schedule of classes for a full list of special dates.

Expectations This class will be an introduction to probability and statistics. Among the topics covered will be the binomial, uniform, normal and Poisson distributions, random variables: their expectation and standard deviation, and from statistics confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. There is a calculus component to this class. You will be required to differentiate and integrate functions of more than one variable. We will use the MATLAB software to illustrate points, and their may be a MATLAB project or two assigned during the semester.

Homework The class syllabus contains homework problems for you to work on during the semester. It is expected that you begin the homework for a section while we discuss the sectin. If it is unclear what you should be doing, do not hesitate to ask.

As well, during the semester, handout sheets on statistics will be given which will contain further homework questions.

During the semester, homework will be collected and a grade will be issued. The details will be announced in class as appropriate.

Grading Your final grade will be calculated from your scores on the final exam and the three in-class exams. If you are passing, your homeowork average will also be averaged in.

The final will be 40% and the in-class exams 20% each. A letter grade will appear on each exam, so that you can easily calculate how well you are performing.

In grading, partial credit may be given for work that looks promising. However, in this class a correct answer that is supported with incorrect work will be marked as incorrect.

Exam Policy I expect full attendance for all the exams. If you know ahead of time that you will miss an exam, you must make prior arrangements with me before the exam. As a general rule, there will be no make-up exams. No accommodations for a missed final exam will be made. Please keep your old exams as they are your record of your grade.

Exam Dates The exam dates are listed at the top of this sheet. If there are changes to these dates they will be announced in class. Do not assume that the exams will follow the schedule indicated by the syllabus. The content of each exam will be announced in class prior to the exam. The date and time of the final exam will be announced during the semester.