Introduction to Statistics I-AP: Inference for a Single Variable

Dave Bock

Aim of Course:

To provide an easy introduction to statistical inference for a single variable. Once you've completed this course you'll be able to apply statistically valid designs to basic studies, and test hypotheses regarding proportions and means.

Note: This is the first of a two course sequence, part two being Introduction to Statistics II: Working with Bivariate Data. For those with little or no prior exposure to basic probability and descriptive stats, see also the companion preliminary course, Introduction to Statistics for Beginners, or, alternately, Survey of Statistics for Beginners.

This is a summer session of our regular Introduction to Statistics 1 course, and is especially suited to AP stats teachers who need to tune up their statistical skills. The summer sessions feature an emphasis on graphing calculators, a high school version of the textbook (possibly the same textbook you will use in class), and an instructor who is an experienced AP Stats teacher. The topics covered and the requirements for certificates, grades or credit are the same as for our other offerings of the course."

Who Should Take This Course:

Anyone who encounters statistics in their work, anyone who teaches statistics - especially AP statistics. The only mathematics you need is arithmetic (see below for basic prerequisites).

Course Program:

The course is structured as follows

The Instructor:

Dave Bock has taught statistics at Ithaca High School, Tompkins-Cortland Community College, Ithaca College, and Cornell University, where, as K-12 Education and Outreach Coordinator, he also leads AP Statistics workshops and other professional development workshops on pedagogy, curriculum, and mathematics for pre-service and current math teachers. Dave has won numerous teaching awards, including the MAA's Edyth May Sliffe Award for Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching (twice), Cornell University's Outstanding Educator Award (three times), and has been a finalist for New York State Teacher of the Year. Dave has co-authored the AP Statistics textbook Stats: Modeling the World, two college statistics texts, and the Barron's review book How to Prepare for the AP Calculus Examination (soon to appear in its 8th edition). He has been a Reader for the AP Statistics exam (and the AP Calculus exam), serves as a statistical consultant for the College Board, leads numerous AP Statistics workshops and AP Statistics summer institutes for teachers nationwide, and is a frequent presenter at state, regional, and national conferences.

Organization of the Course:

The course takes place over the internet, at statistics.com. During each course week, you participate at times of your own choosing - there are no set times when you must be online. Course participants will be given access to a private discussion board. In class discussions led by the instructor, you can post questions, seek clarification, and interact with your fellow students and the instructor. The course is scheduled to take place over 3 weeks, and typically requires 10-15 hours per week (depending on prior experience with statistics, those planning to teach AP Statistics may feel a need to put in more). At the beginning of each week, you receive the relevant material, in addition to answers to exercises from the previous session. During the week, you are expected to go over the course materials and work through exercises. Discussion among participants is encouraged. The instructor will provide answers and comments.

Certificates and Grades:

You may be interested only in learning the material presented, and not be concerned with grades or certificates. Or you may be enrolled in a statistics.com Professional Advancement Program that requires demonstration of proficiency in the subject, in which case your work will be assessed for purposes of issuing a grade. Or you may require only a "Certificate of Course Completion," along with professional development credit in the form of Continuing Education Units (CEU's). As you begin the class, you will be asked to specify your category.

Credit:

Academic credit is available via the American Council on Education (ACE) Credit Recommendation Service for this course, when taken together with Introduction to Statistics 2 (3.0 semester hours for the two together) . Click here for details. This course also offers continuing education units (CEU's). For those successfully completing the course (generally this means marks of 50% or better on the homework), 3.75 CEU's and a certificate will be issued by statistics.com, upon request.

Dates:

Jun. 13 - Jul. 4, 2008
Click here to be notified of future course offerings.

Participants gain access to the online materials on the first day of the course, and typically spend about 10-15 hours per week (at their convenience). You retain full access to course materials, including discussion board, for two weeks after the course closing date.

Level:

Novice/Refresher

Course Text:

The course text for the summer sessions is Bock, Velleman and De Veaux, Stats: Modeling the World, with ActivStats CD. This text is a variant of the text for the main sections of this course. You can purchase it directly from the publisher here. This text is among the top choices for AP statistics. (Note: If you are a statistics instructor contemplating teaching with this book, you may wish to obtain the Instructor's edition, which you can find using the above Addison Wesley link). ActivStats is an award-winning multimedia statistics tutorial. It runs on PCs and Macs.

Important: To make sure you get the right textbook bundled with the right CD, we strongly recommend that you buy them as a package directly from the publisher at the above link, rather than from Amazon or a used book market.

Please order your text in time to have it in hand by the course starting date!

Software:

Those contemplating teaching AP statistics (or any high school statistics course) will probably want to use a graphing calculator. The textbook integrates instruction in using the TI-83 family of graphing calculators and provides brief tips on using SPSS, JMP, Minitab and the TI-89 graphing calculator.

Registration:

Register Online - $349
Register Online (academic) - $279 (you must be affiliated with a college, university or high school)

Add $50 service fee if you require a prior invoice, or if you need to submit a purchase order or voucher, pay by wire transfer or EFT, or refund and reprocess a prior payment. Please use this printed registration form, for these and other special orders.

Note: Courses may fill up at any time and registrations are processed in the order in which they are received. Your registration will be confirmed for the first available course date, unless you specify otherwise.