Counting sheep opens students’ eyes to statistics
massey-university
Wed Sep 22 2010 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Counting sheep opens students’ eyes to statistics
Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 10:54 am
Press Release: Massey University
Counting sheep opens students’ eyes to statistics
A new software programme is providing students with a new and interactive way to learn a traditionally challenging subject.
The software was developed by staff from the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences and the Centre for Academic Development and eLearning, and helps students learn how to check agricultural stock for disease.
Dr Debbie Prattley and Associate Professor Mark Stevenson devised the programme that simulates real life and requires thoughtful decision-making from the user.
“We wanted a stimulating and fun way for students to learn sampling theory,” Dr Stevenson says. "A challenge in undergraduate veterinary programmes throughout the world is that there is simply too much material to cover in too short a time period. To address the same material in a field exercise would take at least two to three days.
Using an Adobe Flash application that loads into a web page, students are presented with a flock of sheep that are infected with a mythical disease. The students are then tasked with finding out how many of those sheep have been affected, so that they can give the farmer appropriate advice.
Dragging and dropping sheep from the paddock to the sampling pen using their computer mouse, students must sample enough sheep to provide the most precise and unbiased estimate of disease prevalence.
“Tools of this type represent a major step forward because, in the space of a standard 60 minute tutorial, we can provide students with first-hand experience of each of the standard sampling methods and their respective strengths and weaknesses,” Dr Stevenson says.
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
“All of the classic sampling strategies are included – simple random, systematic random, stratified, and one- and two-stage cluster designs,” Dr Prattley says. “For the systematic sampling module, the student can even draft the sheep as they run down the race in a virtual set of yards – a process that would have to be undertaken if this type of sampling was used in real life.”
So far the tool has been used in epidemiology short courses taught by EpiCentre staff in Argentina, Bhutan and Indonesia, as well as in both the undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary epidemiology programmes at Massey.
The team plans to extend the capabilities of the software to make it relevant to areas as diverse as plant science and quality control.
ENDS
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}
Using Scoop for work?
Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.
Join Pro Individual Find out more
Find more from Massey University on InfoPages.