Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum

and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department

AP Statistics (257) Course Syllabus 2011-2012

Course Overview
The purpose of the AP Statistics course is to introduce students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing and drawing conclusions from data. Students are exposed to four broad conceptual themes: (1) Exploring Data: Describing patterns and departures from patterns (2) Sampling and Experimentation: Planning and conducting a study (3) Anticipating Patterns: Exploring random phenomena using probability and simulation (4) Statistical Inference: Estimating population parameters and testing hypotheses. Students who successfully complete the course and exam may receive credit, advanced placement or both for a one-semester introductory college statistics course. In addition to the AP Statistics coursework, students will work intimately with the American Psychological Association (APA) style of research and writing. Topics will include but not be limited to: - Stylistic writing basics for an APA paper. - Proper formatting of an APA paper. - Research and reporting techniques. - Statistical analysis of data and proper formatting of figures and charts in the APA style. - The completion of a culminating research paper.

Primary Texts
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Huff, D. (1954). How to lie with statistics. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co. Peck, R., Olsen, C., & Devore, J. (2001). Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis. Pacific Grove CA: Duxbury Thomson Learning. Yates, D., Moore, D., & McCabe, G. (1996). The Practice of Statistics. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman and Co.

Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department

Technology
All students will be issued a TI-84 graphing calculator for use in class, at home, and on the AP Exam. Students will use the graphing calculator extensively throughout the course. The TI-84 will be used to: 1. Organize univariate data (create histograms, and boxplots) 2. Calculate measures of central tendency (mean, median, standard deviation, variance, five number summary) 3. Examine density curves and the normal distribution. (calculate probabilities under the normal curve) 4. Organize bivariate data (create scatter plots and residual plots) 5. Calculate linear regression as well as exponential and power regression. 6. Perform linear transformations to obtain exponential and power regressions. 7. Calculate binomial and geometric probabilities. 8. Calculate confidence intervals 9. Perform hypothesis testing 10. Perform t-tests and t-intervals 11. Perform proportion z-tests 12. Perform chi-square tests for goodness-of-fit and independence 13. Perform Linear Regression t-tests Students will also take advantage of computer software available for summarizing data, exploring data, analyzing data, and assessing models. In addition to the proficiency gained in Microsoft Word through our work with the APA format, students will work with Microsoft Excel to organize and display quantitative data. For some topics, computer outputs from either Minitab or NCSS will be examined to further students understanding. In addition, as a 1:1 school at BHS students will have at their disposal any internet resources that will help in their coursework. This includes internet applets, iPad applications, blogs, webcasts, podcasts, iTunes content and any other student generated resources.

Summer Assignment
Before starting the AP Statistics course, all students will complete a prerequisite summer assignment which will introduce some of the main themes in the study of statistics as well as the stylistics of the APA format of writing. Students will read Darrell Huffs How to Lie With Statistics (1954) and complete a 2-3 page scholarly book review written in APA format.

Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department

Course Overview
The AP Statistics Course is broken up into five major sections. The topics covered and the corresponding chapters in Yates, Moore & McCabe (YMM) are given: Descriptive Statistics (YMM 1&2) Regression (YMM 3&4) Experimental Design (YMM 5) Probability (YMM 6-9) Inference (YMM 10-14)

1) DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS a) Exploring Data i) Displaying Distributions with Graphs ii) Describing Distributions with Numbers b) The Normal Distributions i) Density Curves and Normal Distributions ii) Standard Normal Calculations 2) REGRESSION a) Examining Relationships i) Scatterplots ii) Correlation iii) Least-Squares Regression b) Two-Variable Data i) Modelling Nonlinear Relationships ii) Interpreting Correlation and Regression iii) Relations in Categorical Data 3) EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN a) Producing Data i) Designing Samples ii) Designing Experiments iii) Simulating Experiments 4) PROBABILITY a) Probability: The Study of Randomness i) Randomness ii) Probability Models b) Random Variables i) Discrete and Continuous Random Variables ii) Means and Variances of Random Variables c) The Binomial and Geometric Distributions i) The Binomial Distributions ii) The Geometric Distributions

Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department d) Sampling Distributions i) Sampling Distributions ii) Sample Proportions iii) Sample Means 5) INFERENCE a) Introduction to Inference i) Estimating with Confidence ii) Tests of Significance iii) Using Significance Tests iv) Inference as a Decision b) Inference for Distributions i) Inference for the Mean of a Population ii) Comparing Two Means c) Inference for Proportions i) Inference for a Population Proportion ii) Comparing Two Proportions d) Inference for Tables: Chi-Square Procedures i) Test for Goodness of Fit ii) Inference for Two-Way Variables e) Inference for Regression i) Inference About the Model ii) Inference About the Prediction iii) Checking the Regression Assumptions

Writing Requirement
Students will work with the American Psychological Association (APA) style of writing and conducting research to properly prepare them for success at the postsecondary level. With the completion of numerous short length papers throughout the course of the year and the ultimate completion of a culminating research paper, students will become proficient with: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Conducting research and gathering data Analyzing data Summarizing data in charts of figures in the APA format Reviewing the literature surrounding a specific research topic Drawing conclusions from observed data Discussing possible implications of findings Synthesizing a complete research report (Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion) in proper APA format.

Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department The research paper will be completed in stages: I. The proposition of a testable problem statement. Students will develop a testable problem statement which will eventually become their research question. The problem should be something that is relevant to students lives and interesting enough that a significant amount of work can be done on the topic. The research question should also be testable through an empirical study. Questions that are only testable through observational study may be accepted, but students should aim to develop a question which will be examined through experimental design. II. A review of the literature / development of a research paper introduction. Students will review the existing literature surrounding their topic. Students will first complete an annotated bibliography for at least 5 scholarly journal articles related to the research question. Once the annotated bibliography is complete, students will write a literature review in APA format which will eventually serve as the introduction to the final research paper. III. The design and implementation of an experiment to test the research question. Once the research question has been developed and modified, and the existing literature has been reviewed, students will design and carry out their experiments. Students will first propose their experimental designs as well as their plans for data collection. Once this formally written proposal is approved, the students will carry out their designs and their data collection. IV. Reporting of the Methods and Results of the experiment. Once the experiments are completed and all of the data are collected, students will thoroughly describe the methods and results of their empirical study. The methods section will be written according to APA format and will include: 1. Details about participants 2. General location of the study 3. General timeframe for the study 4. Specifically how the research question was examined (the treatments introduced) 5. The specific techniques for data collection and organization. In addition to the methods section, students will report their data in a results section according to APA format. The results section will include:

Burlington High School prepares students for lifelong learning and responsible citizenship by offering a challenging, relevant curriculum and varied activities in a safe environment.

Burlington High School Mathematics Department 1. A concise summary of the qualitative and quantitative data collected. 2. Graphically organized data not limited to: two-way charts, pie charts, frequency histograms, relative frequency histograms, scatter plots, and the normal distribution. 3. A report of the statistical analysis of the data (i.e. regression lines and correlation coefficients, hypothesis tests, etc.) V. A discussion of the results and their implcations. Students will write a results section according to APA format in which they will describe the meaning of their statistical analysis as well as the implications of their findings. Here students should communicate their interpretations in the language of statistics and make connections to their overall research question. This is also where students will make a claim as to whether or not their hypothesis is supported. VI. Compilation of the paper and development of an effective abstract and conclusion. Finally, students will write an effective conclusion. The conclusion should give limitations of the study as well as areas for further research. Once completed, students will write an abstract to effectively summarize the study. With all the parts finalized, the students will submit their completed research paper according to APA format.

Contact Information
Brian McNeill Burlington High School Math Dept Chair (781) 238-4633 Email: [email protected] Or: [email protected] Twitter: @bmcneill7