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School of
Agriculture and Natural Resources
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Course
Outline for AGSC 135
COMPUTER
APPLICATIONS IN RESEARCH I
Spring
2001
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr.
Walid H. Shayya |
Instructor
Contact Information
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GENERAL
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
AGSC
135 is the first of two one-credit courses in the laptop curriculum
of Agricultural Science involving the application of agricultural
statistics and computers in research. The course encompasses an
introduction to statistical methods to agricultural science students
using examples and applications to which students can easily
relate. The course also focuses on teaching students basic
statistical analysis using the MS Excel spreadsheet program and
other pertinent computer tools. Students enrolled in AGSC 135,
which is part of the laptop curriculum, will be introduced to these
important concepts through lectures and exercises that they may
complete on their laptops. Emphasis will be placed on
providing the student with problem-solving skills and the ability to
interpret the results of basic statistical analysis.
Following
a brief introduction to statistics and statistical inference,
students enrolled in AGSC 135 are introduced to common measures of
central tendency and dispersion used in summarizing data followed by
an introduction to the main concepts of probability and probability
distributions. Towards the end of the semester, students
enrolled in AGSC 135 will be provided with key material on sampling
and sampling distributions.
COURSE
OBJECTIVES:
- To
provide the student with a basic understanding of statistical
methods and probability.
- To
provide the student with an appreciation of the types of problems
in agriculture that can be analyzed statistically.
- To
acquaint the student with the use of computer technology in
interpreting research data and making presentations.
- To
get the student acquainted with using the laptop in his/her
courses.
OFFICE
HOURS:
The
instructor's designated office hours are on Tuesday (3:00 to 5:00
p.m.), Wednesday (11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon), Thursday (4:00 to 5:00
p.m.), and Friday 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon). Students are also
welcome to make appointments to see the instructor at other times.
Students with disabilities who require accommodations to
fully-participate in the course activities are requested to contact
the instructor within the first two weeks of the semester.
CONTACT
HOURS AND CLASS SCHEDULE:
This
is a one-credit hour course. The class includes one contact hour per
week for 15 weeks. The class is scheduled for Tuesdays, 5:00 to 5:50
p.m., Room 102, Marshall Hall.
TEXTBOOK(S):
Davis,
B. 2000. Introduction to Agricultural Statistics. Delmar,
Albany, New York.
CLASS
POLICIES:
- Attendance:
Given the nature of the course, all students are urged to attend
all classes. Attendance will be taken during each class session
and appropriate actions will be taken when students have more than
2 to 3 unexcused absences during the semester. Very few or no
absences will be considered during the grading process when the
student is close to receiving the next higher letter grade. No
make-up examination will be given without a written medical
excuse, family emergency, or prior permission from the instructor.
Students are responsible for all materials covered in the class
whether presented orally during lectures or assigned.
- Assignments:
This course will include seven homework assignments of equal
weights. At the end of the semester, the two assignments
with the lowest grades will be dropped for each student.
However, a student missing an assignment will receive a grade of
zero on that assignment, although this grade could be dropped if
the assignment is considered to be one of the two assignments with
low grades. Class assignments will account for 25% of the
final grade. Therefore, it is important that students
complete their assignments accurately, neatly, and on time.
Assignments received past the due date will be devalued 5% for
each day that the item is late. No class assignment of any
student will be graded (for credit) once the same assignment is
corrected and returned to the class.
- Examinations:
There will be two class examinations and a comprehensive final in
AGSC 135. Class examinations will cover class material,
homework assignments, and assigned readings.
- Academic
honesty policy: The College imposes specific actions in response
to incidents of cheating and academic dishonesty. These procedures
will be followed and appropriate actions will be taken if these
event were to occur.
- Class
behavior: Good behavior in the classroom is expected from all
students. Students who engage in unacceptable behavior
will be asked to leave the class.
