Math 5010-001, University of Utah, Summer 2009
Introductory Probability: Course Syllabus

Instructor: Davar Khoshnevisan (Contact Information | Office Hours)
Time/Place: MW 1:00-2:40 p.m., LCB 225
Text: Probability & Random Variables, D. Stirzaker, Cambridge University Press
Course Description: This is a first course in undergraduate probability. It requires a solid knowledge of Calculus (I, II, III), and covers standard material such as combinatorial problems, random variables, distributions, independence, conditional probability, expected value and moments, law of large numbers, and the central limit theorem. This course is three credit hours. It serves as a QRQI course (quantitative reasoning-Math, quantitative reasoning-statistics/logic, and quantitative intensive). (Warning Warnings) Note that the announced lecture times are a little different from the official ones. This makes up for the fact that there will be no lectures during the week of July 27th.
Grading: The student's grade is based on scores from three midterms (the best two count for 35% each), and a comprehensive final exam (30%). The midterm exams are not comprehensive. The grading curve follows. Further refinements to the grade (e.g., A-, B+, etc.) are made in accord with the fine details of the student's individual performance.
%-age 86-100 76-85 61-75 51-60 0-50
Grade A BC DE
Exams: The highest two midterm scores, out of the three, make up 70% of the student's grade in the course. The lowest midterm score is dropped. There are no make-up tests in this course, and the midterms are not comprehensive. There is also a comprehensive final exam; it accounts for 30% of the grade.
Dates: All exams are held in the lecture hall.
  • Midterm 1. June 1
  • Midterm 2. June 22
  • Midterm 3. July 15
  • Final. August 5
Assignments: Assignments are posted below. New assignments are announced during the lectures, and have assigned due dates. However, homework is not collected, nor graded. The homeworks are generally a mixture of theoretical (theorem/proof; about 30% of the time), and computational problems. The only way to keep up with the pace of this course is to solve, at the very least, the assigned homework problems in a timely fashion.

Seeking Help: To find help, the students are encouraged to visit the instructor during the designated drop-in office hour (web link), schedule an appointment (web link), or visit the fine (no-cost) tutoring center (web link) of the department of mathematics. The tutoring center is centered at the T. B. Rushing Undergraduate Student Center in the basement of LCB.


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