ECE 316Probability Theory and Statistics
- Faculty
- Engineering
- Last listed
- Spring 2021
No longer offered. It was in Waterloo’s course catalog since at least Winter 2020 (as far back as Open Data goes) to Spring 2021. It isn’t in the 2024–25 or later calendars.
In the course catalog from Winter 2020 to Spring 2021; Open Data has no classes for it in that time.
Ensemble model of randomness. Conditional probability, independence, and Bayes' theorem. Random variables, probability distribution functions. Expected values. Collections of random variables, joint and marginal probability distributions, and correlation. Introduction to Statistics. Confidence intervals. Estimation. Chi-squared test. p-values. [Offered: W, S]
Requirements, as last listed
Prereq: ECE 103, (ECE 205 or MATH 211), MATH 119; Level at least 3A Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering. Antireq: ECE 306
In today’s calendar
Reviewed on UW Flow
53% liked it26% easy76% useful
From 81 ratings and 10 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Would've been better if it we had a better prof
Apr 2015 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Stats suck but are useful. This course is no exception.
Apr 2018 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
The pre-midterm material for this course was easier for me. It requires an intuitive understanding of probability, and how to count things efficiently. If you enjoyed ECE 103, in particular the counting portion of it, then you will likely enjoy the first half of this course. There is very few concepts that you actually need to know pre-midterm, and most of the in class lecture time is spent analyzing different probability problems.
The post-midterm material for this course is much more algorithmic. There is a lot more material to learn, and it starts to feel more like calculus. It is less ambiguous in the sense the different problems you encounter will have a fairly standard approach to…Aug 2017 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
unnecessarily difficult but with steep curves (with Khandani)
Aug 2017 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Course starts easy, then gets really hard. Midterm was easy, make use of it cause that's going to carry your final mark. Finals was ridiculously unfair, mainly cause the prof really hated our class.
Jan 2017 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
73 posts and comments in 55 threads mention ECE 316, April 2014 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Winter 2022
I am /u/microwavemasterrace, UW ECE 2017 alumnus, AMA 58 points, 73 comments
“Hello /r/uwaterloo! It's been a while since I was last active in the subreddit, and it's gotten a lot quieter around here so figured I should make some noise. …”
[deleted]: [deleted]
u/microwavemasterrace: “ECE 316 aside, I don't recall finding any course particularly challenging. For things like ECE 242 I stared at the textbook and did practice problems until things made sense like I did with high school courses. …”
What is the hardest course you took in waterloo 29 points, 66 comments
u/microwavemasterrace: “ECE 316 with Ravi Mazumdar Ravi made it impossible to understand anything while making everything sound trivial. I legit only did 3 questions partially out of 15 on the final, and walked away with an 82%.”
Fall 2021
Study tips for ECE students 2 points, 6 comments
“What are the best study tips you can offer a computer engineering student (going into 3A with a lot of labs). …”
u/AAstar2: “… ECE 316 is hardest and ECE 380 is easiest. The rest are in moderate difficulty. Study post-midterm material first, then brush up on pre-midterm material. Re-do all assignments, do the practice final. …”
u/AAstar2: “I was in the old curriculum. I think we took these in 3A. ECE 300A Electrical and Computer Engineering Practice ECE 316 Probability Theory and Random Processes ECE 380 Analog Control Systems ECE 327 Digital Hardware Systems (computer) ECE 351 Compilers (computer)”
Spring 2021
CE 2B 0 points, 2 comments
“Our classes just started and I'm already starting to feel overwhelmed. Which classes do I need to focus the most on, in terms of hardest content and useful content for future classes? …”
u/natobott: “… In the old curriculum we had ECE 103/316 If it’s Bill Bishop ECE 224 is just grinding through the practice finals, if it’s Rodolfo Pelozzoni I heard it was harder so pay attention to the notes... …”
Winter 2021
Damen is a child 167 points, 37 comments
“I recommend anybody in ECE avoid him at all costs. I have never had a prof be so incompetent yet so proud. …”
u/ece_te: “Oh god this just brings back my ptsd when he failed 1/3 of his class in ECE 316...his lectures and stuff were shit. I can only imagine how much worse it is with online learning. Good luck friend.”
