Experimental Design - Learning Outcomes

The learning Outcomes are broadly aligned on Module 10 and those related to good scientific practice in Module 11 (see Project Licence Course): Design of Procedures and Project

At the end of the course, attendees should be able to:

1. Describe some of the factors affecting reproducibility and external validity.
2. List the different types of formal experimental designs (e.g. completely randomised, randomised block, repeated measures, Latin square and factorial experimental designs).
3. Explain the concept of variability, its causes and methods of reducing it 
4. Describe possible causes of bias and ways of alleviating it 
5. Identify the experimental unit and recognise issues of non-independence (pseudo-replication). 
6. Describe the six factors affecting significance, including the meaning of statistical power and “p-values”.
7. Identify formal ways of determining sample size. 
8. Explain the fundamental principles behind the output of an ANOVA, including “blocking” and “interactions”.

(for general info on this course, go back here)