Being a weblog devoted to a variety of topics. Including Mathematics. And Mathematical Finance. Sometimes with homework.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

21-270: Change to Office Hours

There has been a scheduling change to Skyler Dong's office hours. The will now be held from 4:00-5:00 on Tuesday and Thursday.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

21-270: Exam #2 Results

UPDATE: I've corrected a variety of errors, as pointed out in class yesterday afternoon.

I'm making your Exam #2 grades available on the Blackboard site. I usually don't do this until I've had a chance to return the exams to you, and give you an idea what those scores mean (e.g. what the grade cutoffs are). Tomorrow is the deadlne for choosing the pass/fail option and for withdrawing without a "W" on your transcript. So here is what I can tell you:

Grade cutoffs for Exam #2 are: A, 65-100; B, 50-64; C, 40-49; D, 20-39.

Let me take a moment to explain how I'll determine your final grades at the end of the semester. I'll determine grade cutoffs for your final average by averaging the grade cutoffs for each assignment. For example, to determine the A cutoff, I will compute

.15*[85]+.6*[80 + 65 + (A cutoff for Exam #3)]+.25*[A cutoff for Final].

I'll make a similar computation for the other grades. Currently, those cutoffs are:

Grade cutoffs for Cumulative Average: A, 75.00-100; B, 61.00-74.99; C, 51.00-60.99; D, 34.00-50.99.

The current cutoffs were computed in the following way:

( .15*[Homework Cutoff] + .6*[(Exam #1 Cutoff) + (Exam #2 Cutoff)] )/(.75)

where, for instance, to compute the B cutoff for the cumulative average, you would use the B cutoffs for the Homework and Exams. You can compare your "Weighted Average" from the Blackboard gradebook to these cutoffs to see where you stand.

Here is a comprehensive set of statistics for the course so far.

Monday, March 23, 2009

21-270 Exam #2 Makeup

If you have a conflict with the original exam time, you can
take the scheduled makeup exam: Wednesday morning, 7:30-8:20AM, in WEH 5403.

Please do send me an email to let me know if you will be taking the makeup exam. If you have already written to me, please do not do so again. I'll try to confirm receipt of your message, but don't worry if you don't hear from me.

On Wednesday morning, I will need to know the nature of your conflict. It must be a legitimate conflict (university scheduled event, etc.).

21-270: Exam #2 Review Problems

I've added answer to (most of) the review problems on the Exam #2 Review Page.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

21-270: Exam #2 Review

I've posted the formula sheet for Exam #2 on the Exam #2 Review Page. (I made a couple updates to the formula sheet at 3:48pm on Sunday)

Friday, March 13, 2009

xkcd

This one is pretty good, too.

xkcd

As we get ready to begin our discussion of finite probability spaces in 21-270, I think it is apporpriate to think critically about correlation vs. causation.

21-270: Assignment for Week #9

I've posted the reading for Week #9, including the assingment for HW#7