Quantitative Reasoning Fall 2008 Syllabus (subject to change)
Section 1: Numbers in Context
September 2, Tuesday.... Introduction to course. Noticing numbers and
making sense of them. Reading and writing about numbers; working with quantitative
information; numbers in the media. (Chapter 1)
September 4, Thursday.... What is inflation? How do we compare numbers?
Introduction to absolute and relative change and percentages. Using the
web to find information; Google calculator and other web resources. (Chapters
1 and 2)
September 9, Tuesday.... Reading and writing using quantitative information.
More about percentage change; percentage points. (Chapter 2)
Note: Add/drop ends today.
September 11, Thursday.... Percentage change and percentage points. (Chapter
3)
September 16, Tuesday.... Converting units; currency conversions. (Chapter
4)
September 18, Thursday.... Unit conversions continued; metric conversions
and metric prefixes; large and small numbers. (Chapters 4 and 5)
September 23, Tuesday.... Large and small numbers continued; significant
digits and the importance of zero; estimation. (Chapter 5)
September 25, Thursday.... More about conversions and estimation.
(Chapter 5)
September 30, Tuesday.... EXAM 1 This exam will cover all of section
1.
Section 2: Probability and Chance
October 2, Thursday.... Introduction to probability and chance. Simple
lottery examples. (Chapter 6)
October 7, Tuesday.... More about lotteries and games of chance; the
house advantage; expected value. (Chapter 6)
October 9, Thursday....Winning streaks and the probability of independent
events; understanding odds. (Chapter 7)
October 14, Tuesday.... Understanding risk, survey reports, and false
positives. (Chapter 8)
Section 3: Descriptive Statistics
October 16, Thursday.... Measures of central tendancy (mean, median,
mode); using Excel to find averages. (Chapter 9)
October 21, Tuesday.... Ways of representing data (tables and graphs)
and understanding data (using statistics); using Excel to construct graphs;
formatting and labelling. (Chapters 9 and 10)
October 23, Thursday.... Lying with statistics; misuse of data. (Chapter
13)
October 28, Tuesday.... More about data and statistics.
October 30, Thursday.... EXAM 2 This exam will cover sections
2 and 3.
Section 4: Models of Dependence
November 4, Tuesday.... Three views of dependency: tables of values,
graphs, and algebraic formulas. Using Excel to understand and predict; introduction
to models. (Chapter 11)
November 6, Thursday.... More about linear models and using Excel to
explore "what-if" questions. Note: today is the Pass/Fail, Course Withdrawal
deadline.
November 11, Tuesday.... Veterans Day - no class
November 13, Thursday.... Correlation and causation; linear regression.
November 18, Tuesday.... Simple and compound interest, review of absolute
and proportional change.
November 20, Thursday.... Introduction to exponential models; using Excel
to compare linear and exponential models.
November 25, Tuesday..... Exponential models, continued.
November 27, Thursday.... Thanksgiving Holiday - no class.
December 2, Tuesday.... Doubling time; Rule of 70; exponential decay.
December 4, Thursday.... Using Excel to fit an exponential regression
curve
December 9, Tuesday.... Graduated income tax and other examples.
December 11, Thursday.... Last class, review for final exam.
Final Exam Week: December 15 - 19