Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Ayse Aysin Bilgin
12 Wally's Walk, Room 6-35
TBA
Petra Graham
12 Wally's Walk, Room 6-38
TBA
Hassan Doosti
Ayse Bilgin
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---|---|
Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
6cp in STAT units at 300 level including (STAT375 or STAT379)
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit integrates the core concepts in statistics and decision science in the practical context of solving real research problems by the application of technical ideas and methods. In particular, the unit aims to give students exposure to the general and discipline-specific issues that arise in statistical and decision science work, and to provide an experiential background in consulting. Students will develop the ability to appreciate the nature of statistical and decision science problems and discuss the problem-solving cycle: listen to a client’s statement of a problem and ask appropriate questions for clarification; recognise appropriate technical techniques for use in a variety of problems, and apply these techniques competently; recognise situations in which familiar techniques do not apply and search the literature for appropriate alternative techniques; write reports at an appropriate technical level for a client or a colleague; give an oral summary of a statistical or decision science investigation at a level appropriate for the audience; and discuss the ethical aspects and implications of professional data work.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Assessment submissions All assessments should be submitted electronically on iLearn, by the given due date and time.
Extensions and penalties In the case of the late submission of an assignment, if no special consideration has been granted, 10% of the earned mark will be deducted for each day that the assignment is late, up to a maximum of 50%. After 5 days, including weekends and public holidays, a mark of 0% will be awarded for the assignment.
Group work: STAT399 contains a group work project, divided over several assessments: AT5, AT2, AT6, AT7 and AT8. AT5 (30%) is assessed in common (each group member receives the same mark), whereas the others are individually assessed.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
---|---|---|---|
AT 1: Self Reflection | 5% | No | Week 2 |
AT 2: Second Project Plan | 5% | No | Week 6 |
AT 3: First Project Report | 25% | No | Week 7 |
AT 4:Critical Evaluation | 10% | No | Week 9 |
AT 5:Second Project Report | 30% | No | Week 11 |
AT 6: Project Presentation | 10% | No | Week 13 |
AT 7: Reflection | 5% | No | Week 13 |
AT 8: Participation | 10% | No | Weekly |
Due: Week 2
Weighting: 5%
Self Reflection on Previous Learning
Due: Week 6
Weighting: 5%
Project Plan
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 25%
First Statistical Consulting Project
Due: Week 9
Weighting: 10%
Critical Evaluation of an Article
Due: Week 11
Weighting: 30%
Project Report (written) including Memos/Minutes of Group Meetings (with or without client)
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 10%
One aspect of the second project will be presented by each group member (individually)
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 5%
Self Reflection on Group Process, technical aspects of the group project and statistical consulting experience
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 10%
Participation in Lectures and Tutorials: engaging in class discussions and exercises proactively
You should attend 2 hours of lectures and 2 hours of tutorials each week. They will start in Week 1.
Note that some of the following will be provided to students during semester.
Boen J & Zahn D, The Human Side of Statistical Consulting, Lifetime Learning Pubs, Belmont CA, 1982. (Not available in library)
Boomer K, Rogness N & Jersky B, Statistical consulting courses for undergraduates: fortune or folly, JSE, 15(3), 2007. (Electronic version QA276.18)
Chatfield C, Problem Solving: A Statistician's Guide, 2nd ed., Chapman and Hall, London, 1995. (QA276.12 .C457 1995)
Derr J, Statistical Consulting: A Guide to Effective Communication, Duxbury 2000. (HA29 .D386/2000)
Finch S & Gordon I, Lessons we have learned from post-graduate students, ICOTS8, 2010.
Hand DJ and Everitt BS (eds.), The Statistical Consultant in Action, Cambridge Uni Press, 1987. (Sections 1, 2 and 4 are available in Google.books)
Mackisack M & Petocz P, Projects for advanced undergraduates, ICOTS6, 2002.
McGinn M, Learning to use statistics in research: a case study of learning in a university-based statistical consulting centre, SERJ, 2010.
Peter Petocz, Anna Reid (2010) On Becoming a Statistician - A Qualitative View. International Statistical Review. 78(2): 271-286.
Rothman E, Teaching students and staff consultancy skills, ICOTS7, 2006.
Smith H & Walker J, Experiences with research teams comprised of graduate students, faculty researchers and a statistical consulting team, ICOTS8, 2010.
Wild C & Pfannkuch M, Statistical thinking in empirical enquiry, International Statistical Review, 67(3), 1-12.
ICOTS, SERJ and International Stat Review papers are available at http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/publications.php
International Statistical Institute http://www.isi-web.org/
The Statistical Society of Australia http://www.statsoc.org.au/
American Statistical Association http://www.amstat.org/
Statistical Society of Canada http://www.ssc.ca/en/whats-new
EURO (The Association of European Operational Research Societies) website: https://www.euro-online.org/web/pages/1/home
Australian Society for Operations Research http://www.asor.org.au/
INFORMS (The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) website: https://www.informs.org/
We will use iLearn for distribution of course notes, readings, data sets, solutions, announcements and discussions. We would like you to use the ‘Discussions’ to communicate with other students and the lecturers to enable transparency between all the students and the lecturers. You can access the unit iLearn site from http://ilearn.mq.edu.au using your Student ID number and myMQ Portal password. If you have any problems go to the http://www.mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/
If you have a personal question, please send an e-mail to one of the lecturers through the iLearn e-mail facility (called dialogue) or alternatively a regular e-mail using your Macquarie University student e-mail account.
The lecturers will make announcements via iLearn. Accordingly, you should make sure you log in and read the posts at least twice a week. You might consider subscribing to iLearn posts this way you will not miss any posts.
WEEK |
TOPIC |
Staff |
(1) |
Introduction to consulting in statistical sciences Literature review |
A2B2 & PG |
(2) |
Asking the right questions (oral communication skills) |
A2B2 |
(3) | Human side of statistical consulting (Guest lecture) – Project work in tutorial | A2B2 & PG |
(4) |
Writing a statistical report (written communication skills) |
PG |
(5) |
Working in a group (skills required for effective group work) |
A2B2 |
(6) |
Data preparation for analysis |
A2B2 |
(7) |
Statistical graphics |
PG |
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Mid semester break (two weeks) |
|
(8) |
Ethics and Statistics |
PG |
(9) |
Statistical thinking |
A2B2 |
(10) |
Project Work |
PG |
(11) |
Project Work |
PG |
(12) |
Project Work |
A2B2 |
(13) |
Presentations of final projects |
A2B2 & PG |
The order of the lectures might change, as some classes depend on the availability of clients and guest lecturers.
A2B2 = Ayse Aysin Bombaci Bilgin
PG = Petra Graham
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Undergraduate students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
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