The textbook for this course is: Armitage P, Berry G, Matthews JNS. Statistical Methods in Medical Research (4th edition). 2002 (2008  for electronic edition); Wiley-Blackwell, London. 

Course Handbook will be made available to students before Week 1 of the semester and will be available in electronic form on MyUni.
Please note: an electronic version of the textbook may be accessed for free via the Barr Smith Library. It is accessed via the ‘ebrary’  portal which will be discussed in Week 1 on Blackboard in MyUni. Supplementary material may also be placed on MyUni throughout the course, as required.

Computers General information about University computer laboratories is available at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/technology/yourservices/learning-teaching/student-suites/

MyUni
As an enrolled student, you will have access to the University’s on-line teaching facilities. This is an implementation of the  Blackboard system called MyUni. MyUni is accessible from the University of Adelaide’s home-page: www.adelaide.edu.au

You will need your student login name and a password.

If you do not have access, then either you are not enrolled or the administrators of MyUni do not know of your enrolment. Please  call Ask Adelaide on 8313 5208 (University extension 35208) or the IT help desk on 8313 3000 (University extension 33000) for  assistance with MyUni difficulties. 

Course materials will be placed on MyUni. Note also that Announcements about a course are often made on the relevant page of  the MyUni site for the course. For example, notifications of a change in lecture venue, updates on availability of course material etc.  will be made on the MyUni site.

Email
We assume thatstudents access  e-mail and that their address is the University of Adelaide student address that was assigned on  enrolment. This is of the form: firstname.lastname@student.adelaide.edu.au A notice to a student by e-mail is considered to have   been received and read by the student unless there is a transmission error and the postmaster bounces the message back to us. As discussed above, the Announcements page of the MyUni site for this course will also display relevant notices from time to time,  so it  is essential that students check their student e-mail and to log on to MyUni regularly.

There are a number of teaching and learning modes in this course. The course lectures provide basic factual information and concepts  in an introduction to biostatistics. Due to the limited timeframe, not everything will be covered in lectures. Lectures are intended to  supplement material covered in the readings. Lectures will be supported by tutorials and interactive learning sessions with directed   learning to text, videos, and websites.  The tutorials and interactive learning sessions are designed to develop and clarify topics  covered in the readings and lectures.  Tutorials are generally problem solving opportunities and students are required to complete as  many questions as possible prior to revelation of solutions.  Use of the discussion board will be encouraged and will support learning around the course materials.  Assignments provide an opportunity to undertake exploratory and in-depth analysis of some key  concepts introduced in the course.  Finally, the exam will assess the extent to which students have developed their biostatistical understanding through the course.

As a general rule in any post-graduate university course, students need to allow a minimum of eight to 12 hours per week.  This means that, for Introduction to Biostatistics, in addition to engaging with the lecture material, students will need to set aside at least a further eight hours per week for reading around topics, completing tutorial and interactive learning session materials, participation  in the online discussion board, and completion of assignments.  You are urged to bear this in mind when planning your university timetable, particularly if you are also engaged in paid employment.  In our experience, students may not be able to demonstrate their full capacity if they are working full-time and studying full-time.  Students are expected to engage with all course materials as  completion of readings alone will almost certainly not provide sufficient material to enable a pass.

N/A

There will be three assignments and an examination in this course.  All assignments will be posted on MyUni at least 2 weeks prior  to the date of submission.  Students will be required to participate in an examination for a period of two hours that will be  scheduled in synchrony for all students.  Further details concerning assignment submission and course policies on lateness and extensions will be provided in the Course Handbook.

Assignment 1: Descriptive statistics (5%)
The first assignment will assess students’ facility with calculating appropriate descriptive summary statistics of samples of data. 

Assignment 2: Probability and hypotheses (15%)
The second assignment will assess students’ facility with using simple probability distributions and formulating null and alternative hypotheses. 

Assignment 3: Inferential statistics (20%)
In this assignment, students will select and calculate appropriate test statistics based on scenarios drawn from the population health literature. 

Examination (60%)
The students will be required to demonstrate their statistical reasoning skills by way of calculating descriptive statistics, formulating  null and alternative hypotheses, performing inferential statistical tests, and interpreting the results of their calculations.  Scheduled in  Semester 1 examination period.

Extensions
All extensions for assignments must be requested, at the latest, by the last working day before the due date of submission.   Extensions will generally be granted only on medical or genuine compassionate grounds.  Supporting documentation must be  provided at the time a student requests an extension.  Without documentation, extensions will not be granted.  Late requests for extension will neither be accepted nor acknowledged.

Only the Course Co-ordinator(s) may grant extensions.
 
Supporting documentation will be required when requesting an extension. Examples of documents that are acceptable include: a  medical certificate that specifies dates of incapacity, a police report (in the case of lost computers, car & household theft etc.), a  letter from a Student Counsellor, Education and Welfare Officer (EWO) or Disability Liaison Officer that provides an assessment
of compassionate circumstances, or a letter from an independent external counsellor or appropriate professional able to verify the  student’s situation.  The length of any extension granted will take into account the period and severity of any incapacity or impact  on the student.  Extensions of more than 10 days will not be granted except in exceptional circumstances.

Late submission
Marks will be deducted when assignments for which no extension has been granted are handed in late.

All assignments, including those handed in late, will be assessed on their merits.  In the case of late assignments where no  extension has been granted, 5 percentage points of the total marks possible per day will be deducted.  If an assignment that is 2  days late is awarded 65% on its merits, the mark will then be reduced by 10% (5% per day for 2 days) to 55%.  If that same  assignment is 4 days late, the mark will be reduced by 20% (5% per day for 4 days) to 45%, and so on.

The School of Public Health reserves the right to refuse to accept an assignment that is more than 7 days late.

Assignments submitted after the due date may not be graded in time to be returned on the listed return dates.

Students submitting examinable written work who request (and receive) an extension that takes them beyond the examination  period are advised that there is no guarantee that their grades will be processed in time to meet usual University deadlines.

Resubmission
If a student is dissatisfied with an assessment grade they should follow the Student Grievance Resolution Process  <https://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/grievance/process/>.  Students who are not satisfied with a particular assessment result should raise their concerns with Course Co-ordinator(s) in the first instance.  This must be done within 10 business days of the  date of notification of the result.  Resubmission of any assignment is subject to the agreement of the Course Co-ordinator(s) and  will only be permitted for the most compelling of reasons.