Download 1st Year Courses - Western University

1st Year Courses
In the
Department of Statistical & Actuarial Sciences
Faculty of Science First Year Instructors Workshop
September 3, 2009
Purpose of this Talk
• Introduce our first year courses
– Statistical Sciences 1023 A/B
– Statistical Sciences 1024 A/B
– Actuarial Sciences 1021 A
• Specify how these currently align with
Science & Medical Science Programs
• Outline learning objectives
SS 1023 – Statistical Concepts
2009 Calendar Description
An examination of statistical issues encountered in everyday
life. Assessment of the validity of results and treatment of data
in the popular and scientific media. Causation vs. association,
and confounding in observational studies. The organization of
data including tables, scatterplots and time series. Some basic
tools to handle uncertainty such as means, variances, the
normal distribution and confidence intervals.
• Required for: MAJOR IN STATISTICS
• Recommended for:
– Applied Math
• HONORS SPECIALIZATION IN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
• HONORS SPECIALIZATION IN FINANCIAL MODELLING
• MAJOR IN FINANCIAL MODELLING
– Stat & Act Sci
• HONORS SPECIALIZATION IN STATISTICS
Exciting News!
A Distance Studies section will be offered in Winter 2010
SS 1023 – Statistical Concepts
Learning objectives
Students who successfully complete this course will
• be familiar with statistical (and some probability)
terminology
• be aware of some prevalent misconceptions
surrounding probability and statistical ideas
• understand things that can go wrong (even in well
designed studies) and their potential impact on
results
• have gained experience interpreting and critiquing
statistical information
• be comfortable questioning statistical information
presented to them (e.g., in the media)
SS 1024 – Introduction to Statistics
2009 Calendar Description
Statistical inference, experimental design, sampling
design, confidence intervals and hypothesis tests for
means and proportions, regression and correlation.
SS 1024 – Introduction to Statistics
• Listed for many Faculty of Science Programs:
Medical Sciences
Biology
HONORS SPECIALIZATION
IN MEDICAL SCIENCES
MAJOR IN MEDICAL CELL
BIOLOGY
(formerlySCIENCES
Major in Anatomy and Cell Biology)
MAJOR
IN MEDICAL
Earth
Sciences
HONORS SPECIALIZATION
IN BIOLOGY
SPECIALIZATION
IN MEDICAL
SCIENCES
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN
GEOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN ANIMAL
PHYSIOLOGY
COMBINED
BMSc/HBA
PROGRAM
SPECIALIZATION
IN
GEOLOGY
Chemistry
(Biochemistry)
HONORS SPECIALIZATION
SPECIALIZATION
IN
CELL
AND DEVELOPMENTAL
BIOLOGY
HONORS
IN
MICROBIOLOGY
AND
IMMUNOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN
GEOLOGY
AND
BIOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN
BIOCHEMISTRY
HONORS SPECIALIZATION
IN COMPARATIVE
PHYSIOLOGY
SPECIALIZATION
IN
MICROBIOLOGY
AND
IMMUNOLOGY
SPECIALIZATION
ININGEOLOGY
AND BIOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
BIOCHEMISTRY
AND CELL
BIOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN CONSERVATION
BIOLOGY
MAJOR
IN
MICROBIOLOGY
AND
IMMUNOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN ENVIRONMENTAL
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN BIOCHEMISTRY
OF INFECTION
AND IMMUNITY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN ECOLOGY
AND GEOSCIENCE
EVOLUTION
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN
PATHOLOGY
AND
TOXICOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN CLINICAL
BIOCHEMISTRY
SPECIALIZATION
IN
ENVIRONMENTAL
GEOSCIENCE
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN GENETICS
SPECIALIZATION
IN
PATHOLOGY
AND
MAJOR
ININ
BIOCHEMISTRY
HONORS SPECIALIZATION
SCIENCE
MAJOR
INENVIRONMENTAL
BIOLOGY TOXICOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN
PHARMACOLOGY
SPECIALIZATION
IN BIOCHEMISTRY
MAJOR
IN CONSERVATION
BIOLOGY
MAJOR
IN ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
SPECIALIZATION
IN
PHARMACOLOGY
MINOR
IN
BIOCHEMISTRY
MAJOR IN
IN ENVIRONMENTAL
ECOSYSTEM HEALTH
SPECIALIZATION
SCIENCE
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN
PHYSIOLOGY
MAJOR IN GENETICS
MINOR IN ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
HONORS SPECIALIZATION
IN
PHYSIOLOGY
AND PHARMACOLOGY
SPECIALIZATION IN BIOLOGY
MAJOR
IN PHYSIOLOGY,
SPECIALIZATION
IN PHYSIOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
(BSc)
SPECIALIZATION
IN PHYSIOLOGY
ANDAND
PHARMACOLOGY
HONORS
SPECIALIZATION
IN GENETICS
BIOCHEMISTRY
HONORS SPECIALIZATION IN PHYSIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY
MAJOR IN PHARMACOLOGY
SS 1024 – Introduction to Statistics
Learning objectives
Students who successfully complete this course will
have a basic understanding of “randomness” and of
the techniques used in
• exploring, organizing and describing data
• data generation
– surveys
– experiments
• statistical inference
– confidence intervals (means & proportions)
– hypothesis tests (means & proportions)
AS 1021 – Introduction to Financial Security Systems
2009 Calendar Description
The nature and cause of financial security and
insecurity; public, private and employer programs
and products to reduce financial insecurity,
including social security, individual insurance and
annuities along with employee pensions and
benefits.
Recommended for:
• HONORS SPECIALIZATION IN ACTUARIAL SCIENCE
• MAJOR IN ACTUARIAL SCIENCE
Exciting News!
Next year AS 1021 will be offered collaboratively with Sociology
AS 1021 – Introduction to Financial Security Systems
Learning objectives
Students who successfully complete this course will
• have an understanding of financial insecurity
• be familiar with the programs available to reduce
financial insecurity
– social/government versus private programs
– individual versus employer programs
• have gained an appreciation of what Actuarial
Science is all about
These courses:
• are required/recommended for many Science
programs
• may help Science students satisfy the UWO
Breadth Requirements for Bachelor Degrees
• help develop skills outlined in the OCAV
Guidelines for University Undergraduate
Degree Level Expectations (2005)*
– “critical thinking and analytical skills inside and outside
the discipline”
– “the ability to review, present, and interpret quantitative
and qualitative information…”
– “the ability to communicate accurately and reliably, orally
and in writing to a range of audiences”
* Available at Council of Ontario Universities website <http://www.cou.on.ca/>
Other “first courses” in Statistics
for Science & Medical Science students
SS 2122 A/B (Statistics for Science)
&
BIOL 2244 A/B (Analysis & Interpretation of Biological Data)
Pre-requisite: 1.0 Math Course
1 required for 54 programs in Science & Medical Science!
Biology, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Biophysics,
Medical Sciences, Earth Sciences,
Computer Science
More “first courses” in
Statistics & Actuarial Science
for Other Disciplines
Statistics:
• SS 2035 (Statistics for Business and Social Science)
• SS 2037A/B (Statistics for Health)
• SS 2141A/B (Applied Probability and Statistics for Engineers)
• SS 2143A/B (Applied Statistics and Data Analysis for Engineers)
Actuarial Science:
• AS 2053 (Mathematics for Financial Analysis)
Thanks!