Biol20N02 2016
Course Description
With rapid accumulation of genome sequences and digitalized health data, biomedicine is becoming a data-intensive science. This course is a hands-on, computer-based workshop on how to visualize and analyze large quantities of biological data. The course introduces R, a modern statistical computing language and platform. Students will learn to use R to make scatter plots, bar plots, box plots, and other commonly used data-visualization techniques. The course will review statistical methods including hypothesis testing, analysis of frequencies, and correlation analysis. Student will apply these methods to the analysis of genomic and health data such as whole-genome gene expressions and SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) frequencies.
This 3-credit experimental course fulfills elective requirements for Biology Major I. Hunter pre-requisites are BIOL100, BIOL102 and STAT113.
Textbooks
- R Studio (Required): Learning RStudio for R Statistical Computing
- Digital textbook (Required): Data Analysis for the Life Sciences
Course Outline
Week 1. Introduction & tutorials for R/R studio Week 2. Statistics & samples Week 3. Displaying data Week 4. Describing data; Exam 1. Week 5. Probability and hypothesis testing Week 6. Analysis of proportions Week 7. Analysis of frequencies Week 8. Contingency tests; Exam 2 Week 9. Normal distribution and controls Week 10. Comparing two means Week 11. Designing experiments Week 12. Comparing more than two groups; Exam 3 Week 13. Correlation analysis Week 14. Regression analysis Week 15. Review and Exam 4 (final comprehensive exam)