MAT 135A: Probability (Winter 2012) (CRN 40166)
     MTWF 1100-1150A 184 Young

http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~morris/MAT135A

• Homework assignments
• Course Materials, including information about Midterms.
• Finals Info

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• Instructor: Ben Morris 2105 MSB, 752-0846,
  email: morris[at]math[dot]ucdavis[dot]edu.
  Note: Please use email only in an emergency, e.g., if you are sick and you cannot reach me by phone. I will not reply to emails with questions about the class material, grading, etc.
  Office Hours: Wed. 12-1pm, Fri. 1-2pm, or by appointment, at my office.
• TA: Matthew Reed (mcreed[at]math[dot]ucdavis[dot]edu), 2123 MSB, Office Hours Mon 2-3.
  

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PREREQUISITE: An excellent knowledge of calculus and the ability to understand a mathematical proof (i.e., courses 21ABC and 25). Material from MAT 125A, while a prerequisite, will not be used in the course. You are responsible for satisfying the prerequisites!

TEXTBOOK: You have two options. Lecture notes are available free of charge at the materials page. You may also choose to purchase the book A First Course in Probability, 8th Edition, by Sheldon Ross (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009). The sections in the book that we will cover are, roughly, 1.1--1.6, 2.1--2.5, 3.1--3.5, 4.1--4.8, 5.1--5.5, 5.7, 6.1--6.3, 7.1, 7.2, 7.6, 8.1--8.3. Earlier editions of the book are also fine.

GRADE: Course grade will be based on the following:

• Quizzes (quiz dates Jan 24, Jan 31, Feb 14, Feb 21, Feb 28): 50 points
• Midterm Exam 1 (Wed,  Feb 8, in class): 100 points,
• Midterm Exam 2 (Wed, Mar 7, in class): 100 points,
• Final (Wednesday, March 21, 8:00-10:00am): 200 points,
• TOTAL: 450 points.

ADDITIONAL POLICIES:

Tuesday meeting is a discussion session, lead by the TA, and devoted to quizzes, homework, and further elaboration on lecture material. Attendance of discussion sessions is mandatory.

Please bear in mind that talking, cellphone ringing, newspaper reading, etc. disrupt the lectures.

If you have any problem at all that requires special accomodation, please let me know well in advance! In particular, the Student Disability Center asked me to post this message:

Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Student Disability Center (SDC). Faculty are authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the SDC. If you have any questions, please contact the SDC at 530-752-3184 or sdc@ucdavis.edu.

Sample exams (with solutions) from a prior year's course are available here. However, material presented in the lectures will be the basis for the exams.

Use of books, notes, and calculators will not be allowed on any exam.

Homework and quiz policy: Homework will be assigned but not collected; you are strongly encouraged to do it. The "Quizzes" score will be based on 5 short quizzes, which will each be worth 10 points. The quizzes will feature no partial credit problems, which will be identical to selected (easier) homework problems. The quizes will given during the discussion sessions at the following 5 dates:

Jan. 24, Jan. 31, Feb. 14, Feb. 21, Feb. 28. There will be no make-up quizzes. See the Homework assignments page for homework information.

Also, there will be no make-up exams. A missed exam counts as 0 points. If you miss the final you will automatically receive an F. The grade I (Incomplete) will not be given in any circumstances.

Solutions for the midterms will be posted here.

SOME USEFUL LINKS:

If you want a math department computer account, please visit the class accounts page. You will have access to MATLAB, which is used for almost all computations I do for this class.

Book by C. M. Grinstead and J. L. Snell, Introduction to Probability and other materials.

A book on basic probability and statistics, which can be viewed online or downloaded (developed at Rice University).

Introduction to probability, an online tutorial with many demos, part of statistics tutorial Hyperstat from Rice University.

Virtual Laboratories in Probability and Statistics from University of Alabama.