Spreadsheet tools for biometry classes in crop science programmes

Teaching biometry to undergraduate students in crop science or similar programmes may be a challenging task, as these students show a small background in mathematics and computer programming and are mainly interested in practical applications. It is therefore fundamental to use ‘realistic’ case-studies and provide the students with statistical software that does not overload them with a steep learning curve. This paper wishes to bring to the attention of readers two new EXCEL macro addins (DSAASTAT and BIOASSAY97), which have been extensively tested, validated and used as teaching aids in biometry courses. They only require a basic knowledge of spreadsheet environments and may also be useful for technicians and practitioners for general data analyses of ‘routine’ field experiments.

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