Assessment
It is my intent to design assessments that are a source of
intellectual curiosity, joy, and learning rather than a source
of stress. Assessments serve the purpose of measuring how much
you have learned (i.e. how much you have achieved of the course goals).
I would recommend you to first focus on your learning, then grades will
follow. The time zones indicated for all assessments are in Pacific Time.
Attendance and Participation
This course is taught mainly asynchronously which means that you will learn the content of the course by watching videos at a time that is convenient for you. However, each week you are required to attend one hour of office hours. On the People tab you can see the times and zoom link for office hours. We only have one zoom link for Prof. Dogucu and one link for Federica's office hours. Each of us will always use the same link for any office hour or any other meetings you may have with us. If you are meeting with Dr. Dogucu, please use her link. If you are meeting with Federica, please use her link. It does not matter which office hour you attend. You need to attend at least one but you can attend more if you want. Participation also includes following along lecture videos. Note on your calendar when you plan on watching the videos and which office hour(s) you plan on attending every week. If needed, you can attend a different office hour but it will help you to have a regular schedule on your calendar. During office hours you are expected to actively participate by engaging with others in breakout rooms, answering questions, and asking questions to me and to your peers.Quizzes
Quizzes are an opportunity to practice
the topics learned in the lecture videos.
You can discuss quiz questions with others in the class, however,
each one of you needs to submit separately and the work you submit should be written by you and not a copy of someone else's submission.
We will use office hours time to get in groups and work together.
Office hours are not a good time to start quizzes.
You should attempt quizzes before coming to office hours.
The quizzes are not timed.
That means that, once you begin the quiz, you do not have to
submit it within a specific time period.
However, you have to complete it before it is due.
Quizzes are exercises that we normally would have given in class or during discussion session.
They provide you a learning opportunity.
You can ask Prof. Dogucu or Federica anything you would want about them.
You may not ask anyone outside of our class (online or offline) for help on quizzes.
Homework Assignments
At the end of the week after topics are completed you will be assigned a homework on these topics. You will be given one week to complete the homework. For homework you can use books and notes, but may not talk to your peers or anyone else other than your professor or TA. You cannot rely on online forums or tutoring, homework help websites. Some homework assignments will be timed. You will be notified which ones are timed. You do not have to take the homework assignment at any specific time. You can take it on any day and any time within the week that is assigned. There will be fewer homework assignments once we start working on projects.
Final Project
You will complete a final project with a group. Final project will consist of hands-on data analysis. You will apply the methods learned in this course to answer a question(s) that interests you. The final project will have multiple components starting in the second half of the quarter. Two of the many components of the final project is the proposal and the presentation. You are expect to submit a proposal by May 7th at 11:59 pm and submit a video presentation by June 8th at 1:30 pm. The other smaller sections of final project will be communicated to you in advance and with detail. The official final time for this course is June 8th 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm. You will use this time to watch video presentations assigned to you and evaluate the projects. For those living in a different time zone, extensions will be granted.
Grades will not be curved and will not be rounded. The following weights will be adopted in calculating the total grade.
| Component | Weight |
|---|---|
| Attendance and Participation | 5% |
| Quizzes | 20% |
| Homework Assignments | 35% |
| Final Project | 40% |
| Weighted Total Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
| 96.5 - 100 | A+ |
| 93.5 - 96.499 | A |
| 90 - 93.499 | A- |
| 86.5 - 89.999 | B+ |
| 83.5 - 86.499 | B |
| 80 - 83.499 | B- |
| 76.5 - 79.999 | C+ |
| 73.5 - 76.499 | C |
| 70 - 73.499 | C- |
| 66.5 - 69.999 | D+ |
| 63.5 - 66.499 | D |
| 60 - 63.499 | D- |
| 59.999 and below | F |
Life Happens Card
We all know something always comes up in life. If something is preventing you from completing your work, you can use your life happens card. This imaginary card can be used for quizzes and homework assigments only. For any missed assignment that you use your card for, you will NOT receive zero points. Your grade will be calculated by ignoring that assignment completely. You can only use this card once. You have to use it within a week of the deadline of the assignment. Email Federica to use your life happens card.Extra Credit Opportunity
There will be extra credit opportunities. If you complete all of them then you will receive 1% towards you total final grade. These will be announced later.
