GenStat current release, available on the Waite campus and can be downloaded on personal computers of students enrolled in the course.

‘The design and analysis of research studies’, by Bryan F.J. Manly, Cambridge Press, 2001. The book is available from the University of Adelaide Library at Waite, but it is highly recommended that the students acquire their own copy to follow the weekly readings for the course and to use this book as a useful research resource afterwards.

Additional reading and lecture notes are available on MyUni. From 2016, the course reader is also available for download from MyUni.

To revise the introductory statistics presented in a very relevant manner, the book by Alan G. Clewer and David H. Scarisbrick, Practical Statistics and Experimental Design for Plant and Crop Science, Wiley, 2001, is highly recommended (first five chapters in particular)

MyUni: Teaching materials and course documentation will be posted on the MyUni website (http://myuni.adelaide.edu.au/).

The course is presented in three parts:

1) Hypothesis generation, experimental design and data collection and managmenent

2) Statistical decision making, analyses, on-farm trials and understanding significant differences

3) Communication of findings

All three parts are supported by experimental trials run by students/you, with data collection from agriculture-related settings: in threedifferent zones on Campus, being the Waite Arboretum, the Birdcage and an under cover environment. You will hypothesise, design and install a plant growth trial; maintain it and collect data, and finally analyse and report on your findings.

Learning activities include team-work and individual problem solving.

The course assessment is continuous, with three small quizzes and three larger assignments based on your field trials across the semester.

A student enrolled in a 3 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).

The course will be comprised of workshops and practicals. Over the semester there will be approximatgley (12x4 hr) 48 hrs of workshop and (12x2hr) 24hrs of practical work. The principles of inquiry based and discovery learning will underpin all aspects of this course.

Workshops will be segmented into 1 hr sessions and used to deliver theoretical content and provide an opportunity for students to work through the analysis and interpretation of data. Workshops will also be used present case studies including but not limited to animal experimentation (including animal ethics), agrichemical trials, precision agriculture and large data set management. Industry experts and practitioners will be provide real life context and examples.

The practical sessions will take place across a variety of field and glasshouse locations across the Waite campus including but not limited to the Waite Arboretum, field trial “bird cage” and glasshouses.

Topics covered will include:
• Hypothesis generation
• Experimental design (sampling, replication)
• Data collection and management
• Statistical decision making
• Commonly used analyses (parametric and non-parametric; multivariate analysis; regressions)
• On-farm trials
• Understanding significant difference
• Data presentation
• Communication of findings
• Industry application/perspective (guest presenters from relevant fields)

Attendance of contact hours is highly recommended, as all the activities are important for self-learning and team-working. 

The course focuses on practical group work with individul assessments. The Group Research Report presentation will involve all students as presenters. Students have to negotiate themselves the equal load for the group practical work. All individual reports are strictly individual assignments.

Online quizzes (30%): Three quizzes (multiple choice, short answer and scenario based problem solving) delivered via MyUni which assess the theoretical knowledge required to understand and apply statistics to a variety of agricultural context. These will be delivered in week 2, 6 and 9 of semester. Students will have 2 attempts at each quiz with incorrect answers indicated but feedback not provided until both attempts are submitted.

S1 Research Plan (10%): Students will develop hypotheses relating to differences in the field sites listed above (Arboretum, bird cage etc) and/or protected growth facilities, and growth of sunflowers at these different field sites. Students will be required to; propose an experimental design to test their hypothesis, detail the data that will be collected and how it will be managed, detail the appropriate statistical analysis that will be used, determine the limitations of their experimental design and possible risks that may need to be mitigated. The research plan, hypothesis and proposed experimental design will be supported by relevant literature.

S2 Research Methods (10%): Students will describe the methods followed data collected, from the experiment proposed in their research plan (above). Data will be collected on a variety of variables (see below). The research will include soil analysis, seed germination rates, seedling growth, and climate factors supported by appropriate statistical analysis.

S3 Research Results and Discussion (20%): Students will report on the analysis, results and discussion of the S1 and S2. They will describe the analysis used and present information graphically and in written format, using a modified industry reporting template similar to those used by GRDC, MLA or Wine Australia. Students will report on the results of their research as outlined in their research proposal. 

Group research presentation (30%): In small groups (3-5 students, grouped and based on the field sites listed above) students will present the findings from their research in the format appropriate for a scientific conference (this may be oral or poster presentation format). Peer and self-assessment will be incorporated into the group presentation

Submissions of all assignments are strictly on the MyUni site only. Feedback will be prompt. For formative assignments, students will be given an opportunity to respond to the feedback in writing with the aim of improving their understanding.

Late submission of assessments
Late submissions are not negotiable for the group assignments.

If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply. Penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.