Biostatistics

This introductory course in Biostatistics provides foundational skills and knowledge in biostatistics and students will gain a deeper understanding of its relevance and application to public health, health policy, clinical medicine, and health economics. All parts of this training are free, including registration, learning, testing, and a certificate of completion. The course in Biostatistics is intended for students of public health, clinical medicine, biology, and other health sciences.

This course is co-sponsored by the University of the Incarnate Word, the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR), and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Like all NextGenU.org courses, it is competency-based, using competencies from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH). This course uses learning resources from world-class academic and governmental organizations such as Penn State University, Rice University, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For a publication on this course’s efficacy, see “Building Public Health Capacity through Online Global Learning,” (2018), Open Praxis, https://openpraxis.org/index.php/OpenPraxis/article/view/746/427; to see more research related to NextGenU.org’s educational model, check out NextGenU.org’s publication page.

There are two components to this course. The first component involves completing the modules and which provide:

An introduction to probability and sampling distributions;
An overview of confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression analysis, confounding, and interactions;
Skills for the application of biostatistics in the practice and study of public health.

In order to receive a certificate of completion, you will need to also complete the second, skills-based component of the course, which requires you to identify a mentor with professional health care training at least at the bachelor’s level, and with a certificate or other specific training in Public Health, who can provide you with feedback on the assignments you submit.

The results of your assessments will be provided to you, and we can report your testing information and share your work with anyone you request (school, employer, etc.). The evaluation you provide at the course’s conclusion will help us improve the training for future students. We hope you find this Biostatistics course a wonderful learning experience!

Approximate time for the required readings in this course is 47 hours at an average reading rate of 144 words/minute; in addition, there are required activities as described above.

Before you begin the course, please take a moment to take the short knowledge Pre-course test below. It allows us to assess various aspects of the course itself and is mandatory to receive your certificate upon completion of the course. Then you may start Module 1: The Basics of Biostatistics.

The course requires completion of peer and mentored activities. At the end of each lesson, there is a practice quiz. At the end of the course, after you’ve completed each lesson, quiz, and activity, you’ll have access to a final exam, and a chance to assess the training. Once you’ve passed that last test, you will be able to download a certificate of completion from NextGenU.org and our course’s co-sponsoring organizations (listed above). We keep all of your personal information confidential, never sell any of your information, and only use anonymized data for research purposes, and we are also happy to report your testing information and share your work with anyone (your school, employer, etc.) at your request. We hope that you will find this a rewarding learning experience, and we count on your assessment and feedback to help us improve this training for future students.

Before you begin the course, please take a moment to take the short knowledge Pre-test below. It allows us to assess various aspects of the course itself and is required to receive your certificate upon completion of the course.

Engaging with this Course:

You may browse this course for free to learn for your personal enrichment; there are no requirements.

To obtain a certificate

Show in the registration fields that you have the appropriate prerequisites to be certified [a high school degree for college courses, a college degree for the master’s level courses, and enrollment in or graduation from a medical doctoral program for our medical doctoral-level courses].
Take the brief pre-test.
Complete all the reading requirements.
Complete all quizzes.
Complete all 6 peer activity and associated certification quizzes.
Find a mentor and complete the 3 required mentor activities.
Successfully complete the final exam with a minimum of 70% and a maximum of 3 attempts.
Complete the self and course evaluation forms.

To obtain a degree, NextGenU.org co-sponsors degree programs with institutional partners. To obtain a degree co-sponsored with NextGenU.org, registrants must be enrolled in a degree program as a student of a NextGenU.org institutional partner. If you think that your institution might be interested in offering a degree with NextGenU.org contact us.

We hope that you will find this a rewarding learning experience, and we count on your assessment and feedback to help us improve this training for future students.

Next Steps

Take the short knowledge pre-test below. It allows us to assess various aspects of the course itself.
Complete the registration form.
Begin the course with Module 1: The Basics of Biostatistics. In each lesson, read the description, complete all required readings and any required activity, and take the corresponding quizzes.

Biostatistics

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