HOWARD UNIVERSITY

W. Montague Cobb Research Lab

Biostatistics
Course Syllabus Summer 2016
GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION:

Summer Boot Camp Course at Howard University Biostatistics

Friday June 17, 2016; 8:30am 5:30pm
2400 Sixth St NW, Washington, DC 20059 Room: TBD
COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Biostatistics is the mathematics of life. This course is designed to provide the

student with a basic understanding of the foundations of biostatistics and of the
various statistical techniques that have been developed to answer research
questions in the health sciences. The topics to be covered include: descriptive
statistics, measures of central tendency, probability, diagnostic testing,
population and sample, comparison of proportions. Students will gain experience
using online datasets and one statistical software package (Stata for example).
PREREQUISITES:

No prerequisites are needed for this course.

INSTRUCTOR INFO:

Dr. Raouf Ghomrasni

Applied Mathematics
Email: ghomrasni@gmail.com
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION:

This course will be taught using lectures, slides, computational tools (Stata or
R), hands-on laboratory exercises, and open discussion.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. Be able to discuss and explain what biostatistics is and how it is used in

the field of public health.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY
2. Understand the common statistical techniques and terminology used in

studies that are presented in the popular press and health related journals.
3. Use and understand the principal numeric and graphical techniques to
display and summarize medical and health related data .
4. Understand the basic principles of probability and how they relate to
biostatistics.
5. Explain, calculate, and interpret descriptive statistics including scales of
measurement, frequency distributions, measures of central tendency,
measures of dispersion, standard scores, and the normal curve
6. Gain experience using computer technology in the application of statistical

procedures.

GRADING

There will be a quiz administered at the end of class, grading is as follows:

100 90 = A
89 80 = B
79 70 = C
69 60 = D
59 and below = F

CLASSROOM CONDUCT:

Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that is conducive to

learning. Electronic devices are potential distractions in the classroom
environment. Cell phones, pagers and other handheld devices must be turned off
or set to "silent" mode and not used while class is in session. Laptop computers
and similar devices may be used only if such use is directly related to the
classroom activity.