This course is designed to be welcoming and accessible to all students. It is my goal for our learning environment to facilitate learning and intellectual development for everyone. If something was said in class (by anyone) that made you feel uncomfortable, or if there is some aspect of class that is not welcoming or accessible to you, please let me know immediately.

• Academic Accommodations

AccessAbility Services is the office on campus that determines academic accommodations for students with disabilities. If you need official accommodations through AccessAbility Services, you have a right to have these met and kept confidential. Please contact AccessAbility Services, located in Mary Lyon Hall 3rd Floor, at 413-538-2634 or accessability-services@mtholyoke.edu. If you are eligible for academic accommodations, you will be provided with an accommodation letter. Once you receive your accommodation letter, I would like to meet with you and discuss these approved accommodations and our class. For more information on who might be eligible for accommodations and the application process please see the AccessAbility Services website.

• Religious Accommodations

In support of our religiously diverse student population, students may miss a class, obtain an extension on an assignment, or reschedule an exam if there is a conflict with a religious high holiday or observance. Students should notify me at the beginning of the module if a religious observance will require special accommodation.

• Other Accommodations

If you have any needs that require accommodation, e.g., a personal or family emergency or health condition that affects your ability to participate in class, please feel free to talk with me.

The following activities and assessments will help you successfully achieve the course learning objectives. By experiencing the course content in different ways, you will not only gain a better understanding of statistics, but you will also get experiences that can guide you as you apply what you’ve learned in future academic and professional projects.

• Weekly problem set

The weekly problem sets are designed to enhance your understanding of the materials through multiple small statistical analysis and computational tasks. These assignments are graded based on individual efforts – you are encouraged to work with others in the class, but your writing-up must be your own.

• DataCamp

In the first two weeks, you will be asked to complete DataCamp assignment from the Introduction to R course, Introduction to Tidyverse, and Introduction to ggplot2 course. You will get an email by the first day of class inviting you to join our class organization with an assignment pointing you to the specific chapters to do. The DataCamp assignment is graded based on completion. Each assignment is worth 1 point.

• Mini-projects

In the mini-projects, you will apply the concepts you learned to complete data analysis tasks. You will get one mini-project each week during the first three weeks.

• MP 01 (5%) will get you up to speed with Rstudio and Rmarkdown document
• MP 02 (10%) will horn your skills in data visualization and summaries
• MP 03 (15%) will showcase your data modeling skills

You will be assigned to a different group each week for completing these miniprojects.

• Final project

The final group project spans over the last four weeks. You will do analysis on a dataset of your own choosing. The goal of this project is for you to demonstrate proficiency in the techniques we have covered in this class (and beyond, if you like) and apply them to a dataset in a meaningful way. You will begin with (1) finding a dataset and research question on your own (2) writing a project proposal with exploratory data analysis (3) and presenting your proposal at the grant panel on Nov 23 and Nov 24. Among all your submission, 25% of the projects will be selected to proceed onto the next stage. You will form a group based on your interest in the selected projects and work with each other to create a final report and presentation.

• FP 01: Project proposal (15%)
• FP 02: Proposal presentation (10%)
• FP 03: Final report (10%)
• FP 04: Final presentation (10%)

Note that you are responsible for forming your own group in the final project. There will a post on Piazza for finding a team. If you still need help find a group, or a group member, just let me know.

• Tutorials (not collected)

Each day there will be a hands-on tutorial with additional exercises in statistical reasoning and programing in R. You are expected to complete these tutorials by the end of the day, as they will be great resources before you attempt your HW and projects. Office hours is a great time to ask questions about the tutorial exercises.

• Late Policy

All the due dates can be found on the schedule page. If late but within 1 hour of due time, 3% of the assignment grade will be subtracted; if late but within 24 hours, 20% of the assignment grade will be subtracted. Any later will receive no credit, unless there is a pre-arrangement agreed by me. Be sure to turn in your work early to avoid any technological mishaps. There is no late work accepted for FP02 and FP04.

• Final grade calculation

The final grade will be calculated as follows:

1. Individual-based work (50%)
   • Weekly homework + Datacamp (25%)
   • FP01, FP02 (25%)
2. Group-based work (50%)
   • Miniprojects (30%)
   • FP03, FP04 (20%)

Cumulative numerical averages of 90 - 100 are guaranteed at least an A-, 80 - 89 at least a B-, and 70 - 79 at least a C-, however the exact ranges for letter grades will be determined after the final exam period.

This upcoming semester will be unlike any other in the history of Mount Holyoke. The Covid-19 has caused unprecedented challenges and disruptions in our life, nearby campus or the world. We are engaged in what may be the greatest experiment in the history of higher education. As an instructor, I am grateful to you and your classmates for your flexibility as we transition to new models of teaching, and I am committed to doing my very best to make your learning experience exceptional.

• Your health and well-being

Part of making sure you have an engaging learning experience involves taking care of yourself, especially during the time of an ongoing pandemic. Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester by eating well, exercising, maintaining a physical distance of 6 feet, washing your hands often, getting enough sleep and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress. If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, contact your closest health services immediately for help and reach out to me to discuss accommodations for you to take this course. If you experience significant stress or worry, changes in mood, or problems eating or sleeping this semester, whether because of Stat140 or other courses or factors, please do not hesitate to reach out immediately to me to discuss. Everyone can benefit from support during challenging times. Not only are we happy to listen and make accommodations with deadlines as needed, we can also refer you to additional support structures.

• Stay engaged in the course

Your active engagement in the course is crucial to your learning. Here are multiple pathways for you to stay engaged.

• Asking questions in class and on Piazza: Questions are a normal part of the process of learning.

• Answering questions in class and on Piazza: Don’t worry if you got the answer wrong. Mistakes are valuable. You learn and improve each time you fix your mistakes.

• Coming to Zoom office hours

• Stay connected with each other

Mount Holyoke is no common community. We are wired to be caring for others. Let’s all make efforts towards creating a welcoming learning environment for everyone. For example,

• When doing group projects, consider inviting those locate in a different time zone.
• Working towards deadlines can be stressful. Be mindful about how you phrase your questions, comments, inquiries, and suggestions. Also be generous and forgiving when reading them.

Mount Holyoke College is a community of students, faculty, staff, and administrators committed to free inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge in the tradition of the liberal arts. The decision to join this academic community requires acceptance of special rights and responsibilities that are essential for its effective functioning and the realization of its mission. All members of the community share the responsibility to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity.

By enrolling in this course, you have agreed to abide by the MHC Honor Code: “I will honor myself, my fellow students, and Mount Holyoke College by acting responsibly, honestly, and respectfully in both my words and deeds.” Any work that does not will be reported to the Academic Honor Board. For more detail on what constitutes an academic violation of the Honor Code, please see the College Academic Rights and Responsibilities webpage

To encourage active engagement and academic inquiry in the classroom, as well as to safeguard the privacy of students and faculty, no form of audio or visual recording in the zoom classroom is permitted without explicit permission from the professor/instructor or without a letter from AccessAbility Services, signed by the faculty member, authorizing the recording as an accommodation. Authorized recordings on Moodle may only be used by students for their own use and may not be shared or distributed for any reason. Violation of this policy is an infraction of the Mount Holyoke Honor Code and academic regulations and will result in disciplinary action.

This synchronous class session will be recorded and may be made publicly available for students who cannot make it to the class time. Breakout sessions will not be recorded. If you’d like to participate but prefer not to be recorded, you may choose to turn off your video. If you are concerned about privacy issues, please don’t hesitate to contact me.