Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Xian Zhou
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
ACST255 and STAT272
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit develops probabilistic and statistical models for survival and death, health and sickness, loss and claims, and other insurance related problems. Students will learn sophisticated mathematical and statistical methods to estimate lifetime distributions and model parameters; evaluate estimation quality and errors; assess the effects of covariates and risk factors; and test the appropriateness and validity of the models. Survival analysis for censored and truncated data, Cox proportional hazards models with covariates, and Markov processes for multiple state models, will be discussed and studied in details. Students gaining a grade of credit or higher in both ACST358 and ACST359 are eligible for exemption from subject CT4 of the professional exams of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Extensions and penalties on coursework assessment tasks
Submission of assessment tasks
Open-book final examination
Gradebook
Supplementary exams
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Quiz | 5% | No | 22 March |
Test 1 | 20% | No | 8 May |
Test 2 | 15% | No | 6 June |
Examination | 60% | No | Examination Period |
Due: 22 March
Weighting: 5%
Take-home quiz with multiple-choice questions. Feedbacks to the quiz will be provided before the end of week 4 (Friday, 24 March).
Due: 8 May
Weighting: 20%
Take-home test with problem-solving questions
Due: 6 June
Weighting: 15%
Class test with multiple-choice questions. It will be held during lecture hours in the lecture room (duration: 90 minutes).
Due: Examination Period
Weighting: 60%
Open-book final examination with problem-solving questions (duration: 3 hours plus 10 minutes reading)
Classes
Consultation hours
Refer to iLearn
Unit Web Page
Technology Used and required
Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials
Week 1: Principle of actuarial modelling; Probability models
Week 2: Survival analysis; Estimation of survival distributions
Week 3: Estimation of survival distributions; Variance estimation
Week 4: Variance estimation and confidence intervals
Week 5: Cox proportional hazards models
Week 6: Cox proportional hazards models; Stochastic processes
Week 7: Markov chains
Week 8: Test 1
Week 9: Markov chains; Markov jump processes
Week 10: Markov jump processes
Week 11: Markov jump processes; Applications of Markov processes
Week 12: Applications of Markov processes
Week 13: Test 2
Note: This is only a tentative schedule. The actual schedule will be adjusted from time to time in accordance with the progress of lectures.
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html
Disruption to Studies Policy (in effect until Dec 4th, 2017): http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html
Special Consideration Policy (in effect from Dec 4th, 2017): https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/special-consideration
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
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This graduate capability is supported by:
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This graduate capability is supported by:
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This graduate capability is supported by: