Syllabus of STAT 4052 - Fall 2020

Introduction to Statistical Learning

1 Overview
Course description: The course introduces a wide variety of applied statistical tools
and methodologies for identifying different types of problems and selecting the appropriate
solution for the analysis of the data. The material covered in the course include basic
concepts of regression and classification. Classical methods, as well as modern computer-
intensive methods are discussed and compared by splitting the data into training and
validation sets. Several datasets are analyzed and particular attention is paid on the
interpretation of the results. The main topics covered are: cross-validation, bootstrap,
linear regression, regularization methods, principal components, generalized linear models,
non-linear regression, Bayes classifier, KNN, linear and quadratic discriminant analysis,
tree based methods, support vector machines and missing data.

Prerequisites: STAT 4051 and STAT 4102 (or STAT 5102).

Credit Hours: 4.

Instructional Time: Lectures and labs will require you to invest 200 minutes per week.
Homeworks and exams preparation are expected to require between 180 and 400 minutes
per week. This imply that a total dedicated effort of 380 minutes per week will be sufficient
to ensure a letter grade greater or equal than C.

Class Web Page and course material: Lecture notes, lecture recordings, assignments,
exams and solutions will be made available on Canvas at https://canvas.umn.edu/
courses/191921.

Course format: The delivery method will be completely online in a semi-synchronous

format. Classes, labs and office hours will be held online through Zoom. Zoom is
a video communication tool which is already integrated on the Canvas web page of
the course at https://canvas.umn.edu/courses/191921/external_tools/21146. Most
of the classes and labs, if not all, will be held live. Despite attendance is not re-
quired, participation is encouraged. Only under special circumstances some of the
classes may be prerecorded. If that will be the case, the instructor will inform the
students in advance. All the lectures and labs will be recorded and the respective
recordings will be posted on the Media Gallery of the Canvas web page of the course at
https://canvas.umn.edu/courses/191921/external_tools/24.

Technology requirements: These technical requirements will allow you to access the
Canvas site successfully, send/receive online communications, complete assigned activities:
a U of M internet ID (your official U of M email address), a reliable, high-speed Internet
access, a supported web browser, a laptop or desktop with a working microphone, R or
RStudio installed on your computer (See section on Statistical Softwares below). Webcams
are not required but their use is encouraged.

1
Course information:

Instructor: Sara Algeri

Email: salgeri@umn.edu
Website: salgeri.umn.edu
Office: Ford Hall 362
Online office hours: Mondays 11:05AM - 12:05PM (CDT/CST)
(Note: during the morning time slot, priority will be given to students
located within the US) and
Mondays 7PM - 8PM (CDT/CST)
(Note: during the evening time slot, priority will be given to students
located outside the US).
Online class times: M,W,F 10:10AM - 11AM (CDT/CST).

Teaching Assistant: Yash Travadi

Email: trava029@umn.edu
Online office hours: Tuesdays 11AM - 12PM (CDT/CST)
(Note: during the morning time slot, priority will be given to students
located within the US) and
Thursdays 10PM - 11PM (CDT/CST)
(Note: during the night time slot, priority will be given to students
located outside the US).
Online lab times: Tuesdays 10:10AM - 11AM (CDT/CST).

Course inquires: Any question related to the course, including homework assignments,
lecture notes, R code, exams and class organization, must be posted on Canvas. Questions
related to your individual performance should be sent directly to the main instructor or
the TA via email.

Textbooks:

• (Required) James, G., Witten, D., Hastie, T., Tibshirani, R. (2013). An introduction
to statistical learning. New York: Springer. (It covers about 70% of the material).
Free download at http://faculty.marshall.usc.edu/gareth-james/ISL/ISLR\
%20Seventh\%20Printing.pdf.

• (Required) Faraway, J.J. (2004). Extending the Linear Model with R. Chapman
& Hall. (It covers about 25% of the material). Free download at http://ievbras.ru/
ecostat/Kiril/R/Biblio/R_eng/Faraway\%20-\%20Extending\%20the\%20Linear\
%20Model\%20with\%20R\%20\%96\%202006.pdf.

• (Required) Gelman, A., and Hill, J. (2006). Data analysis using regression and
multilevel/hierarchical models. Cambridge university press. (Chapter 25 only). (It
covers about 5% of the material). Free download at https://faculty.psau.edu.sa/
filedownload/doc-12-pdf-a1997d0d31f84d13c1cdc44ac39a8f2c-original.pdf.

Statistical Softwares: (Required) RStudio or R. Free download at: https://rstudio.

com/products/rstudio/download/.

2
2 Assessment
Homework assignments: The homework is a required part of the course. There will
be 10-12 assignments during the semester. The homework will assess both the theory
component discussed during class and the computational component introduced in the Lab.
Assignments will typically be due weekly on Tuesdays. Only occasionally, assignments may
be due on Sundays and/or biweekly. Late homework will not be marked, but the lowest
homework score will be dropped.

Participation: Attendance, participation and contribution to the discussion board on

Canvas are encouraged. They are integral parts of the learning process.

Exams: There will be two midterm exams and one final project. All the exams will
be take home. The midterm exams will include both theory and application material,
no (or minimal) R coding will be tested, and it will be due within 24 hours from the
time it will be assigned. The final project will consist in the analysis of a real dataset
(assigned by the instructor to the students) and can be conducted either individually
or in groups. Each group cannot contain more than 3 students.The final project will
be assigned towards the end of the semester and the students will be given at least
10 days to complete the analysis. As described in details in the section on Scholastic
Dishonesty below, when submitting your take-home exams you must include a certifica-
tion of academic integrity with signature and date. Submissions which will not include
such certification, regardless of the reason, will be assigned a grade of zero.