- Things
to remember: The material covered in AGSC 135 should be
straightforward and easy, only if the student keeps up with this
material (understanding earlier lectures will be critical to
grasping concepts presented in subsequent lectures) and puts in
the effort. Each student should plan to spend at least three
hours per week for every lecture convened in class. Given
the course's focus, students are urged to spend the time in
solving problems and completing the required homework assignments
on time (and independently). Solving additional problems
from the text and revisiting the problems solved in the class will
be very helpful. Completing assignments well before the due
date will give the student a chance to ask questions should he/she
encounter problems. Students also should remember to ask
questions of the instructor when they face difficulties, whether
inside or outside the classroom. The instructor has an
open-door policy and welcomes the opportunity to visit with
students whenever needed.
GRADE
COMPOSITION:
- Class
Participation, Attendance, Work Ethic ==> 5% of final grade
- Homework
Assignments ==> 25% of final grade
- First
Exam (during the 6th week) ==> 20% of final grade
- Second
Exam (during the 16th week) ==> 20% of final grade
- Final
Examination ==> 30% of final grade
GRADING
SCHEME:
The
distribution of grades in this course will be based on the A-F
College grading scheme. The letter grades correspond to the
following percentage scale: A (90-100%), A- (87-89.9%), B+
(83-86.9%), B (80-82.9%), B- (77-79.9%), C+ (73-76.9%), C
(70-72.9%), C- (67-69.9%), D+ (63-66.9%), D (60-62.9%), and F
(<60%).
OUTLINE
OF TOPICS:
Week
|
Lecture
Topic*
|
Textbook
Chapter(s) |
Homework
Assignment
and Due Date
|
1 |
-
Introduction to AGSC135
- Variables and summation |
Chapter
1 (pages 1-7) |
#1,
Problems 2 and 3 on page 8 (Due on 1/30/2001) |
2 |
-
Different Forms of Data
Presenting Data |
Chapter
2 (pages 9-18) |
|
3 |
-
Measuring Central Tendency of Data |
Chapter
2 (pages 18-24) |
#2,
Problems 1a,b,c and 4a,b,c on page 31 (Due on 2/13/2001) |
4 |
-
Measures of Dispersion |
Chapter
2 (pages 24-28) |
|
5 |
-
Data Properties of Importance |
Chapter
2 (pages 28-30) |
#3,
Problems 4d,e and 5 on pages 31 and 32 (Due on 2/27/2001) |
6 |
Break
1 (No class) |
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7 |
Progress
Examination I (Feb. 27, 2001) |
Chapters
1 and 2 |
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8 |
-
Summarizing Ungrouped Data |
Excel
Hands-on Exercise |
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9 |
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Summarizing Grouped Data |
On-Line
Handout on Common Excel Function |
#4,
Problem set on summarizing data using
Excel (Due on 3/20/2001) |
10 |
-
Methods of Counting (permutations and combinations) |
Chapter
3 (pages 33-36) |
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11 |
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Probability
- Sets of Data |
Chapter
3 (pages 36-40) |
#5,
Problems 1, 2, and 4 on page 46 (Due on 4/17/2001) |
12 |
Break
2 (No class) |
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|
13 |
-
Random Variables
- Rules of Probability
- Mathematical Expectation |
Chapter
3 (pages 40-45) |
#6,
Problems 7, 11, and 13 on page 47 (Due on 4/24/2001) |
14 |
-
Probability Density Functions
- Binomial Probability Distribution |
Chapter
4 (pages 49-52) |
|
15 |
-
Poission Probability Distribution
- Normal Probability Distribution |
Chapter
4 (pages 53-59) |
#7,
Problems 8 and 11 on page 61 (Due on 5/11/2001) |
16 |
Progress
Examination II (April 17, 2001) |
Chapters
3 and 4 |
|
17 |
-
Probability and Non-probability Based Samples
- Sampling Distribution |
Chapter
5 (pages 63-72) |
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Final
Examination (comprehensive) |
Chapters
1 thru 5 |
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*The
topics and corresponding dates listed in the table above are tentative
and may be subject to change during the semester. |