Quantitative Methods in Food Security BIOL5211

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Biodiversity One Health Vet Med
  • Credits: 10
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

This course provides students with an understanding of quantitative and epidemiologic methods that can be used for investigation of food security questions, including issues of food production, animal health and pest control.

Timetable

This course consists of a taught block of one week, which includes lectures and tutorials. In addition, there is private study time for assignments.

Requirements of Entry

NONE

Excluded Courses

VETMED5020 Veterinary Epidemiology: Quantitative Methods

Assessment

This course will be assessed on the basis of two structured assignments..

Course Aims

The specific aims of the course are:

■ to provide participants with knowledge and comprehension of epidemiological principles and quantitative methods of relevance to veterinary public health and production of food of animal origin, such that they are able to apply these to the analysis of numerical and non-numerical information and apply the results of these analyses to inform decision-making in a given situation.

■ to enhance students' conceptual, analytical and writing skills

■ to encourage students to develop an independent approach to learning

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Select, apply and interpret appropriate measures of disease frequency and association

■ Select and critically evaluate common probability distributions relevant to veterinary public health and risk assessment

■ Select, apply and interpret simple statistical tests

■ Critically discuss examples of the use of modelling in disease control

■ Run and interpret simple mathematical models of disease spread

■ Critically evaluate and apply the principles of HACCP

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.