STA220H1F Course Syllabus (L0101/L0301/L0401/5101)

THE PRACTICE OF STATISTICS I

STA 220H1F – Fall 2019
Instructor Section Time (Location)
Karen Huynh Wong L0101 (Env Sci) M 10-12 (MC102)
e. [email protected] W 10-11 (MC102)
Katherine Daignault L0301(Health & T 2-3 (ES 1050)
e. [email protected] Life Sciences) R11-1 (ES 1050)
Fode Tounkara L0401 T 3-4 (ES 1050)
e. [email protected] R 3-5 (ES 1050)
L5101 T 6-9 (BA 1160)

How and when will the course operate?

See the “Course Schedule” and Calendar on Quercus.

Course content
Course content can be found on Quercus (https://q.utoronto.ca/).

Course materials provided on Quercus are for the use of students currently enrolled in this course
only. Sharing (e.g., posting, providing, selling) course materials with anyone outside of the course
is considered unauthorized use.

This course will provide an intuitive introduction to fundamental statistical concepts and
reasoning. The course will cover: methods of data collection; constructing effective
graphical and numerical displays; estimating and describing the natural variability in data; and
the key ideas in how statistical tests can be used to separate significant differences from
those that are only a reflection of the natural variability in data.

The learning objectives of the course are:

• Understand the ideas, principles, and considerations that are common to all
statistical methods,
• Develop a statistical toolbox of some methods for the collection, analysis, and
display of data,
• Identify appropriate uses of the statistical methods, including their strengths and
limitations, and
• Develop statistical literacy, including the ability to recognize the importance of data
in decision-making and understand the social and scholarly applications of statistics.

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Topics to be covered

Topic Description

A first look at data Summary statistics and graphical displays for a single categorical or
quantitative variable and for relationships between two variables.

Collecting Data Sampling. Observational studies and experiments. The effect of

confounding and concluding causation.

Probability Probability models, Bayes’ theorem, the normal distribution, the

Law of Large Numbers, the Central Limit Theorem, sampling
distributions.

Confidence Intervals Confidence intervals for proportions and means.

Statistical Tests Tests of significance for proportions and means.

Two Samples Tests of significance and confidence intervals for proportions and
means in the two-sample case.

Linear Regression Method of least squares, evaluating model fit, the effects of outliers
and influential observations.

Your responsibilities

The course is designed to actively engage you in the course material. We hope you’ll find
the subject of statistics interesting, challenging, and fun, and an excellent opportunity to
truly learn the material. Each week, you will be introduced to the course material through
video lectures, with fine-tuning and learning support in lecture in the following week. In
order for the in-class sessions to be effective, preparing by learning about the week’s concepts
through the video lectures and notes is essential.

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Textbook

There is no required course textbook. All of the course material is contained in the videos
and notes.

There are many textbooks that cover the topics in the course. Two recommended
textbooks are:

1. OpenIntro Statistics. Diez, D. Barr, C. D., and Cetinkaya-Rundel Mine.

https://www.openintro.org/stat/textbook.php

OpenIntro Statistics is free and available to download. This is an excellent textbook that is
less conversational compared to the Velleman et al. textbook. However, the concepts are
clearly explained. A nice feature of the text and website is that many of the examples and
vignettes used to illustrate the concepts are based on real applications of statistics.

2. Stats: Data and Models, third Canadian edition, by Richard D. De Veaux,

Paul F. Velleman, David E. Bock, Augustin M. Vukov, and Augustine C.M.
Wong. 3rd ed.

This textbook is available at the University of Toronto bookstore. It is extremely easy to
read and is written in a conversational style. Most of the concepts are clearly explained and
there are lots of fun and interesting vignettes that illustrate statistical concepts.

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Calculators

You will need a calculator. Only calculators without communication and/or photo viewing
capabilities will be permitted. Calculators on phones or other devices equipped to
communicate with the outside world (for example, through the internet or cellular or
satellite phone networks) will not be permitted during the term test and the final exam.

Computing

We will use R for all examples. R is freely available for download at http://cran.r-project.org
for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. For the test and exam, you will
need to know how to interpret output from R. You will not need to know R commands.
Those of you who would like to learn how to do the analysis yourself using R can watch
the optional R videos (which show how to replicate the work done in the video lectures).

Discussion Forum

All sections of STA220 will be using Piazza as a platform for discussions. You can sign up
for the discussion forum here: (http://piazza.com/utoronto.ca/fall2019/sta220h1)

Additional Help

Need extra help with the coursework? Here are some options:

• Post your question on the class discussion forum on Piazza. The instructor and TAs
will monitor this discussion forum regularly.

