Course Overview

Welcome!

Welcome to REDA-AAE-770: Introduction to Quantitative Methods. This course is being taught this summer as a 4-week, fully online course. The purpose of this course is to (i) provide a foundation of other courses in the REDA program and (ii) ensure that everyone in the program has a solid basic understanding of statistical and quantitative methods commonly used in applied economic analysis. There are two major sections to this course. The first covers some basic calculus concepts used in economic modeling and analysis. In the second section we review fundamental statistical ideas that are the foundation of data analysis methods used in economics.

Please complete the activities below to orient yourself to the course.

1. Meet your instructor.

Name: Professor Brian W. Gould

I am Prof. Brian W. Gould of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. I will be the lead instructor for the Calculus and Statistics review course, AAE770.

I would say that I have experienced a fairly unique career path. Having graduated from Cornell with a PhD in 1983, my first faculty position was with the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Saskatchewan where I did research, teaching and outreach in the regional development and agricultural policy arenas.

After 4 years, I moved back to the U.S. in Dec. 1986 for personal reasons. I assumed a number of soft $ positions with projects supported by USDA and the U.S. EPA for the next couple of years. In Dec. 1988 I became a staff member in the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research (www.cdr.wisc.edu) where I headed up the dairy marketing and economics efforts of the Center. This was a very interesting time for me professionally as it gave me an opportunity to work within the entire scope of the dairy industry: dairy farmer → dairy food manufacturer → wholesalers and → finally the retailing of dairy products.

I held the research position @ CDR for more than 18 years and although I did not have a formal appointment in AAE, I always found a way to continuously teach a variety of the Dept.’s undergraduate and graduate courses over the years. Eventually around 1999, I assumed full-time teach responsibility for AAE636, the only graduate econometrics course taught in the Department at that time. In 2005 I formally joined the AAE faculty as an Associate Professor. In August, 2012 I was promoted to Professor. I currently teach AAE637, Applied Econometrics II and AAE421, Economic Decision-Making. This latter course is a senior undergraduate class where we review the use of constrained optimization and statistical analysis for better managerial decision-making. This course is part of AAE’s undergraduate Ag. Business Management program.

My areas of interest has evolved subject to opportunity and changing interests. My original research focus was centered on the use of renewable (solar) energy resources. Given the position at Saskatchewan, I refocused my efforts in the area of regional economic development. Moving to Wisconsin, it is not surprising that given the positons I have held, I again changed my research and extension focus to one of dairy marketing which has been my primary area of interest since 1988. It was during that time that I cut my teeth on econometrics and contributed significantly, in my opinion, to the applied demand analysis literature.

I have always been a “back to the land” type of person and in the early 1990’s I purchased 40 acres of marginal forest/cropland about 1 hour outside of Madison. I built a small log cabin in 1994 and have enjoyed the rural getaway ever since although with increased professional responsibilities I spend less time at “the farm” than I prefer. I like to fly-fish (self-taught) and enjoy serious bike riding. I am pretty good with my hands in terms of carpentry and wood working and have undertaken numerous projects over the years that have left my neighbors shaking their heads in wonderment.

Communication:

Preferred Method of Communication:

There will be several methods by which you will be able to communicate with myself or your cohorts:

Piazza course meeting room: Piazza is an inter-active, student driven online service for managing Questions and Answers. Piazza gives students a space to ask and collaboratively answer course related questions in a timely manner. I encourage you to raise any questions /issues you may have with respect to course material using this website. Hopefully answers to your questions can be answered by your REDA peers. For more information about this system refer to the following URL: https://learnuw.wisc.edu/learnmore/Piazza.html .
1. Using the Piazza Help Forum
2. Piazza Help Forum link
Email: As a backup to the Piazza discussion site, sending an email message is an alternative. My email address is bwgould@wisc.edu and can be obtained from the UW phone directory if necessary.

Email Address: bwgould@wisc.edu
Expected Response Time: I will be available during the entire course. Remember that the UW is in the Central Time zone. During off-hours I monitor my email fairly regularly.
Office Phone: (608) 263-3212
Virtual Office Hours: I will also be holding two one-hour help sessions (i.e., office hours) on Monday and Thursday, i.e., for a total of 4 hours per week if needed) to answer any questions as well provide an open forum for general discussion. The timing of these sessions are shown below. Attendance at all office hour sessions is not required but recommended. During office hours I will use the GoTo Meeting software system to enable us to communicate more effectively. You do not need to purchase this software as I will host the meetings. I have used this system in other classes for the purpose of instructional web-sessions as well as in my dairy industry extension activities. I have found this software system relatively easy to use. The following is the connection information to attend my weekly office hours. The connection information will be valid for the entire course:
- Meeting URL: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/524035725
- Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) or call in using your telephone: Dial +1 (646) 749-3122
- Access Code: 524-035-725
- Audio PIN: Shown after joining in the meeting
- Meeting ID: 524-035-725
Course Announcements: Check the News widget on the course homepage for the latest course announcements

2. Download and read the entire course syllabus (pdf).

In the course syllabus you will find in-depth information on the course such as a description, list of prerequisites, and learning objectives, as well as the schedule and list of course policies.

3. Understand the time requirements for this online course.

It is critical that you devote enough time to this online course. This is a 3 credit course and it is up to you to devote the required amount of time to absorb the included subject matter. There is no set time required as it will vary from individual to individual given the very diverse nature of REDA student backgrounds. Online courses require you to more actively guide your own learning. Create a study schedule to stay on track, and plan to visit the course daily to keep up with reading the announcements, participating in the discussions, completing the activities, etc.

4. Familiarize yourself with the structure of the course.

This course is structured into 11 modules. Each module of this course will be structured with the following learning sequence: Overview → Readings, Lectures and Exercises → Assessments.

Overview: a brief text summary, learning objectives, and keywords

Readings, Lectures and Exercises: Lecture videos, exercises and other complementary material that will form the foundation of each module’s topic.

Assessments: learning opportunities (e.g. exercises and discussions) that prompt you to engage with the content. Note that each module includes an online discussion where you'll have the opportunity to discuss the course material and communicate with your fellow REDA students.