Midterm 2 Study Guide

Exam period

The Zoom classroom will open at 3:50 PM on Monday March 22. The default time allowed will be 75 minutes and will be proctored through Zoom by Colin and Francesco. The exam will be password protected, to access the exam you must verify your identification on screen. You may verify your identity early if you arrive early. If you are running late, you will still be able to start the midterm after 4:00 PM, but you may be given less than 75 minutes to complete this if you start exceptionally late. If you have a university recognized exception for a longer exam period, you will be granted the allotted extended time, but you are recommended to start your exam by 4:00 to avoid technical issues. You must schedule alternative proctoring yourself with the DRC who will provide identity verification and the access code through their proctoring.

Proctoring

The midterm will be proctored through Zoom, you will need to log in with your camera on with a visible room / workspace. You may leave your microphone off for the concentration of participants. Canvas will track if you leave the exam tab, extended absences from this tab may be treated as a breach of academic conduct. If you need to ask a question through Zoom, you may send a chat to Colin or Francesco, we will assign a breakout room so that we can chat with you privately.

Allowed resources

A standard scientific calculator and handwritten or printed notes will be allowed on the exam. No other resources will be allowed on the exam. Indications of using any electronic resources or communication with anyone but the instructors during the exam may be treated as a breach of the academic code of conduct.

Communication

Communication between a test taker and anyone but the instructor is expressly prohibited during the exam time.

Exam structure and sections:

You will be given a single attempt on the exam, but you may change your answers while you are still working on the exam before it is submitted. You will be given no feedback on the answers until after the exam. There will be approximately 18 questions in total. Some questions have multiple parts. Questions are either multiple choice or short answer questions that you need to enter numerical answers. Round your answers to the correct decimal places as indicated in the questions.

This exam will cover content from the following sections:

• 3.1 - 3.3, 3.5
• 4.1 - 4.5

There will be a focus on the following topics:

• Using the probability mass function and the cumulative distribution function of a discrete random variable to evaluate probabilities. This may come from a function that defines \(f(x)\) or \(F(x)\), or a table of values for either of the above. You may be asked to evaluate the probability of a point value or a range of values from either of the above.
• Computing the mean, the variance and the standard deviation of a discrete random variable. You may be asked to compute these values given a probability mass function, a table of probability values defining a distribution, or a simple game of chance such as dice or cards in which you may need to infer the mass function with the equal probability model.
• Using the probability density function and the cumulative distribution function of a continuous random variable to evaluate probabilities. This may come from a function that defines \(f(x)\) or \(F(x)\). You may be asked to evaluate the probability of a a range of values from either of the above, with upper bounds, lower bounds or both.
• Computing the mean, the variance and standard deviation of a continuous random variable. You may be asked to compute these values given a probability density function using the definition or for a specific distribution that has well-known form for these parameters.
• Using the binomial distribution to calculate the probability of an outcome of a replication of an experiment. You may be supplied the parameters directly, or you may be asked to infer the parameters based on the problem. You also may be asked to compute the mean or the variance of a binomial random variable – these are simple values for the binomial distribution, you can use the direct formula rather than the general definition.
• Using the uniform distribution to compute probabilities. You also may be asked to compute the mean or the variance of a uniform random variable. You can use the direct formula rather than the general definition.
• Computing probabilities of a normal random variable. You will need to use a statistical table of z-scores as provided in the book. Make a printed copy or use a hard copy of the book, either is fine. You may be asked about standardizing normal random variables, the empirical rule or other general concepts about normal random variables.

Preparing for the exam

There are practice questions available in Canvas. We will have a review session during our class session on Monday March 17 to go over questions about the practice questions or anything else related to the exam.

The Math Center will also hold a review session online using Zoom. It will take place in the same Zoom call that the rest of the Math Center operates through. The review session will also be recorded and uploaded to their YouTube channel.

The date for the review is as follows:

• March 21, 2021 TIME @ 1- 2:30pm
• URL: https://unr.zoom.us/j/163238689