STAT:1000:0001 First-Year Seminar

Ten Lectures on Probability (1 s.h)

Course still pending but will be open for early registration in April 

• 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Tuesdays, Aug. 23 to Oct. 25
• TILE classroom
• Restricted to new first-year undergraduates who are Honors Program members

Section Description: Probability is ubiquitous, from games of chance to modern science and social science. This seminar consists of ten lectures introducing the use or study of randomness in various fields - including actuarial science/finance, computer science, data science, economics, and mathematics - through elementary arguments, including those described below.

Many games of chance involve a deck of cards, with players often wondering if a deck is well shuffled. We will study a simple algorithm to arrive at a perfectly shuffled deck besides exploring models for commonly used rifle shuffle to answer how many shuffles are sufficient. There is neigh a student who has not played rock-paper-scissors. We will see that strategic randomness yields optimality and that the underlying formalism relates to FCC auctions of the 5G spectrum. Likely, a student piqued by something read so far has already googled. We will understand how the core of Google's search algorithm borrows from the experience of a random web surfer.

Participants will strengthen both individual and collaborative problem-solving skills, mathematical expository skills, and gain awareness of classes university-wide related to the topics explored. Not to mention the sense of community that may develop serendipitously. Contributions to in-class discussions and group brainstorming sessions, and solutions to a few assigned problems will determine the final course grade.