Math 11L, Computer Lab Assignments

You will complete Math 11L computer lab assignments using the statistical software Minitab. These labs will serve two main purposes. The first is to help reinforce your understanding of the concepts taught concurrently in Math 11. The second is to give you some experience in using statistical software to analyze data.

Lab sections will meet in Applied Physics and Mathematics room B432. They will meet every Tuesday, except April 22 and May 20, which are the weeks of the midterm exams. Labs will be due at 9:00 PM the following day. You are strongly urged to begin working on the lab before the sections meet. You will then have the opportunity to ask questions about the lab during section.

Lab Schedule

Below is the schedule for the 8 computer lab assignments. Labs must be submitted electronically before 9:00 PM on the due date.

Lab 1 [10 points, due Wednesday, April 2]: May weather in San Diego (Displaying and describing data graphically)
Lab 2 [15 points, due Wednesday, April 9]: Comparing the 50 states (Summary statistics and regression)
Lab 3 [15 points, due Wednesday, April 16]: Metabolic rates in mammals (Regression and transformations)
Lab 4 [15 points, due Wednesday, April 30]: Simulating Bernoulli trials
Lab 5 [15 points, due Wednesday, May 7]: Birth times and birth weights (Probability distributions)
Lab 6 [15 points, due Wednesday, May 14]: Sampling distributions and the Central Limit Theorem
Lab 7 [15 points, due Wednesday, May 28]: SAT scores and cloud seeding (Hypothesis testing)
Lab 8 [15 points, due Wednesday, June 4]: Predicting children's growth (Regression inference)

These labs were developed and written by Jason Schweinsberg. Input has also been provided by Professor Ery Arias-Castro and graduate students Arthur Berg and Rosanna Overholser.

Access to Minitab

You have the following options for obtaining access to the Minitab software, which you will need to complete the lab assignments:

Minitab has been installed on the computers in rooms B325, B349, and B432 in the basement of the Applied Physics and Mathematics building.
The campus bookstore is selling the course textbook bundled with Minitab student software. This will enable you to work on the computer labs from home, if you have a Windows computer at home.
If you have a Windows computer at home, you may rent Minitab for six months for $29.99, or download a free 30-day trial version of Minitab, by going here. Please note that the 30-day trial version does indeed stop working after 30 days.
Regardless of whether you have a Macintosh or a Windows computer, you should be able to run Minitab for free using the virtual computing lab, if you install VMWare View Client. See the instructions below.

Using the ACMS Labs

To log in to the ACMS computers, press Control-Alt-Delete. Your login name is the part of your UCSD email address before @ucsd.edu, and your password is the password you use to check your UCSD email. Go here if you need to look up your user name and here if you forgot your password.
You should be able to find icons for Minitab and Google Chrome on the desktop.
To open Microsoft Word (which you will need to do to work on your reports), go to Start --> All Programs --> Microsoft Office --> Microsoft Word 2010.
You may want to work on a file in the lab and later work on it from home. To do this, you could either bring a disk to the lab or email the file to yourself.
Before you leave the computer, remember to log out by going to Start --> Log Off.
To have 24-hour access to the computer labs in Applied Physics and Mathematics, you will need a door code. If you have a Math 11 account, you can look up the door code using the Account Look-up Tool. You will have to enter your login name and student ID. Near the top of the page you should see your Math 11 account username, and you can click on the button that says "Details" to see the rooms in which your Math 11 account is valid. You will have to type in your password to view the door code.

Using the VMWare View Client

You are encouraged to install the VMWare View Client on your home computer. To do this, go here. Select the appropriate device at the bottom of the screen, and follow the instructions.
Once you have installed VMWare View Client, you can get access using the same username and password that you use to log into the ACMS computers. You can then double click on the icon labeled "General Access 13-14".
On the desktop, you should find an icon for Office (which you can use for your lab write-up) and a Google Chrome icon (which you can use the access the internet). You can also get to Minitab by going to Start --> All Programs --> Minitab --> Minitab 16 Statistical Software.
Because Microsoft Word is not available through the VMWare View Client, you will have to write your reports in Libre Office instead. However, the file that you submit must be in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format so that the TAs can view the file for grading. Therefore, when you save the final version of your lab, you should go to File --> Export as PDF, then click on "Export", which will save your document as a .pdf file. Then go to Start --> Documents to find your saved file.

Guidelines for Lab Write-ups

Your write-ups should consist of your answers to all of the numbered questions in the assignment. Please submit your write-up with your answers to the questions clearly numbered, and in the order in which they appear in the lab.
Please write in complete sentences and carefully justify all of your answers to the questions. Answers such as "Yes" or "23.7" are insufficient.
If you need to refer to a graph when answering a question, then you should include the graph with your report.
Any graphs that you include should be clearly labeled.
Keep in mind that many questions do not ask for a specific numerical answer, and there may be more than one correct way to approach these questions.

Instructions for Turning in Labs

Your Math 11L computer lab assignments should be submitted using TED, as described below. Please submit only .doc, .docx, or .pdf files. If you have trouble with TED, please email your instructor with your submission as an attachment, to establish that you completed the assignment on time. Then we can work on resolving the difficulties you are having using TED.

First, log into TED.
As long as you have been enrolled or waitlisted in Math 11 for at least 24 hours, you should see a link to a Math 11 page. Click on this link, then select Content from the menu on the left.
Find the assignment that you would like to submit, and select "View/Complete".
Select the "Submit" button to go to the submission page. Then enter a title in the box "Submission title", select "Choose from this computer", choose the file that you want to submit, and select "Open".
Click the "Upload" button to upload the file, then click "Confirm" to finalize your submission.
If you submit the wrong file by mistake, you may remove that submission and resubmit a new lab, any time before the deadline, by clicking the "Resubmit" button.

Note that when you submit a file, a copy will be send to Turnitin.com to check for plagiarism.
Once your lab has been graded, you can find your grades in TED by selecting "Tools" from the menu on the left, then going to "My Grades".