MXB348 Work Integrated Learning in Statistics

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

Throughout your course, you have been building your discipline skills and your understanding of contemporary industry practice. This capstone unit provides you with the opportunity to bring together the skills that you have developed throughout the statistics major, combining them in a coherent manner to solve a significant and relevant real-world problem from industry. Your experience will reflect the genuine practice of a statistician in the workforce.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Use R to carry out statistical analyses using theoretical, technical and computational skills and correctly interpret the output.
2. Critically select and apply advanced statistical analysis techniques, tools and methods to analyse and solve a genuine industry problem.
3. Communicate statistical conclusions clearly and concisely in both written and oral form.
4. Work collaboratively as a group of discipline experts through a combination of scientific report writing, self-reflection, project management and problem solving.
5. Demonstrate familiarity with ethical requirements in the workplace context and be able to appropriately apply them in real-world settings.

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit utilises a blended learning methodology, including online and face-to-face components. The two cornerstones of work integrated learning (WIL) at QUT, i.e., industry engagement and assessed authentic tasks are present in this unit.
In lectures and workshops, you will engage in collaborative activity with peers, academic staff, and industry experts. New statistical content will be presented only in its direct context to the solution of the industry problem. Significant learning time will be devoted to working in your groups on formulating and implementing your solution to the industry problem. Your activities will include communication, evaluation of information and complex problem solving, which will help you to work effectively within groups with consideration for interpersonal differences.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Formative feedback will be provided for the in-semester assessment items by way of written comments, student perusal of marked assessment pieces and informal interview as required.

Summative feedback will be provided throughout the semester with progressive posting of results via Canvas.

Assessment

Overview

The assessment items in this unit are designed to determine your level of competency in meeting the unit learning outcomes while providing you with a range of tasks with varying levels of skill development and difficulty.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Individual Reflection

You will reflect on the group's project work, your contribution to the project, interactions with the industry partners and stakeholders, and technical aspects of the project.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Group Project Planning and Development

Your capstone project will be modelled on consultancy projects commonly used in industry. You will be tasked to develop a high-quality project that meets industry standards. You will perform analysis and simulations to gain insight and inform decision-making by industry. You will present your findings and recommendations in a professional manner, as if to a group of experts in government, industry or academia, in both oral and report form, including the programming code developed for the project. Project deliverables at mid-semester mimic those in a project proposal, and may include project management documentation, exploratory and prototype statistical models and data analysis, professional reports and presentations.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Group Project Final

Your capstone project will be modelled on consultancy projects commonly used in industry. You will be tasked to develop a high-quality project that meets industry standards. You will perform analysis and simulations to gain insight and inform decision-making by industry. You will present your findings and recommendations in a professional manner, as if to a group of experts in government, industry or academia, in both oral and report form, including the programming code developed for the project. Project deliverables at the end of semester mimic those at the end of a real world project and may include project management documentation, statistical models and data analysis, professional report and presentation.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no out of ordinary risks associated with this unit.