To believe or not to believe: What is the evidence?


FYPR 109-01
MWF 11-11:50, 333 Swords Hall
Prof. David Damiano, 341 Swords Hall, 793-2476
e-mail: dbd@math.holycross.edu or damiano@holycross.edu
Office Hours: MWF 10-11 AM and T 1-2 PM and by appt.

The Program

This year the First-Year Program (FYP) is shaped by the theme:

In a culture of the here and now, how then shall we live?
While the theme is intended to be a touchstone for the program, it is deliberately open to many interpretations. There is no single way to think about the theme, our relationship to it or how you and I might respond to it. Indeed, it is the hope of the FYP faculty that our understanding of the theme will evolve and deepen as we return to it throughout the year. The program's success, in large part, will be measured by our collective willingness to engage the theme through our common experiences. This requires that we be open to new ideas and fresh points of view at the same time that we develop our ability to think about them critically. This also holds true for the FYP faculty, since they are also engaging the theme and most of the common readings for the first time. The FYP seminars will enable us to address thematic questions from different discipline-based perspectives and, in turn, will give us an unusual opportunity to reflect on these disciplines from a broader perspective that transcends the traditional divisions between areas of knowledge.

The co-curricular component will consist of a variety of activities that take place outside of class, including plays, concerts, lectures, movies, field trips, and events and discussions in Hanselman, the residence hall for all FYP students.

To believe or not to believe: What is the evidence?

The discipline-based work in this seminar concerns the branch of mathematics known as statistics. Roughly speaking, statistics is about translating large amounts of numerical data into forms that are useful to people who might care about the data. For example, a patient who is presented with the option of taking a new medication would want to know information about its effectiveness, but would not want to be presented with unprocessed numerical information about an extensive drug trial. This is where statistics comes into play. Because statistics is about the real-life interpretation of information and not just about the underlying mathematical calculations, we will have to do more than learn how to calculate. We will have to understand the real-world context that caused us to look at the data.

The Classroom

In addition to lectures, we will have discussions involving the entire class, and we will regularly break up into assigned groups of 3-4 students and use a ``small group'' discussion format. The primary goals of these sessions are to have more people actively involved in the discussion and to promote peer learning. We will often take a ``discovery'' approach rather than a traditional ``lecture/read the text'' approach. It will be important for us to free ourselves from the constraints imposed by thinking of mathematical problems as things to do after reading a section of a text or attending a lecture. Both the general emphasis on discussion and the particular emphasis on the discovery method mean that you will have ample opportunity to be active participants in the class and, more importantly, in developing your own understanding and insights into the subject matter.

FYP Journals

As part of the course requirements, you will have to keep an academic journal. This is not a personal diary or log of classroom activities, but rather a place for you to reflect on discussions and activities related to the program or current events on and off campus in light of the program. You might use it to continue a discussion we began in class, to react to a lecture or film you saw, in connection with the program or in another context, or to make connections between the class material and material from other classes. You should think of this as a public document, which I will be reading and which you should be willing to show to members of the class. I will often suggest topics for journal entries. In addition, you will be required to write entries on a number of the common events, which will be determined as the semester progresses. As a general rule, you must make at least two journal entries each week. I will collect the journals once a week, usually on Fridays, and will make written comments and pose questions for further thought. I will be reading your journals for content and not style. Nonetheless, you should take care with your writing as others will be reading it on occasion. An overall evaluation of your journal will be part of your final grade, but I will not grade individual entries.

Assignments and Grading

There will be four types of regular assignments during the semester, the FYP journals (described above), 2 papers of 3-5 pages concerning the common readings (due Friday, September 15 and Friday, October 27), individual statistics assignments, and collaborative statistics assignments based upon the group-work in class. There will also be an in-class mid-term exam in on Monday, October 4 and a final exam during the exam period. The format of the final exam will be announced later in the semester.

Note that the Class Participation component includes attendance at co-curricular events. There will be an average of one event per week. It is strongly recommended that you attend as many of the events as possible. Attendance is mandatory at the events that are central to the program or to this class. The co-curricular events will be discussed in class. A list of events that have been scheduled is given at the end of the syllabus.

Grading Scheme:

Class Participation and Journal 15 %
Individual and Group 20 %
Statistics Assignments  
Short Papers 25 %
Due September 15 and  
October 27  
Mid-term Exam 15 %
October 6, 2000  
Final Exam 25 %
December 12, 2000  
Total 100 %
   

Texts:
The following texts are required texts for the first semester. These are available in the College Bookstore in the Hogan Campus Center. Additional material will placed on reserve in the Science Library on the first floor of Swords Hall.
Common Readings: Texts for To believe or not to believe:

Schedule of Readings, Papers and Exams

The common texts should be read by the first day they are discussed in class. Particular readings in Statistics will be assigned weekly.

Schedule of Events and Activities:

This schedule is as of August 30, 2000. There will be additions to the schedule as the semester progresses.




2000-08-30