The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Targeted Infusion Projects supports the development, implementation, and study of evidence-based innovative models and approaches for improving the preparation and success of HBCU undergraduate students so that they may pursue STEM graduate programs and/or careers. Fort Valley State University will implement a Targeted Infusion Project entitled: Developing a Minor Program in Applied Statistics within the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. The project is designed to develop students' statistical knowledge and thinking through activities that require scientific and data driven decision making processes; improve enrollment and retention of students in STEM fields by enhancing enrollment and retention in statistics; engage students in mentor supervised research in areas related to statistics applications; and enhance learning, teaching and research capabilities through the use of new instructional technologies and methodologies.
The project team will enhance an existing course with interdisciplinary activities and projects and develop five new courses for the minor in Applied Statistics curriculum within the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. Courses to be developed will cover topics in applied methods in regression, key concepts of biostatistics including mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques, methods of constructing and designing statistical experiments, time series, and nonparametric statistics. Curriculum development efforts will be complemented with faculty mentoring, summer research internships, and peer-to-peer advising.
