Implementation of a New Quantitative Biology Course: Assessment of Students’ Abilities and Confidence

We explored the impact a new quantitative biology course for biology majors had on their ability and confidence to utilize hypothesis testing. Students currently in the quantitative biology course and the first cohort of students who took the course (currently seniors) were surveyed on ability and confidence regarding four types of hypothesis testing. Overall student confidence increased for when and why to perform t-tests following the course, and improvement with t-tests and analysis of variance continued for seniors. Incorporation of a quantitative biology course into the curriculum for biology majors provides students with the opportunity to apply statistical methods to real-world biological situations.