What kind of calculator should I have?
You will need a calculator that is capable of doing square roots and logarithms. You can purchase such a calculator at drug stores, office supply stores, or at the bookstore (the Medical Area COOP). It need not be an expensive calculator, but it should have a square root function, a button to do natural logarithms (usually labeled “LN”), and an exponent button. If the calculator has a factorial button (looks like “!”), this will come in handy, but is not absolutely necessary. You should bring your calculator to class every day.
There is no textbook; class materials provided on the web and in the course manual you will receive on the first day of class contain all the information you will need. If you feel that you need to purchase a book with additional practice exercises, here are a couple of books that might be worthwhile:
Master Math: Basic Math and Pre-Algebra, by Debra Anne Ross. Career Press, 2009, 178 pages. $13.13
Quick Algebra Review: A Self-Teaching Guide, by Peter H. Selby and Steve Slavin. Wiley, 1993, 232 pages. $13.87
Both of these are available at a discount from Amazon and ship within a couple of days.
Who are the instructors?
The course instructors are:
Paul Catalano, ScD, Senior Lecturer on Biostatistics and
Associate Chair, Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Judi Manola, MS, Biostatistician, Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
How can I ask the instructors questions?
During the web component of the course, the instructors will be available by email. Send email to:
Frequently asked questions about the modules will be posted and answered on the web page for each module. In addition, the instructors will have telephone office hours posted for each module.