Department of Biology & Biochemistry, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
BB20153 Data interpretation |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Intermediate |
| Semester: 2 |
| Assessment: CW 30%, EX 50%, MC 20% |
| Requisites: |
| Before taking this unit you must take BB10001 and take BB10002 |
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Aims: To provide experience of the presentation and interpretation of biological data and the handling of biological information.
Learning Outcomes: After taking the unit the students should be able to: * demonstrate an understand of the principles of experimental design and identification of potential sources of error * make logical statements and reach sound conclusions from biological data, in particular formulate a null hypothesis * draw an accurate and appropriately annotated graph * identify the correct statistical test to perform on a data set * apply a statistical test to a set of data * interpret the outcome of a statistical test on biological data. * present the results of a piece of research in poster form * summarise the key elements of a piece of scientific prose. Skills: Logical thinking, presenting and interpreting scientific results, writing skills. Content: The course comprises some lectures and a series of assignments and problems that are undertaken by students and then analysed and discussed in weekly workshops and in tutorials led by personal tutors. Using examples that illustrate different types of biological information, the course covers the interpretation of simple data sets, data transformation, graphical presentation, interpretation of trends, selection of appropriate statistical tests for particular data sets, abstracting biological information, presenting results in poster form. As far as possible, the examples are generic, designed to be capable of interpretation without a requirement for in depth understanding of any particular area of biology. |