Introduction to Biostatistics

Introduction to Biostatistics

BIOS 4120

Spring 2020

Note: There is a newer version of this course (Spring 2022) available here.

Announcements:

3-20: The university has decided to push back the start of classes to March 30. The announcement was not clear on this point, but my interpretation is that we are just losing that week (i.e., we will have two fewer lectures and one fewer assignment). The course schedule has now been updated to reflect this. Also, the due date for assignment 7 is now March 31.

3-17: As you are aware, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing serious changes to life around the world, and to the format of University of Iowa classes in particular. In terms of this class, I think that, while nothing can replace actual face-to-face interaction, remote/virtual instruction will be an acceptable substitute. Below, I am laying out my current plans for how the course will continue once classes resume, but I am sure that there will be some unforeseen difficulties along the way. Please share those difficulties with me. I want to make this experience the best it can be, but I can’t do so without feedback. I will be as flexible and accommodating as possible in this difficult situation.

• Lectures: I would like to continue to have lectures at our usual time, but we will be meeting virtually using the Zoom teleconferencing app, which you will have to download. On the Notes page, you will see that new links have been added for our future lectures. Clicking on that link should take you to the zoom meeting (if I have not yet started it, you’ll be taken to something of a virtual waiting room). You may want to try to join a test meeting prior to our first lecture to make sure the software is working correctly. You will want to choose the option to sign in with your SSO – this gives you access to the full (“pro”) version of the program via the University of Iowa’s license agreement with Zoom.

  With Zoom, you will be able to see my screen and hear my voice, as well as ask questions either verbally or by typing them in the chat. To cut down on background noise, please mute your microphone unless you have something to say.

  I would like for students to join the live lecture if possible, so that we can continue to interact. However, I also plan on recording the lectures and posting the video on ICON as a backup plan in case students are unable to connect via Zoom.

• Homework: You will have to turn in homework electronically from now on; from assignment 7 onwards, there will be a link to turn the assignment in via Dropbox (you do not need to install Dropbox in order to turn in the assignment). Please type your assignment and turn it in as a .pdf file (or .docx file); if you do so, we can provide feedback by adding notes/comments. We prefer that you do not write your assignment out by hand and turn in a picture of your assignment with your cellphone – this is significantly harder for us to see and work with, and we have no convenient way of providing feedback for assignments in this format.

• Labs: Michelle and Linder are planning on running labs similarly to how lecture will be run; Zoom links are posted on ICON. However, they are planning to host only a single “live” lab on Tuesdays from 11:00-11:50 (after class) that everyone is welcome to attend. This will be recorded and posted to ICON for anyone to watch if they are unable to attend the original lab. Linder and Michelle will also be posting clear step by step solutions for the lab’s practice problems (which they would normally work out on the board).

• Office hours: In general, we will be using a combination of e-mail and Zoom to conduct office hours. As far as the specific format, we are not sure at this time what will work best and what students would prefer: setting up appointments to chat over Zoom (or something else), or having an “open” Zoom meeting that people can drop in and out of as they see fit. If anyone has strong preferences, please let us know.

• Quizzes/Final: At this time, I do not know how I am going to handle the remaining quizzes and the final.

These are the plans as they stand right now. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or comments.

1-14: Welcome to the website for Introduction to Biostatistics. On the menu above are links to the syllabus, lecture notes, assignments, and labs. There are also a number of data sets available in a tab-delimited format. We will discuss these data in class and on homework assignments as the semester goes on. There are also some tables, which we will start to use later in the course. Finally, under “study materials”, there will be practice tests and quizzes.

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