THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE

 

                                                                   FACULTY SENATE

 

Senate Document Number     2105S

 

Date of Senate Approval      03/03/05  

 

 

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

 

 

APC DOCUMENT  14:  Addition of New Course STAT 220: Intro to Applied Probability (1);

                                    Modification of Description STAT 225:  Intro to Calculus-Based Statistics

 

 

Effective Date:   Fall 2005    

 

Addition of new course, STAT 220

 

1.  Add: On page 176, title and description for new course, Stat 220

 

         220 Introduction to Applied Probability  (1)

An introduction to basic concepts of discrete and continuous probability distributions and their applications.  This course is only open to students who have credit for STAT 185 but whose major requires STAT 225.  (Students may not receive credit for both STAT 225 and STAT 220.)  Prerequisites: STAT 185 and MATH 192. Fall.

 

IMPACT STATEMENT:  No major impact on the program or its resources is foreseen.

 

RATIONALE: 

The department of Mathematics offers two introductory statistics courses: Introductory Statistics, STAT 185, and Introduction to Calculus Based Statistics, STAT 225.  These courses cover similar materials, but each has a different focus.  STAT 185 has a general approach to statistics and focuses on interpretation of statistical output, while STAT 225 has a stronger probability component. Another difference between the two courses is the type of student in each class. Several programs in Atmospheric Science, Mathematics, Computer Science, Industrial Engineering, and Mechatronics require students to take STAT 225.   Thus STAT 185 is dominated by Social Science and Biology/Environmental Science students, while STAT 225 has more Mathematics / Engineering majors.   Though the two classes have different texts, different prerequisites and different clientele they still have a 70% – 80% overlap in content area.  

 

A common scheduling problem results when a student who took STAT 185 finds out they are now required to take Stat 225.  This is a common occurrence because the lower level introductory statistics course is often taken early by many students who may not have yet decided on their major. Some students even come to UNCA with STAT 185 credit, since it is available in the AP-program or at community colleges. In these situations the student must either take STAT 225 which is similar to the statistic course they have already taken, or they must get their departments to exempt them from the requirement.

 

The proposed class is designed to cover the key topics in STAT 225 that are not covered in the freshman introductory statistics class. It will give students who have taken the freshman class, but are required to take STAT 225, an efficient alternative to this 4 hour class.

 

 

 

2. Add:    On page 176 include the following to the descriptions of STAT 225.

 

Please include the following after the last phrase ending in “…analysis of variance; and linear correlation and regression.”

 

“(Students may not receive credit for both STAT 185 and STAT 225.)”

 

IMPACT STATEMENT: No major impact on the program or its resources is foreseen.

RATIONALE:

This change should only be implemented if the proposed STAT 220 is approved.  STAT 185 and STAT 225 have considerable overlap, and should not both be taken.  Those students with STAT 185 credit, but whose major requires STAT 225 should take the newly proposed course.

 

 

The following suggestion was made by the registrar’s office (i.e. Ms Alicia Shope) after the signatures were collected.

 

3. Add:   On page 175 include the following to the descriptions of STAT 185.

 

Please include the following after the phrase ending in “…computer based assignments will be used for selected areas.”

 

            “(Students may not receive credit for both STAT 185 and STAT 225.)”

 

IMPACT STATEMENT: None.