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ACSC 380-10 & Math 480-10 Actuarial Science Seminar Spring 2008 |
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Instructor |
John J. Currano |
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Additional Course Documents
(on the faculty web and
RU Online)
Texts: ACTEX Study Manual, SOA Exam P, CAS
Exam 1, 2007 edition, Broverman
The 2006 Edition is also acceptable; it is the same except for one fewer
sample test. Prerequisite: ACSC 348 or Math 348 or Math 448, Probability and Statistics 2 (it may be taken concurrently). You must be familiar with the material through Chapter 7 of Wackerly et al. Course Description and Objectives: The main objective of this course is to help you prepare for, and pass, the SOA Exam P / CAS Exam 1 on probability. To this end, most of the homework, the midterm exam, and the final exam will consist of problems similar to those on Exam P, and the time allotted for the exams will be comparable (per problem) to that allotted by the societies on Exam P. In order to succeed, you need to be able to analyze a problem, quickly choose an approach to its solution, and discard this approach and choose another when it does not seem to help. The best way to do this is to practice - do the assigned homework and as many additional problems from the study guide, text, and sample exams as you can. Course Materials. The course syllabus, assignments, previous years' tests and solutions, and other course materials, as well as some useful web links will be available on the Roosevelt Faculty Web at http://faculty.roosevelt.edu/currano/a380/ and on the course site on RU Online (usually by a link to the material on the Faculty Web). Check one of these websites regularly since the course materials posted there reflect all changes, additions and corrections. Communication. RU Online has a threaded Discussion Board where you can post comments, ask questions, and reply to the comments and questions of others, as well as facilities for emailing the instructor and your classmates. I usually respond to questions posted on the Discussion Board or sent by email within 48 hours. Email sent via RU Online, which I use to email the class, is sent to the recipient's Roosevelt email address, so please check your Roosevelt email regularly. You can also check your grades on RU Online. Logon and check it out. Courtesy. Please turn off all cell phones or set them on vibrate before entering the classroom. Class discussions are encouraged, but please address your remarks to the entire class. Homework and Class Participation. We shall discuss the the topics under consideration in the context of problem solving. For the first half of the semester (roughly until spring break), problems from the study guide will be assigned each week. Once we have covered the eleven sections of the study guide, an assortment of problems similar to those on Exam P will be posted each week. Each person should expect to present to the class the solution to one or two of the problems each week. The class participation grade will be based on these presentations. When a topic not covered in 347-8 / 447-8 (such as the lognormal, Weibull, Pareto, and bivariate normal distributions, and mixed distributions) is introduced in the study guide, we will discuss the topic briefly in class and some "standard" problems will be assigned. Assignments will be posted at http://faculty.roosevelt.edu/Currano/a380/hwk.htm. A Midterm Exam will be given on Monday, March 24. It will be a closed book exam with questions similar to those on the Course P exam. The Final Examination will be given on Monday, May 12, and will be a closed book, three hour exam similar to the Course P exam. There will be no make-ups for either exam, except for excused absences with advance notice.
Academic Integrity.
Each student's work on the exams is to be his or her own. Cheating
on either the midterm or the final exam will result in a grade of
F in the course. The University policies on Academic Integrity are on the web at
http://www.roosevelt.edu/plagiarism/.
Grading: Regulations covering
grades are on pages 254-255 of the
2006-2008 Undergraduate Catalog and on pages 203-204 of the
2005-2007 Graduate Catalog.
Incompletes will not be given, except to a
student who has done passing work up to the Final Examination
but misses the final exam because of an excused absence with
advance notice. The last day to drop a class (with a grade of "W")
is Friday,
April 4,
and the drop form must be submitted to the Registrar's Office by
that date. Anyone registered after
April 4th
must be graded solely on her/his performance. |
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The
Society
of Actuaries has
information and study materials on the web, including
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