Biostatistics in the Classroom: Teaching Introductory Biology Student How to Use the Statistical Software ‘R’ Effectively

 

Mark A. Sarvary

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2014, Volume 35

Abstract

R is a comprehensive, programming, graphical and statistical software that will provide significant help with the statistical analysis needed for the research projects conducted in biology labs. It became one of the most popular statistical software in the biological sciences in the past few years. ‘R’ is an implementation of the statistical programming language â€oeS†, which was developed at the Bell Laboratories. Every semester, over 400 students learn how to use ‘R’ in our investigative biology laboratories. After a one‐semester biology lab our students do not only walk away with laboratory skills, but by using ‘R’, they improve their statistical, mathematical and analytical skills as well. This new addition to our labs has been very successful, and the feedback from the students, TAs and other faculty has been very positive. ‘R’ is a freeware, and compatible with Unix, Apple and Windows operating systems. The freeware can be downloaded from www.r‐project.org.

Keywords:  data analysis, graphing, biostatistics

University of Calgary (2013)