Office Hours for Dr. Ortiz McGilvrey
Hall Room
334/336
Tuesday and Thursday 10:00
- 11:00 am
Wednesday
2:15
- 3:45 pm or by
appointment
Course
Rationale and Objectives: Students graduating from
college today face an increasingly technical and computer
oriented society that demands a quantitatively skilled work
force. This is especially true within the fields of science,
technology, engineering and math (STEM). This upper-level course
will provide participants with a broad introduction to
quantitative and statistical methods commonly used by research
scientists. This objective will be accomplished through
lectures, selected readings from the primary literature, and
computer exercises built around existing climate and
environmental data sets. Emphasis will be placed on developing
an understanding of the concepts underlying various methods and
gaining the insights needed to determine which tests are
appropriate for a particular application or data set.
Approach:
An important aspect of the course will be the "hands on"
exercises working with real world data sets on personal
computers using a variety of software applications. Students
will be encouraged to use their own data sets or data sets
provided by their advisor for the final project. Working with
real world data will help to give immediate relevance to the
examples presented in class and on laboratory assignments. The
internet provides an excellent source of data that will be
appealing to students with broad academic interests (see below).
Expected
outcome: Participants will gain an appreciation for
statistical methods and considerable experience working with
computational software as research tools. This will allow them
to develop quantitative skills that will be helpful in a wide
variety of potential career choices.
Pre-requisites: Basic
computer skills, Algebra, and one semester of Calculus and/or
Linear Algebra will be helpful. Experience with computational
software is helpful by not required. Enrollment will be limited,
interested students should contact the instructor for
permission.
Texts:
Mathematics, A simple tool for Geologists, 2nd Edition by David
Waltham, ISBN 0-632-05345-3.
Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology, 3rd Edition, John C.
Davis, ISBN 0-471-17275-8.
