We all know statistics courses can be relatively dry, but BIOL 300 spices things up with interesting biological examples! BIOL 300 is an introductory level statistics course at UBC, which fulfills the statistics requirement for life science majors.
format of the course
The format of this course is usually what you see in most science courses. What makes this course unique is the lab component, where you learn computer coding. Wait … computer coding in a statistics course? It turns out that most statistical analyses are tedious to do by hand, so instead we learned how to automate these calculations. In class, we learned about the different statistical approaches for different contexts, while in lab we learned how to actually run these analyses.
GPA 🙂 OR 🙁
Keep in mind how well you do is largely dependent on how much effort you put in, but I consider this course to be a “booster”. The labs and homework are free marks and worth a sizable portion of your grade. There are no “trick” questions on the midterm or final exam. Both evaluations are written (with one or two multiple choice) and they aren’t too picky with marking, given that your answer is right. The average for my class was 84. For the more statistically oriented (hehe), here’s the grade distribution from the 2018 winter session:
Credits: ubcgrades.com
VERDICT? TO TAKE OR NOT TO TAKE
If you’re in need of a statistics course definitely take this over any other intro statistics course offered. Not only does it fulfill upper year requirements, the biological examples are far more interesting. The evaluations are easier than STAT 200, and there is more content. It’s a win-win!