Introducing statistical tools in biology labs to facilitate student research

 

Remsburg, A. J., M. A. Harris, & J. C. Batzli

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2010, Volume 31

Abstract

Why teach stats in bio labs? -Data analysis is key to the scientific method. -Enable students to analyze results from inquiry-based laboratory projects. -Just-in-time teaching makes statistics more relevant and interesting to students. We designed and assessed statistics instructional materials that can be implemented in four weeks of a biology laboratory. We interspersed statistics tutorials and active learning lessons as students were entering into each phase of their research project What should students be able to do after this unit? -Design experiments to test a stated hypothesis. -Choose, conduct, and interpret statistical tests to compare means -Appreciate the role of statistics in research Approaches to student learning: -Collection & graphing of stream data -Readings & questions from statistics primer we wrote -Mini lecture on experimental design, summary stats & graphs, with examples from variety of biology disciplines -Critiques of experimental designs -Presentations of research proposals -Group project written reports -Immediate feedback questions to practice t-test selection: paired or independent, followed by discussion -Small group presentations using “jigsaw” approach so that each group explained different aspects of t-tests Results: -On final research reports, most groups (88%) drew appropriate conclusions from hypothesis tests. On data reporting tasks that we did not discuss during lab (but made available in the statistics primer), only 34 % followed directions. -More students planned to take a full semester statistics class after experience in this lab than before (McNemar’s χ2 = 7.4, df = 1, p = 0.007).

Keywords:  experimental design, statistics education, biostatistics, just-in-time, student research

University of Delaware (2009)