Software engineering vs Computer engineering 8 points, 17 comments
“What exactly is the difference between the two? Ideally I want to work/study in either the software or robotics sector and I’m not sure what I should be applying for next year. …”
u/a2xia: “… You'll find out in ECE 316 and ECE 416), signal processing, computational intelligence (ECE 457A/B), and the area you're probably interested in: controls, automation, and robotics (ECE 380 plus a bunch of fourth year courses I forgot the codes for). …”
Winter 2020
ECE 306/316 Probability Theory & Statistics? 3 points, 7 comments
u/StatSleuth: “ECE 306 Probability Theory & Statistics is taught by Amir K Khandani next term (Spring). Any feedback on what the mid-terms, assignments, finals and class average was like? I believe this course was also taught as ECE 316 before... All reviews greatly appreciated”
u/Salisbury5: “Though not very relevant to your question, here is my ECE 316 story. I took it in 1989 with Professor Andrew Heunis who was an absolutely amazing professor. It was my lowest mark in all of university, a 50. My next lowest mark was maybe a 68. …”
Fall 2019
How many courses did you fail throughout your university career? How much did it affect you? 24 points, 16 comments
u/ece_te: “Fortunately, just 1 course (ECE 316). I came close to failing a couple early on and then another course in 4th year that was a pity pass even though the syllabus said that if you fail the exam you fail the course :) How much did it affect me? …”
Spring 2019
What’s the first class you did bad in or failed? Why? What should you have done differently? 26 points, 60 comments
u/ece_te: “I failed ECE 316. Hard exams, terrible prof. Adding on the fact that I had to deal with family issues just made me so unmotivated to get anything done properly. …”
ece108: unfair or nah? 13 points, 21 comments
“for this course, we were assessed by 5 assignments and 1 midterm. on average, assignment grades were in the low 80s to mid 90s range for the class. …”
u/raiinacorn: “Is it fair? No. But it's in the profs right to grade how he wishes and no doubt he wanted to bring the average down from a 90. …”
u/ece_te: “… In 3A our class did really bad in ECE 316. Prof sucked ass, exam was hard af (especially when the entire grading scheme was a 65/35 split between final and midterm...so you only get two chances to earn a passing grade). …”
Winter 2019
ECE 3A, What to watch out for? 6 points, 6 comments
u/CheckOutMyCat: “… Here are the profs we have: ECE 316 (Probability Theory and Statistics) - Prof. Liang-liang Xie ECE 380 (Analog Control Systems) - Prof. Andrew J Heunis ECE 375 (Electromagnetic Fields and Waves) - Prof. Amir H Majedi ECE 331 (Electronic Devices) - Prof. …”
u/bromdenki: “… For ECE 316, the assignments are very similar to the exams so no problems there. For 380, you might have some problems because he can throw some hard questions on you. …”
Am I the only one? 51 points, 19 comments
“Am I the only one whose depression gets in the way of effective studying? Where depression takes up all your energy and you can't find motivation to open your textbook? …”
u/xhumptyDumptyx: “… Also kinda curious, is this course ECE 316?”
u/melancho1ia: “I'm sorry you struggled. I hope you are on the road to recovery. And nope, I'm not taking ECE 316 for that isn't a course in my program.”
Resources
Around the web
Found by uwloo’s link finder, which checks that each page names ECE 316.
- ECE316 info Course notes · ece.uwaterloo.ca · posted on r/uwaterloo Dec 2017 Remove
Check it elsewhere
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2020–21Its last calendar entry, on uwloo
- Course outlinesSyllabi from past terms (UW login)
- UW FlowStudent ratings and reviews
- WClassesPast sections back to 2004, and who taught them
In the scanned calendars
How it read in each calendar from 1970–71 to 1994–95, newest first. The text is OCR of the scanned pages; years whose wording matches are shown once, from the clearest scan. Each year links to its page on uwloo and to that page of the scanned PDF.
1990–91 to 1994–95 5 calendars
Conditional probability and independence; Bayes’ Theorem; random variables; functions of random variables; distribution functions; marginal and conditional distributions; correlation; reliability; the Poisson process, applications to reliability theory, continuous-time birth and death processes, queueing theory.
Offered Winter, Spring · 3 class, 1 tutorial hours a week · 0.5 credit
Not in the 1977–78 to 1989–90 calendars.
1974–75 to 1976–77 3 calendars
Another title: Probability and Statistics, probably a different course under the same number (or a misread scan).
Basic notions of probability; conditional probability and independence; Bayes’ Theorem; random variables; functions of random variables; and distribution functions; applications to reliability and failure rates; two dimensional random variables; marginal and conditional distributions and transformation of variables; correlation and applications to regression and statistical testing.
Prerequisites: EE205 (Math 25) or equivalent
1970–71 to 1973–74 4 calendars
Another title: Probability and Statistics, probably a different course under the same number (or a misread scan).
Sample spaces, events, relative frequency, basic notions of probability; conditional probability and independence; Bayes’ theorem; random variables; continuous and discrete probability density function; cumulative distribution function; functions of a random variable; geometric interpretations of probability; marginal p.d.f.’s; expectation, variance, conditional expectation; correlation coefficients, Chebysher’s inequality; regression of the mean, law of large numbers. Prerequisites: Math 25 or equivalent. 2 hours lectures, 2 hours tutorial, one term.