39454 - Laboratory 3

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will acquire knowledge on experimental methods and basic statistical analysis in the fields of pest and disease control.

Course contents

Prerequisites

Students are supposed to have some basic knowledge on descriptive and inferential statistics that had been acquired in courses attended during the bachelor's degree. The ability to use common spreadsheet programs (Microsoft Excel or similar) for collecting, summarizing and processing experimental data is especially requested. A good usage of English language contributes to the student's preparation, as teaching materials will be partly in English and also some specific English words will be often used.

Expected skills

At the end of the course, students will be able to plan basic scientific experiments in the field of plant pathology and agricultural entomology. They will learn how to arrange the most common experimental designs in field conditions as well as in greenhouse or laboratory bioassays. Students will also acquire skills on data processing and critical interpretation of results from a statistical standpoint.

Detailed contents of the course (approximately 12 h of lectures and 8 h of classroom and/or field exercises)

1) Primer of probability and statistics, population and sample distributions, sampling and error theory, central limit theorem, descriptive and inferential statistics.

2) Kinds of variables most commonly encountered in plant pathology and agricultural entomology experiments.

3) Experimental units, replicates, pseudo-replicates. Basic experimental designs and methods of analysis of the outcoming data.

4) Parametric tests (Student's t test and Analysis of Variance), assumptions and computational examples. Post-hoc tests for multiple comparisons. Transformations of data that do not meet the assumptions of parametric methods.

5) Primer of basic nonparametric statistical methods and comparison with parametric counterparts.

6) Correlation

7) Regression

8) Interpretation of the outputs typically generated by a statistical software and methods (including tables and charts) for reporting the results of data analysis in scientific articles. Descriptive and inferential error bars.

Each content will be accompanied by practical examples drawn from real experiments in plant pathology or applied entomology.

During the course, computer classrooms and field/laboratory exercises will be conducted focusing on:

- practical exercises on the topics discussed in theoretical parts;

- visits to real experimental assays at DISTAL in field or laboratory conditions.

Readings/Bibliography

For the preparation of the final exam, the teacher will provide PowerPoint slides shown and discussed during the lessons.

For further information, the following books are recommended:

Quinn, G., & Keough, M. (2002). Experimental Design and Data Analysis for Biologists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511806384

Gierlinski, M. (2015). Understanding statistical error: a primer for biologists. John Wiley & Sons.

Thrane, C. (2020). Applied Regression Analysis - Doing, Interpreting and Reporting. Routledge.

Teaching methods

Lectures

Lectures will be conducted in the classroom at the scheduled times. Slides will be shown and explained by the teacher; slide will be given to students at the end of the lectures.

Practical activities

Practical lessons will consist in exercises carried out in classrooms and/ or separately for each student on a personal computer.

Visits to real experimental assays in DISTAL field or laboratories will also be planned according to their availability. In order to attend to these training activities all students are required to complete Modules 1 and 2 in e-learning mode and participate to Module 3 of specific training on safety and health in the workplace. Indications of the dates and the methods of attendance of Module 3 can be found in the appropriate section of the university website.

Assessment methods

The evaluation of the student’s skills is based on a final oral examination, consisting of a written computer-based test. A test with closed-ended questions, in which the student must choose among several answers the correct one(s), will be provided. If a positive result is achieved in the final test, a suitability judgment will be given to the student.

No books, notes, technical manuals nor computational or multimedia aids will be allowed during the final exams.

Students may register to sustain the final exam following exclusively the rules and methods provided by AlmaEsami.

Teaching tools

Personal computer and beamer for classroom. Computer lab for practical exercises.

TEACHING MATERIAL - teaching materials presented in classroom will be provided to students in electronic format. Access to the material is allowed only to students enrolled in the course.

Office hours

See the website of Antonio Masetti