Exam dates (preliminary):

First Midterm Exam: to be assigned on October 21, due on October 22.

Second Midterm Exam: to be assigned on December 7, due on December 8.
Final project: to be assigned early in December, due on December 18.

Grades distribution:
Homework 15%.
First Midterm Exam 25%.
Second Midterm Exam 30%.
Final Project 30%.

Grade curve: As a preliminary guide you can expect that

• about 96% will be required for an A,
• between 90% and 95% will be required for an A−,
• between 86% and 89% will be required for a B+,
• between 80% and 85% will be required for a B,
• between 76% and 79% will be required for a B−,
• between 70% and 75% will be required for a C+,
• between 65% and 69% will be required for a C,
• between 60% and 64% will be required for a C−.

3
3 Course policies
Incompletes: The instructor acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the
likelihood of illness or other unsettling circumstances for any student enrolled in the course.
Incompletes will be given in cases of extreme hardship, and when there is a substantial
amount of unfinished work that the student is not able to complete. The student must
have a legitimate excuse why the work could not be done on time, adequate documentation
verifying the situation must be provided, and he or she must make arrangements with the
instructor as to when the work will be done. Incompletes will not be granted retroactively,
i.e., if a student facing hardship decides to complete homework assignments or exams, and
requests an incomplete only after seeing the outcomes. For more information, please refer
to the university policy about incompletes.

Makeup Work for Legitimate Absences. Students will not be penalized for absence
during the semester due to unavoidable or legitimate circumstances. Such circumstances
include verified illness, participation in intercollegiate athletic events, subpoenas, jury duty,
military service, bereavement, and religious observances. Such circumstances do not include
voting in local, state, or national elections. Also in this case, the instructor acknowledges
that the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the likelihood of unsettling circumstances for
all the students. Therefore, make-up work will be granted for those providing adequate
documentation verifying the situation of hardship.

Scholastic Dishonesty. You are expected to do your own academic work and cite
sources as necessary. Failing to do so is scholastic dishonesty. Scholastic dishonesty
means plagiarizing; cheating on assignments or examinations; engaging in unauthorized
collaboration on academic work; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty
permission; submitting false or incomplete records of academic achievement; acting alone
or in cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades, honors,
awards, or professional endorsement; altering, forging, or misusing a University academic
record; or fabricating or falsifying data, research procedures, or data analysis.
For all the take-home exams submitted for this course you are required to attach a
certification of academic integrity with your signature on the date of submission. Elec-
tronic signatures will also be accepted. You can find the required certification of in-
tegrity at the end of this document. No exam will be graded without a signed and dated
certification of academic integrity attached to it. Many the faculties and staff at the Uni-
versity of Minnesota have been working extremely hard to minimize the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the University community and the education of our students.
Shifting our teaching to online learning requires us to take extraordinary measures to
guarantee a fair assessment of students performance in our courses. Scholastic dishonesty
will be considered a sign of disrespect towards the instructor’s work and effort to overcome
these unprecedented circumstances. Now more that ever, scholastic dishonesty will not be
tolerated and will be reported immediately.

Appropriate Student Use of Class Notes and Course Materials. Taking notes
is a means of recording information but more importantly of personally absorbing and
integrating the educational experience. However, broadly disseminating class notes beyond
the classroom community or accepting compensation for taking and distributing classroom
notes undermines instructor interests in their intellectual work product while not substan-
tially furthering instructor and student interests in effective learning. Such actions violate

4
shared norms and standards of the academic community.

Disability Accommodations. The Disability Resource Center (DRC) is the campus

office that collaborates with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange
reasonable accommodations. If you have, or think you have, a disability in any area
such as, mental health, attention, learning, chronic health, sensory, or physical, please
contact the DRC office on your campus (UM Twin Cities - 612.626.1333) to arrange a
confidential discussion regarding equitable access and reasonable accommodations. Students
with short-term disabilities, such as a broken arm, can often work with instructors to
minimize classroom barriers. In situations where additional assistance is needed, students
should contact the DRC as noted above. If you are registered with the DRC and have a
disability accommodation letter dated for this semester or this year, please contact your
instructor early in the semester to review how the accommodations will be applied in the
course. If you are registered with the DRC and have questions or concerns about your
accommodations please contact your access consultant/disability specialist. Additional
information is available on the DRC website: https://diversity.umn.edu/disability/.

Mental Health and Stress Management. As a student you may experience a range
of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased
anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of
motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished
academic performance. University of Minnesota services are available to assist you. You
can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on
campus via the Student Mental Health Website: http://www.mentalhealth.umn.edu.

Sexual misconduct. In my role as a University employee, I am required to share

information that I learn about possible sexual misconduct with the campus Title IX office
that addresses these concerns. This allows a Title IX staff member to reach out to those
who have experienced sexual misconduct to provide information about the personal support
resources and options for investigation that they can choose to access. You are welcome to
talk with me about concerns related to sexual misconduct. Within the requirements of
my job, I will be as responsive to your requests for confidentiality and support as possible.
You can also or alternately choose to talk with a confidential resource such as The Aurora
Center, Boynton Mental Health and Student Counseling Services.

5
 Blank space

Certification of academic integrity

I hereby certify that I have completed this exam independently and I have not discussed
any of the problems or the solutions with anyone except the course instructor. All the
work submitted is entirely my own.

I understand that discussing the content of this examination, either problems or

solutions, with anyone other than the course instructor is considered academic misconduct,
and it will result in failing this examination and possible expulsion from the University.

I understand that the instructor is entitled to ask for further clarifications on my

solutions through an online discussion and the latter may affect the final grade of this
exam.

I understand that the online exam discussion will be recorded and may be used as
proof in support of a claim of academic dishonesty.

Signature: Date: