Please read this page carefully. It will help you to test and configure your computer for participating in this course.

Press the test your system button below to determine if your computer is configured properly. If it is not, the instructions provided at the bottom of this page will assist you in installing the required software and configuring your system appropriately. Note, your web browser must have popup windows enabled for this test to work.

If you have questions or need help configuring your system, please contact us for assistance.

To access this course, your system must satisfy the following requirements:

Operating System

• PC: Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
• Macintosh: OS X 10.4+
• Linux: Not supported at this time.

Web Browser

• PC: Internet Explorer 8 and up, Firefox 3.6 and up, and Chrome 14 and up
• Macintosh: Firefox 3.6 and up, Safari 3.2 and up, and Chrome 14 and up
• Linux: Not supported at this time.

Additional Requirements

You must enable Cookies, Javascript and Pop-up Windows to view the course documents. Instructions on how to enable these features are below under Configure Your Browser .

A minimum screen resolution of 1024x768 pixels is recommended for this course.

Plugins

• Java 1.4.2 or newer
• Adobe Flash Player version 10.2 or newer
• Support for mathematical formulas
  • Internet Explorer: MathPlayer version 2 or newer
  • Firefox: Special fonts for MathML

Other Software

Many of the activities in this course require you to have a statistical software package installed on your computer. Instructions are provided in the activities for all of the following software packages. Note that you only need one of these four options - not all of them.

• StatCrunch

  StatCrunch is a web-based statistics package. It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It does not require users to download or install any software. Students can acquire a 6 or 12 month license. Instructors can request a free license. For license information: http://www.statcrunch.com/register.php Note that you will first need to set up a Pearson account in order to get a StatCrunch license.

• R: R is an open source statistics package that can be downloaded and used for free. R is available for both Windows and Mac OS X, and can be downloaded using the following links:

  Windows
  MacOS X
  

• Minitab

  Minitab is available for Windows only, and can be purchased from http://www.minitab.com/

• Excel

  Microsoft Excel is supported for Windows only and can be purchased from http://office.microsoft.com/ (Excel is not supported on the Mac because Microsoft no longer provides the Analysis ToolPak for the Mac OS X version of Excel).

  Note that in addition to the standard installation, the Analysis ToolPak must also be installed. To install the Analysis ToolPak, first install Excel and then follow these instructions:

  • Excel 2007:
    • Click the Microsoft Office Button (the round button at the top left of the Excel application), and then click Excel Options.
    • Click on Add-Ins on the left and then next to Manage, select Excel Add-ins. Click Go.
    • Next, check the box next to Analysis ToolPak and click OK.
    • Click Yes to run the installer (note: Excel may ask you to insert your Office CD to complete the installation).
  • Previous versions of Excel:
    • Click the Tools menu and select Add-Ins.
    • Next, check the box next to Analysis ToolPak and click OK.
    • Click Yes to run the installer (note: Excel may ask you to insert your Office CD to complete the installation).

• TI Calculator

  Several versions of the TI Calculator can be used to complete most of the activities in the course. Supported versions include:

  • TI-83
  • TI-83 Plus
  • TI-83 Plus Silver Edition
  • TI-84
  • TI-84 Plus
  • TI-84 Plus Silver Edition

  A cable is also required for connecting the TI Calculator to your computer to download datasets. Many TI Calculators come with such a cable. If you need to purchase one, additional information can be found at the following links:

  • TI Connectivity Kit
  • Link Cables

  Note that, while most of the activities in the course include instructions for the TI Calculator, there are some activities that are difficult or impossible to complete on the TI Calculator. For those activities, we suggest using one of the other software packages, such as R.

Web Browser

Use the links below to download a compatible Web Browser:

• Firefox
• Chrome
• Internet Explorer
• Safari

Cookies

Cookies are required in order to create an account and sign in to this website. If you were able to sign in successfully, cookies are already enabled in your Web Browser.

Java Plugin

Some of the learning activities in this course feature interactive Java applets. To be able to use these applets, you must have Java installed and enabled. The Java plugin can be downloaded from http://www.java.com/.

Got Java? Still having problems? The Java Plug-in may not be enabled:

To enable Java in Internet Explorer, click Tools menu and select Internet Options. Next, select the Programs tab and click Manage add-ons. Select the All add-ons option in the Add-on Types dropdown list. Highlight Java Plug-in and click Enable button. Close the Add-ons widow. Next, select the Security Tab, and select the Custom Level button Scroll down to Scripting of Java applets. Make sure the Enable radio button is checked. Click OK twice to save your preference.

To enable Java in Firefox, click the Tools menu and select Add-ons. Select Plugins and highlight Java Plug-in. Click Enable.

JavaScript

To enable JavaScript in Internet Explorer, click the Tools menu and select Internet Options. Next, select the Security tab. Press the button labeled Custom Level. Scroll down to the category labeled "Active Scripting". Select the circle marked Enabled. Press the OK button at the bottom of the window.

To enable JavaScript in Firefox, click the Tools menu and select Options (Firefox menu on Macintosh). Select the category labeled Content. Check the box labeled "Enable JavaScript". Press the OK button at the bottom of the window.

Adobe Flash Plugin

Some of the learning activities in this course feature interactive Flash activities. To be able to use these activities, you must have Flash installed. The Flash plugin can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer.

MathPlayer Plugin (for Internet Explorer)

This course contains mathematical formulas. In order for these formulas to display properly within Internet Explorer, you must install the MathPlayer plugin. To download the MathPlayer, visit http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathplayer/download.htm.

MathML Fonts

This course contains mathematical formulas. In order for these formulas to display properly within Firefox, you must install a set of mathml fonts. Download the mathml fonts using this links: For Firefox 4 and above, download https://developer.mozilla.org/@api/deki/files/4720/=STIXv1.0.0.zip. For Firefox 3 download https://developer.mozilla.org/@api/deki/files/4719/=STIX-mozilla1.9.zip. and then follow the instructions below to install them:

• Windows 7 and Windows Vista
  • Clicking on the link above will download a file called STIXv1.0.0.zip or STIX-mozilla1.9.zip. Save this file on your hard drive and then unzip it so that you have a folder called STIXv1.0.0 or STIX-mozilla1.9.
  • Select all of the font files in this folder and then right-click and choose Install from the pop-up menu.

• Windows XP
  • Clicking on the link above will download a file called STIXv1.0.0.zip or STIX-mozilla1.9.zip. Save this file on your hard drive and then unzip it so that you have a folder called STIXv1.0.0 or STIX-mozilla1.9.
  • From the Start menu select Control Panel.
  • Select the Appearance and Themes category, and then select Fonts from the See Also panel at the left of this screen. (Note: if you have previously changed your control panel to Classic view, you won't see the Appearance and Themes category. Simply click on the Fonts control panel.)
  • On the File menu, select Install New Font....
  • Navigate to the STIXv1.0.0 or STIX-mozilla1.9 folder, click the Select All button, and then click on OK.

• Mac OSX
  • Clicking on the link above will download and unzip a folder called STIXv1.0.0 or STIX-mozilla1.9
  • Copy all of the fonts in that folder to the folder on your Mac in the following path *Your Macintosh Hard drive*/Library/Fonts/ where *your Macintosh Hard drive* is the name you have given your hard drive
  • Restart the browser
  • MathML may not render correctly in older Firefox browser even if you have installed the fonts correctly. If this is the case with your browser, please follow the steps below to upgrade to Firefox to 5.0 or newer
  • Uninstall your current version of Firefox
  • Uninstall old STIX fonts. It is important that you only remove fonts whose name begins with the letters STIX from *Your Macintosh Hard drive*/Library/Fonts/.
  • Follow the steps above to re-install the STIX 1.0.0 fonts

Popup Windows

If you have configured your Web Browser to not allow popup windows or if you have installed any utility program which blocks popup windows, you will not be able to access areas of this course.

To determine if popup windows are enabled in your Web Browser, press the Test Your System button above. If a new window opens, then popup windows are enabled.