Policies

Class

This class is meant to be hands on. You will be learning the theory behind cutting edge statistical and machine learning techniques, as well as how to implement them in R. Therefore, you are responsible for reading pertinent material prior to each class and will need to bring your laptop to participate in the interactive coursework.

Diversity & Inclusiveness

It is my intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well-served by this course, that students' learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity that the students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is my intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender identity, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, and culture. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let me know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups.

Furthermore, I would like to create a learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including gender identity, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, and culture.) To help accomplish this:

  • If you have a name and/or set of pronouns that differ from those that appear in your official Wake Forest records, please let me know!
  • If any of our class meetings conflict with your religious events, please let me know so that we can make arrangements for you.
  • If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don't hesitate to come and talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your academic dean is an excellent resource.
  • I (like many people) am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class (by anyone) that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it.

Disability Policy

Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in the class are encouraged to contact Learning Assistance Center & Disability Services at 336-758-5929 or lacds@wfu.edu as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.

How to get help

Discussion:

All course discussion will be via GitHub on the Sta363-S20/community repository.

Guidelines for posting questions:

  • First search existing issues (open or closed) for answers. If the question has already been answered, you're done! If there is an open issue, feel free to contribute to it. Or feel free to open a closed issue if you believe the answer is not satisfactory.
  • Give your issue an informative title.
    • Good: "Error: could not find function "ggplot"
    • Bad: "R giving errors", "help me!", "aaaarrrrrgh!" Note that you can edit an issue’s title after it's been posted.
  • Format your questions nicely using markdown and code formatting.
  • Preview your issue prior to posting.
  • Where appropriate, provide links to specific files, or even lines within them, in the body of your issue. This will help your helper understand your question. Note that only the teaching team will have access to private repos.
  • (Optional) Tag someone or some group of people. Start by typing the @ symbol and GitHub will generate some good suggestions. You can also type or paste in the GitHub username yourself. Examples: to tag Dr. D'Agostino McGowan, use @LucyMcGowan; to tag the entire teaching team tag @sta-363-s20/owners, to tag a class/team mate use their GitHub username.
  • Hit "Submit new issue" when you're ready to post.

Math & Stats Center:

Study Sessions

  • Our TA will host study sessions on Monday evenings 7-9p in Manchester 122

Please also make use of my office hours - I am here to help you learn!

Honor code

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. For other information on these matters, please consult the Code of Conduct. For Academic issues please see the College Judicial System.

Sharing code & responses

  • There are many online resources for sharing code (for example, StackOverflow) - you may use these resources but must explicitly cite where you have obtained code (both code you used directly and "paraphrased" code / code used as inspiration). Any reused code that is not explicitly cited will be treated as plagiarism.
  • You may discuss the content of assignments with others in this class. If you do so, please acknowledge your collaborator(s) at the top of your assignment, for example: "Collaborators: Gertrude Cox, Florence Nightingale David". Failure to acknowledge collaborators will result in a grade of 0. You may not copy code and/or answers directly from another student. If you copy someone else's work, both parties will receive a grade of 0.
  • Rather than copying someone else's work, ask for help. You are not alone in this course!

Course components

Application exercises

These will usually start in class and can be assigned to be finished by the next class meeting.

Homework

Problem sets from the textbook will be assigned periodically, potentially along with additional questions. You are welcome to work on these with other members of this class. If you do so, please acknowledge your collaborator(s) at the top of your assignment, for example: "Collaborators: Gertrude Cox, Florence Nightingale David". Failure to acknowledge collaborators will result in a grade of 0. You may not copy answers directly from another student. If you copy someone else's work, both parties will receive a grade of 0.

Homework with the lowest score for each student will be dropped.

Labs

The objective of the labs is to give you hands on experience with data analysis using modern statistical software. You are welcome to work on these with other members of this class. If you do so, please acknowledge your collaborator(s) at the top of your assignment, for example: "Collaborators: Gertrude Cox, Florence Nightingale David". Failure to acknowledge collaborators will result in a grade of 0. You may not copy answers directly from another student. If you copy someone else's work, both parties will receive a grade of 0.

The lab with the lowest score for each student will be dropped.

Reading Assessments

We will periodically have reading assessments. These assessments cannot be made up. It is expected that you may miss a one due to missing class a time or two; to account for this, two assessments for each student will be dropped.

Grading

Your final grade will be comprised of the following:
Participation & application exercises 5%
Reading assessments 10%
Homeworks 10%
Labs 10%
Midterm exam 1 25%
Midterm exam 2 25%
Midterm exam 3 15%

Grades conversion:

Letter Numeric
A 95 +
A- 90 - 94
B+ 87 - 89
B 83 - 86
B- 80 - 82
C+ 77 - 79
C 73 - 76
C- 70 - 72
D+ 67 - 69
D 65 - 66
F Below 65

Class attendance in lecture and lab is a firm expectation; frequent absences or tardiness will be considered a legitimate cause for grade reduction.

Late / missed work

  • Late work policy for homework assignments and labs:

    • late, but within 24 hours of due date/time: -50%
    • any later: no credit

  • Late work will not be accepted for the take home exam.

  • No make-up reading assessments will be given.

  • All regrade requests must be discussed with the professor within one week of receiving your grade. There will be no grade changes after the final project.

Professionalism

  • Please refrain from texting or using your computer for anything other than coursework during class.