Voltolini wrote:
> Hi, I am biologist teaching statistics for biologists and I am
>
> very interested in to learn more about teaching strategies
>
> when the students hate numbers (like biologists!).
>
>
>
> This is the second time I am requesting information
>
> about articles or anyother resources on teaching statistics
>
> for biologists and........... it seems to me that this is not
>
> well developed, because just one or two people respond me !!!
>
>
>
> Then, if you have any article ou resource to indicate me,
>
> please send me !!!!
>
>
>
> Thanks for any suggestion !!!! Voltolini
>
>
Try to google "statistics +for biologists". It yields over 500
documents; some include curricula of courses.
I don't think that biology students hate numbers (they deal with
science, after all). However, they tend to underestimate the usefulness
of statistics. For a "naive" student it is reduced to calculation of
arithmetic means or percentages. Also s/he assumes that these figures
are trustworthy (i.e. they perfectly reflect characteristics of the
population undre study).
In my one-semester course two classes are the most important. One in
which students became aware that descriptive statistics are overloaded
with sampling and measuring error (introduction to inferential
statistics) and the other in which students construct the table of
critical values in the sign test (intro to hypothesis testing).
We use Simstat. It is very intuitive (and not expensive). I have found
"Practical Statistics for Field Biology" (Fowler, Cohen, Jarvis; issued
by Wiley) very useful.
Regards,
k
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