Hi there, I just finished the course Autumn 2015 and to be honest it was a great course!
Professor: Dr. Aaron Childs <-- he is very funny and very fair in his tests and takes the time to ask students if they have questions or anything that they don't understand from the material.
Content: You don't need any previous knowledge of the course, Dr. Childs covers all the basics and explains material very well, in the second half of the course it will be very useful to have index cards for all the hypothesis tests that are covered, it may seem like a lot at first, that's what I thought, but as I started practicing I realized how straightforward it was, so USE THOSE INDEX CARDS JUST LIKE THE PROF TELLs YOU TO!
The Mark breakdown:
5 Assignments/Labs : 15% (3% each)
2 Tests: 40% (20% each)
Final Exam: 45%
Textbook:Honestly you don't really need the textbook unless you want to do the practice problems in them, I used to do the practice problems in the start of the course, but I found that Dr. Childs's questions aren't like the ones from the textbook, so I stopped doing that. It didn't hurt me because he gives plenty of practice tests for you to do. We don't even use the textbook in the course, the lecture notes are sufficient to pass the course.
Lab Manual: Was different from last year so buy a new one
Minitab software: You can buy one for around $22 in book store if you want it one your computer, if not don't worry there are specified lab times in the computer rooms in BSB where you can do your assignments, those computers have the software already installed for you to use, I don't know if the library computers have the software too, but you can check.
Assignments: The Assignments were fairly straightforward because it was all from the lesson and the examples done in the lesson will help you tremendously when answering the questions, the software it self is not hard to use there are very clear instructions in the lab manual and it also gives explanations about what the software output is telling you and how to interpret it. (i love the lab manual!!). If you get stuck on the assignment the TA's give you helpful tips in order to solve it, sometimes they just give you the answer straight away. Also you get 3 tries on each question, highest mark counts, you get 2 weeks to complete the assignment, you can get 100% on all these assignments for sure!
Tests:Dr. Childs gives you 3 practice tests for each test and if you practice all the questions and do some practice problems from the lab manual you are golden. The practice tests are very similar to the tests, also Dr. Childs, had 2 classes before each test dedicated to reviewing the material for the test, you can ask him to take up certain questions and he is very helpful if you go to his office hours as well, same goes for the TA's in this course.
Exam: I have yet to do this, I am sure its going to be like the tests as I have had Maths 1A03 with him and the exam was similar to the midterms that we did. I'll let you know how this goes.
Overall a great course, you are sure to do well if you take the time to practice and make index cards
