BIOL12105 - Scientific Analysis and Statistics

General Information

Unit Synopsis

An understanding of experimental design, statistical methods, ethics and the ability to critically analyse scientific reports is essential for graduates in the sciences. In this unit, you will study experimental design, ethics and commonly used statistical procedures. You will be introduced to hypothesis testing and experimental design, parametric and non-parametric analyses, one, two and multi sample analyses (including one way, two way, and nested ANOVA designs, as well as multivariate analyses), correlation and regression, and data transformation. The learning and teaching strategy uses a clear, conceptual approach, which assumes that you have little or no statistical background.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite: SCIE11023 Scientific Research Fundamentals or ESSC11004 Study and Research Skills for Health Science or SCIE11024 Science Investigation

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 25%
2. Practical Assessment 25%
3. Online Quiz(zes) 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 18.18% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Moodle & in-class feedback
Feedback
Several students again expresed their appreciation of the shorter 'bite-sized' length of the lecture content, allowing them to learn and digest the key points before moving onto the next lecture.
Recommendation
Retain current lecture structure.
Action Taken
The current lecture structure was maintained.
Source: Moodle feedback
Feedback
Some students expressed a desire to see additional explanation of the relevance of the lecture content to their chosen field of study, with additional examples.
Recommendation
While applied examples are always supplied for each lecture in an attempt to contextualize the concepts, additional examples will be inserted where relevant.
Action Taken
Additional applied examples were provided both in lecture and online live Zoom sessions and on Moodle discussions.
Source: SUTE feedback Moodle feedback
Feedback
Students again appreciated the concise 'bite-sized' delivery of the unit content, noting that this made it easier to understand the theory with examples.
Recommendation
Maintain current lecture delivery structure.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Email
Feedback
One student asked that more notification be given regarding the expectations of the assessment, suggesting that email isn't the best way to transfer this information.
Recommendation
Students were provided clear expectations of assessment through Moodle assessment tabs, lecture content, live weekly Zoom sessions, direct email, and reminder announcements online. This broad approach will be maintained to help students access unit requirements in a number of ways.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Moodle/online feedback
Feedback
Students expressed their gratitude for the unit having additional live Zoom sessions for them to ask questions and resolve issues.
Recommendation
Maintain the offering of the additional live Zoom sessions throughout term.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Describe the uses, pitfalls and limitations of parametric and non-parametric statistical tests
  2. Choose an appropriate statistical test for a set of data
  3. Correctly use software programs for analysing scientific data
  4. Know when experiments require ethical clearance and explain the basic principles of ethical experimentation
  5. Critique scientific reports and research proposals in terms of the quality of their experimental design
  6. Design realistic experiments with appropriate control and replicates
  7. Explain the rationale behind statistical testing and probability levels.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • •
3 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 - Communication • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence •
8 - Ethical practice • • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment • • • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • •
3 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • •