Math 461 Test 1, Fall 2006
Wednesday 27 September, in class, worth 20%.
You may not use books, notes, written materials, or electronic
devices.
Practice Test 1 2005 and
Solutions.
Pre-test study sessions Monday 25 September 4-5pm in Altgeld 345,
and Tuesday 26 September 4-5pm in Altgeld 345.
Material
Sections 1.1-1.6, 2.1-2.5, 3.1-3.4 (through Wed 20 September)
and all homework on that material.
Use your lecture notes and homework as a guide to the
emphasis you should place on the various topics.
How to study
- First make summary notes of the important ideas, definitions and methods
from each section. (This forces you to mentally organize the material!)
Here are a few issues to consider in particular:
- describe two interpretations of multinomial coefficients;
- state the three axioms of probability, and deduce some consequences of them;
- state the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle, and describe a difficult
homework problem that used it,
- state the definition of conditional probability,
and explain its intuitive meaning;
- explain what "conditioning" is, and give an example where it is used;
- what is the purpose of Bayes' Formula?
- state the definition of independence, and say what independence means in
terms of conditional probabilities.
- If you just work problems without first making
summary notes, you will probably be wasting your time, because you won't
have a mental framework into which to fit the examples you are working.
- Re-work all homework problems.
- Work through relevant examples and exercises in the text, and the practice
tests. Naturally some topics
covered in class do not appear on the practice test, but might appear
on the test this semester.