Intro to Course

M. Drew LaMar
August 29, 2018

“Statistics are used much like a drunk uses a lamppost: for support, not illumination.”

- Andrew Lang

Who's Who & Enrollment Info

  • 90 max enrollment
    • 79 undergraduates
    • 3 graduates
  • Labs: Undergraduates must be enrolled
    [Capacity: Actual/Max Registrar/Possible]
    • 327L-01: W 2:00-2:50 (Washington 308) [Capacity: 32/30/32-36]
    • 327L-03: R 3:00-3:50 (Small 110) [Capacity: 21/30/166]
    • 327L-04: R 2:00-2:50 (Jones 301) [Capacity: 19/30/50]
  • What the heck happened to 327L-02?    ¯\(ツ)

Overview: General Info

  • Instructor: M. Drew LaMar (mdlama@wm.edu)
    • Office hours: W 3-4, R 1-2
  • Teaching Assistants
    • TBA

      ALL OFFICE HOURS IN OR OUTSIDE OF ISC 3252

Overview: General Info

  • Prerequisite: BIOL 220, BIOL 225 and MATH 111/131
  • Required texts:
    • “The Analysis of Biological Data” (2nd edition), by Whitlock and Schluter
    • “Experimental Design for the Life Sciences” (4th edition), by Ruxton and Colegrave

Overview: Homework

  • Uploaded on Blackboard each week by Wednesdays at midnight and due on Blackboard by Mondays at 1:00 pm
  • Grade will be a combination of the three C’s:
    • Completion
    • Correctness
    • Clarity
  • Two lowest homework grades will be replaced by your two highest homework grades
  • Homework worth 35% of your grade
  • No late homework will be accepted under any circumstances

Overview: Lab

  • Learning skills in Data Science
  • Software: R
  • Labs due beginning of lab period 1 week after assignment
  • Most labs on DataCamp website (www.datacamp.com)
  • Lowest lab grade replaced by highest lab grade
  • Please see the syllabus for grading scheme
  • Labs worth 10% of your grade

Overview: Midterms

  • Three in-class midterms (subject to change):
    • Friday, September 28
    • Friday, October 26
    • Friday, November 30
  • Each midterm worth 10% of your grade
  • Option: Final exam grade can replace lowest midterm grade
  • No make-ups will be given!

Overview: Reading Quizzes

  • Assigned most days for the following class period
  • Will be given online on Blackboard
  • Worth 5% of your grade

Overview: Projects

  • Worth 10% of your grade
  • More details later…

Overview: Grading Summary

Category Percentage
Homework 35%
Midterms 30%
Labs 10%
Final 10%
Project 10%
Quizzes 5%

This is Water

Arranged, and designed by John Manoogian III (jm3). Categories and descriptions originally by Buster Benson.

Perspective

Process of Science

alt text

What is Reality?

  • Can we know reality with certainty?
  • Is anything certain or known?
  • What is evidence?
  • What is data?
  • What is statistics?

Reading for Friday

Ruxton & Colegrave:

  • Chapter 1: Why you should care about design (pp. 1-7)

QUIZ ONLINE DUE BEFORE FRIDAY CLASS

PDF of Chapter 1 on Blackboard under Assignments

Homework #1

Ruxton & Colegrave:

  • Chapter 1: Q 1.1-1.5 (submit Microsoft Word file on Blackboard under Assignments)

Due Monday, September 3, 1 pm

Lab #1

DataCamp - Introduction to R https://www.datacamp.com/courses/free-introduction-to-r

You MUST create an account with your William & Mary email address!!!

Due beginning of your lab period next week