Instructions for home assignments and exams - Biostats Course VHM 801 at AVC
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Instructions for Home Assignments
Instructions for home assignments - Biostats Course VHM 801 at AVC
Some frequently asked questions:
- Where can I find the home assignment and the data?
Both the home assignment and any data for it are found via links at the homepage.
- How much of the course mark does the home assignment account for?
This is listed on the homepage and directly on the assignment.
- When is the home assignment due?
Usually, home assignments are due within one week; the specific due date
can be found on the homepage. Unless noted otherwise, there is no
specific due time on the due date.
- What are the requirements with regard to format?
You should preferably hand in a paper version, with your name
and your student id. The text may be printed or handwritten as you prefer.
See below for handing in an electronic version (if handing
in a paper version is inconvenient or impossible).
- Where should I hand in the home assignment?
A paper version of the home assignment should be handed directly to the course instructor, or be put in the
mailbox (at AVC 3 North) or under the office door if the instructor is not available.
Electronic submission of the home assignment should use your Moodle account for VHM 801.
- Is collaboration allowed?
Collaboration is not allowed. Discussion is allowed, but every student must
carry out all calculations on her/his own, and must hand in a personal version
with the relevant explanations and interpretations (and those versions should not be virtually identical for
two or more students).
- Is it allowed to get assistance from another person (in or outside the course)?
Any assistance from another person is limited to discussion, as
explained above. It is not allowed to let another person "correct" your
assignment before you hand it in.
- Can I use any resource of information (e.g. found on the
Internet) to assist me in answering the questions?
Yes, but be aware of the requirement (as part of the principles of Academic Honesty) to
properly reference your sources. Sources of information implicit in the course
(e.g. the course material, the textbooks or the PSLS website) do not need to be referenced. Any sources
of information that are specific to the problem/assignment at hand should be referenced.
Also, larger segments of text included in your solution that originate
from an external source should be given as a quote, with a proper
reference. If you use an AI tool (such as ChatGPT) to assist your
writing, indicate this explicitly by a suitable statement; beware that in the end you are responsible for
the content and validity of your answers.
- Is it serious to violate the rules for collaboration, assistance and referencing of source material?
?
That depends on the circumstances of the violation. Severe violations will be
dealt with according to the Graduate Program Regulations on Academic
Dishonesty, as described in the Academic Calendar.
Some hints about the format and contents:
- Make sure that you demonstrate clearly how you arrived at your results.
This applies both to calculations done by hand and by computer
(for the latter, you may show Minitab listings from the session window or Stata do-files).
- Don't forget the conclusions - they are the most important part of
any analysis.
- Usually, computer program listings are put in an appendix, but you
may put selected output (tables and graphs) in the main text. Note that
the report should never be a mere collection of annotated
computer listings.
- Organize the text properly, by consecutive page numbering and by
numbering of items in an appendix.
- The expected length of reports vary (of course), but they would hardly
ever be expected to exceed 5 pages of text (not counting computer outputs).
Help resources:
- Questions to clarify the assignment's meaning
or of general type (e.g. how to do something in Minitab/Stata or
explanation of methods) may be addressed to the course instructor, preferably using
the Discussion Forum at the course Moodle account.
- The solutions to lab exercises and previous years' home
assignments.
- The textbook, and any other reference material you want to use (but
give reference(s) if you rely on specific other sources).
The mid-term and final exams for the course are in-class exams (see homepage for scheduling)
governed by a few rules regarding the aids allowed for the exam.
- The exam is open book, so all notes, books, compilations of formulas, tables etc. are
allowed. Some organization of the material you choose to bring will
probably be helpful to utilize it efficiently within the limited time
frame. Beware that it is not allowed to use external information pertaining
to the specific data and questions (i.e., beyond what
is provided in the description of the data and the computer listings).
- Calculators (of any type) are allowed; indeed you will need to bring some
calculating device for the exam.
- It is also allowed to bring a cell phone or a tablet to the exam,
under the following strict rules:
- No electronic communication and no retrieval of information from the Internet are permitted, so the device needs to
have its internet access disabled (i.e. airplane mode).
- During the exam, you are not allowed to run any statistical software (e.g.
Minitab, Stata, R) installed on your device. Note that some standard
software, such as Microsoft Excel and similar spreadsheet programs, can also perform statistical
calculations, and use of such software is also strictly forbidden. The only
calculations allowed on your electronic device are by its (standard) calculator.
- By bringing an electronic device (beyond calculators) to
the exam you implicitly give permission to the course instructor to
check that you comply with the rules around use of electronic devices for the exam.
- Communication among students during the exam is not allowed.
Failure to comply with these rules may lead
to disqualification from the exam.
Henrik Stryhn
(hstryhn@upei.ca) 2023-10-19