宾州中央谷. — Data collection provides the information researchers need to make informed decisions about a wide range of issues. 十大网赌靠谱网址平台 (PSU-LV) students participated in a joint statistical analysis project on health-related data with students from Osh University in Uzbekistan as part of the Penn State Experiential Digital 全球 Engagement (边缘) Project. 学生们收集与乌兹别克斯坦肺结核病例有关的数据集, 并进行统计分析，确定影响因素, 相关的相关性, 以及今后采取哪些措施可以减轻这种疾病的传播.
边缘 is a Penn State project-based teaching and learning approach that encourages the development of intercultural competencies across shared learning environments using the Internet and other technology-driven tools. Instructors and students foster meaningful relationships with peers in geographically distant locations from diverse cultural backgrounds.
拉里Musolino, 助理教学教授, 数学, designed a joint statistical investigation for students in his STAT200 class with a faculty member from Osh University to investigate tuberculosis data.
“For this project, we wanted students to use statistical data analysis to improve health outcomes. Our data analysis and predictions could provide meaningful insights to better understand the reasons for the spread of the disease and help to guide mitigation strategies. We looked over the available data sets made available by the National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic and selected tuberculosis datasets for the analysis,穆索利诺说. “肺结核在乌兹别克斯坦是个问题，比在美国严重得多.S. — the incidence rate for tuberculosis is about 20 times higher in Uzbekistan as compared to the U.S.”
Small teams comprised of students from PSU-LV and Osh University were assembled. The teams did not have exactly the same project goals — Osh University students used the same data sets but had different learning objectives.
“We focused a little more on regression analysis and predicting tuberculosis rates, 他们是否引起了人们的关注? My counterpart wanted to focus more on geographic correlations to determine if specific locations had significantly higher incidence of tuberculosis. I had about 30 students in my class; there were about 12 in the Uzbekistan group, 还有研究生,穆索利诺说.
会议通过Zoom举行, and Musolino said there were definite challenges: “Two of the biggest problems we had to deal with were the time difference — Uzbekistan is about nine hours ahead of us — and the language differences. We had a kickoff meeting where we presented the project to all students, and we met at 8 a.m. 宾州时间，下午6点.m. 乌兹别克斯坦的时间.”
穆索利诺说，这些会议需要一名翻译. 然后, 在启动会议之后, smaller student groups met via Zoom on a periodic basis to exchange information and provide updates on the statistical data analysis.
汉娜蒙羞, a junior majoring in agricultural science with a focus on horticultural studies, 她说她喜欢这个项目.
“I pick up statistics very easily, so I didn’t find the project that difficult. It was interesting to speak with students from other countries we wouldn’t normally speak to or work with. [This project] opened our eyes to see what others are dealing with that we’re not dealing with here,她说.
Shames补充说，这是一个很可能对她未来很有帮助的项目, as she expects to collect various types of data related to agriculture for a wide range of purposes.
另一个学生, 以利亚伦道夫, 康复与人类服务专业大二学生, 说这个项目在数据收集方面是一个有价值的应用. “This gave me more practice in statistical analysis and how it applies to a real-world setting. 我们了解到不同国家的困难. When I’m in the workplace, this helped me understand what I can expect to occur [in gathering data].”
尽管障碍重重，穆索利诺说学生们表现得很好.
“Even though it was a group project, each student submitted their own project," said Musolino. "A couple of things popped up — tuberculosis rates had been decreasing in Uzbekistan for many years, 但从2021年开始, 它有回升的趋势. 这与COVID有一定的相关性. 肺结核是一种呼吸道疾病. 由于新冠肺炎，人们都戴上了口罩，保持了社交距离, 这也有助于减少结核病的发病率, 但现在许多人不再遵循这些预防措施, we predict this will result in an increase in the incidence of tuberculosis in Uzbekistan.
"The other interesting result was a statistically significant disproportionate number of cases among males versus females, 尤其是在18-34岁年龄段,穆索利诺继续说. "The class hypothesized this is likely due to the increased social activity for this age group with the corresponding likelihood to spread the disease due to this social activity. 整体, this was an excellent project for STAT200 students to gain hands-on experience with real-world datasets and statistical data analysis. 除了, students had the opportunity to interact with students from another country to understand global challenges affecting other countries.”