• The instructor and TAs will have weekly office hours.

• E-mail should only be used for emergencies or personal matters. If you email
course questions to the instructor or TA, you will be asked to post your question
on the discussion forum. In other words, individual questions about the course
content will not be answered via email.

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Evaluation
Grades will be calculated using two schemes. The final course grade will be the largest of
these two grades.

Assessment Scheme 1 Scheme 2

Class Participation 5% 0%
Weekly Quiz 15% 15%
Midterm 30% 35%
Final Exam 50% 50%

For example, if a student obtained 75% using Scheme 1 and 78% using Scheme 2 then the
final course grade is 78%.

Date Time Location

Midterm L0101: Monday, Oct. 21 10:10-11:40 To be determined

(Module 1-4)
L0301: Thursday, Oct. 17 11:10-12:40

L0401: Thursday, Oct. 17 15:10-16:40

L5101: Tuesday, Oct. 15 18:10-19:40

Weekly Sundays (see course Submit by Online (Quercus)

quizzes schedule) 23:59

Final Exam Scheduled by Faculty of Arts and Science

Weekly Quizzes
You will be given an online quiz on the topics covered in the weekly modules. These
quizzes should be completed after watching the videos and reading the notes posted each
week.

§ The due date will always be on Sunday at 23:59. Please see the course schedule
for specific due dates.

§ The weekly quiz will cover material in the week’s video lectures.

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§ The quiz will consist of multiple choice and true/false questions, randomly
chosen from a pool of questions.

§ The number of questions will vary from week to week but the quizzes will be
equally weighted.

§ You will find out your score immediately and you can take the quiz as many
times as you’d like up to the Sunday 23:59 deadline.

§ Your final quiz score will be the highest score from all of your attempts. Note
that you will get a different randomly generated quiz each time. This means
that you will not be penalized for taking the quiz again even if you obtain 100%
on a previous attempt.

Term Test and Exam

The term test will be written during class time. You will be permitted to bring an 8.5”x11”,
one-sided, handwritten aid sheet. The time and date will be different for each section of
the course (see schedule above). Students will only be allowed to write the term test in
their section. You must bring your student identification to the term test.

The faculty of arts and science schedules the final exam. You will be permitted to bring a
8.5”x11”, two-sided, handwritten aid sheet. You must bring your student identification to
the final exam.

Missed Tests
• If a test is missed for a valid medical reason, you must submit the University of
Toronto Verification of Student Illness or Injury form
(http://www.illnessverification.utoronto.ca) to your instructor within one week of
the test.
• The form will only be accepted as valid if the form is filled out according to the
instructions on the form.
• The form must indicate that the degree of incapacitation on academic
functioning is moderate, serious, or severe in order to be considered a
valid medical reason for missing the term test. If the form indicates that
the degree of incapacitation on academic functioning is negligible or
mild then this will NOT be considered a valid medical reason.
• If a test is missed for a valid reason then you will be given a multiple choice online
makeup test. The instructor will schedule the time and date of the makeup test.
• The online makeup test will be worth 5% of the final grade and the final exam will
be worth 75% (or 80%) of the final grade.
• If a student misses both the originally scheduled and makeup tests without valid
documentation, then a grade of zero will be assigned for the makeup test.

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Otherwise, the weight will be shifted to the final exam.

• Other reasons for missing a test will require prior approval by your instructor. If
prior approval is not received for non-medical reasons then you will receive a grade
of zero for the missed midterm test.

Marking concerns
Any requests to have your midterm test remarked must be made in writing to your
instructor within one week of receiving your test. The request must contain a justification
for consideration.

How to communicate with your instructor

Questions about course material, such as,
- How do I do question 3.7 in the textbook?

- What is standard deviation?

- When is the midterm?

Should be posted on the discussion forums on Piazza. Questions can be posted

anonymously (so that the author is anonymous to other students but not to the
instructors), if desired.

If your communication is private, such as, “I missed the test because I was ill”, then e-mail
your instructor. Use your utoronto.ca e-mail account to ensure that your message doesn’t
automatically go to a Junk folder and include your full name, student number, and course
section (L0101/L0301/L0401/L5101).

Academic integrity
You are responsible for knowing the content of the University of Toronto’s Code of
Behaviour on Academic Matters here. If you have any questions about what is or is not
permitted in this course, please do not hesitate to contact your instructor.

Accessibility needs

The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility. If you require accommodations for

a disability, or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the class room, or course
materials, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible:
[email protected] or http://accessibility.utoronto.ca.

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