Math 11L, Computer Lab Assignments

This is the web page for the Math 11L computer lab assignments, which you will carry out 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.

The MINITAB software is installed on the 30 Windows computers in ERCA 117, a computer lab in the Eleanor Roosevelt College administration building. It has also been installed in APM B349. 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. You can also rent MINITAB from e-academy for $29.99. The current version of MINITAB does not run on Macintosh computers.

Lab sections will meet in ERCA 117. They will meet every Thursday, except on April 24 and May 22 when we will have a break so that you can focus on preparing for Math 11 midterm exams. Labs will be due the following day, except for the first lab which will be due two days later. 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.

You will need a password to access the data for the course. The password was announced in class and is also available from the instructor.

Lab Schedule

Below is the schedule for the 8 computer lab assignments. Labs must be submitted electronically by midnight of the due date. Labs submitted the day after the due date will be penalized 20 percent. No labs will be accepted more than one day late. WebCT will keep track of the time the labs are submitted and mark late assignments as such.

Lab 1: [10 points, due Saturday, April 5]: April weather in San Diego (Displaying and describing data graphically) -- Mean Score = 9.8/10
Lab 2: [15 points, due Friday, April 11]: Comparing the 50 states (Summary statistics and regression) -- Mean Score = 13.7/15
Lab 3: [15 points, due Friday, April 18]: Metabolic rates in mammals (Regression and transformations) -- Mean Score = 12.8/15
Lab 4: [15 points, due Friday, May 2]: Simulating Bernoulli trials -- Mean Score = 12.3/15
Lab 5: [15 points, due Friday, May 9]: Birth times and birth weights (Probability distributions) -- Mean Score = 12.4/15
Lab 6: [15 points, due Friday, May 16]: Sampling distributions and the Central Limit Theorem
Lab 7: [15 points, due Friday, May 30]: SAT scores and cloud seeding (Hypothesis testing)
Lab 8: [15 points, due Friday, June 6]: Predicting children's growth (Regression inference)

These labs were developed and written by Jason Schweinsberg, with input from graduate students Arthur Berg and Neal Harris.

Using the ACS Labs

To log in to the computers in ERCA 117, 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.
To open MINITAB, go to Start --> All Programs --> Minitab Solutions --> Minitab15.
To open Microsoft Word (which you will need to do to work on your reports), go to Start --> All Programs --> Microsoft Office --> Microsoft Office Word 2003.
To open Internet Explorer (which you will need to do to download the data), go to Start --> Internet Explorer.
To print from the laser printer in ERCA 117, you will need an ACS laser printer account. If you do not have one, you can set one up by going here. The name of the printer in ERCA 117 is laser33.
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 ERCA 117 and APM B348 computer labs, 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.

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 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.
If you received help from anyone other than the instructor or TAs, include an additional short section at the end of your lab called "Acknowledgments" in which you give appropriate credit to the people who helped you. This will help to keep you in compliance with the academic integrity policy.

Instructions for Turning in Labs

Your Math 11L computer lab assignments should be submitted using WebCT, as described below. If you have trouble with WebCT, please email the instructor at jschwein@math.ucsd.edu with your submission as an attachment, to establish that you completed the assignment on time. Then we can work on fixing the problem.

First, log into WebCT. 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.
As long as you have been enrolled or waitlisted in Math 11 for at least 24 hours, you should be see a link to a Math 11 page. Click on this link.
On the left side of the screen, click on "Assignments".
Click the name of the assignment that you would like to submit (for example, Lab 1).
Click the "Add Attachments" button (which is below "Submission" and below "Add Comment"). Then click on "My Computer" and select the file that you wish to submit. [Note: on some web browsers, the "My Computer" icon does not appear. If you do not see this icon, try clicking just below the "My Files" icon, and you should get a message with the heading "Upload Files from Your Computer". Click on the message "Click here to select files individually", then you should be able to choose your file and click "OK".]
Click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the screen, then click OK twice to complete your submission.
If you submit the wrong file by mistake, click on "Assignments" on the left side of the screen, then select the "Submitted" tab and click on the assignment that you would like to correct. In the upper right corner of the screen, you should see a small icon that looks like a hand holding an envelope. Click on that icon. Next, click on the icon that looks like an envelope with a red arrow on it to remove your submission. You can try again to submit your assignment. (You may not replace a submission after the deadline.)
To see your graded assignments, click on "Assignments" on the left side of the screen, then select the "Graded" tab. You can see the TA's comments by clicking on the name of the lab.