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Assessing the resources and requirements of statistics education in forensic science

Conference/Workshop:
2020 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM)
Published: 2020
Primary Author: Xiaoyi Yang
Secondary Authors: Robin Mejia
Type: Poster
Research Area: Training and Education

With the increasing ability to easily collect and analyze data, statistics plays a more critical role in scientific research activities, such as designing experiments, controlling processes, and understanding or validating lab results. As a result, incorporating statistics training into the curriculum is becoming a trend in STEM education across a range of fields. However, assessing the level and focus of statistical skills that each discipline requires is complicated and subjective. Situations vary based on the subject, program level and expectation, and university resources. As part of the Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE), we assess the statistics requirements in accredited university programs in forensic science, through reviewing accreditation requirements and analyzing program admission requirements and curricula. We present results for this pilot project characterizing the expectation of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences for statistics skills and their alignment with tasks performed by forensic scientists, statistics teaching resources available to forensics programs, and possible solutions for reducing any identified gaps.

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