You are expected to comply to the rules set by the Office of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct. Each assignment will be clearly labeled with instructions on whether you can work with others or not. If there are no instructions, you should assume that the work should be completed by you only from start to finish. Academic dishonesty includes, for example, cheating on examinations or any assignment, plagiarism of any kind (including improper citation of sources), having someone else take an examination or complete an assignment for you (or doing it for someone else), or any activity in which you represent someone else’s work as your own. Violations of academic integrity will be referred to the Office of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct. You cannot share or distribute solutions online or offline or in any media now or in the future. You cannot obtain solutions from others. If there is evidence of academic misconduct , intentionally or unintentionally, YOU WILL FAIL THE CLASS. This rule applies even if you violate the policies of this course on a single problem, on an assignment, the whole assignment or multiple assignments. No matter what the degree of academic dishonesty is, you will fail the class. It is your responsibility to protect your answers being copied. Make sure not to save work on shared folders. It may be difficult to distinguish helping each other learn and studying together with violating academic honesty. If you are unsure of the distinction check with me before hand.
University of California, Irvine is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all persons with permanent or temporary disabilities. This syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request. If you have a disability that impacts your participation in this class, please contact the Disability Services Center (DSC) as soon as possible. Students approved for accommodations will notify the instructor by sending out a Faculty Notification Letter from the DSC website. Disability Services Center - Building 313 in Engineering Gateway - www.dsc.uci.edu - (949) 824-7494
The University of California, Irvine, in accordance with applicable Federal and State law and University policy, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or service in the uniformed services. The University also prohibits sexual harassment. This nondiscrimination policy covers admission, access, and treatment in University programs and activities.
My goal is to make everyone (yes, that includes you too) feel welcome, not only in my classroom but also in the field of statistics and data science. If there is any reason you do not feel welcome in this class, please talk to me. If anything is said to you that makes you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me. If there is any life event that is interfering with your learning in this class, please talk to me. I may not be able to solve all your problems, but I may be able to direct you to the right resources on campus.
Online communication
Most of our online comminication will take place on Piazza. While communicating online, please note the following:- Before posting a question, please make sure that the same question has not been posted before.
- Piazza folders are labeled as Week 1, 2, 3.. and so on. Make sure to write your post at the appropriate week's folder.
- If you choose to post memes or any jokes, be mindful. Any joke about a person, or a group of people, or cultures is not funny. However, statistics and data science jokes are always welcome.
- Respect opinions of others.
- There are absolutely no stupid questions. Do not feel shy about asking questions. Do not judge anyone about any question that they ask.
- If somebody asks a question about homework etc. do not reveal answers for them. Instead, show them in which lecture we have covered the topic.
- Be generous with likes. That means when you read something useful like the post, so that we all know that we are not talking to ourselves but to each other.
- Answer each other's questions. The top 3 students who answer the most questions will receive extra credit.
- You can post anonymously. Others would not know who you are but I would know who you are.
Writing an email
Please do not email me about course content unless it is private to you. If you are running into an issue, it is very likely that someone else is also having the same issue. Please post on Piazza so that we can all learn together. This way I would only answer the question once and everyone can benefit. In fact one of your peers may even answer it before I do. You can get a much quicker response. While communicating over email, please make sure the email- has an informative subject line including the course code.
- articulates your question or problem well.
- has a closing statement such as Sincerely, Kind Regards etc.
- has your name at the end.
Subject: STATS 68 - Your Subject
Dear Dr. Dogucu,
I hope you are doing well (or some other humane sentence). I am writing to you regarding ______________ (Your concern or problem). (Any explanations, requests or suggestions for solutions to your problem)
Sincerely/Kind regards,
Your name
Selling, preparing, or distributing for any commercial purpose course lecture notes or video or audio recordings of any course unless authorized by the University in advance and explicitly permitted by the course instructor in writing. The unauthorized sale or commercial distribution of course notes or recordings by a student is a violation of these Policies whether or not it was the student or someone else who prepared the notes or recordings.