Week 3 of 540

Whereas there wasn't a lot on the agenda for this week, it was enough to keep me busy, along with further my knowledge of statistics and data collection.  The first assignment that I completed this week was the technology survey.  It was nice to be able to answer questions with confidence this time around, specifically seeing where I have gained knowledge.  The next assignment was that of the third week guided practice.  Even though the assignment was mostly review of mean, range, and standard deviation, we had to do a much more thorough job of analyzing the samples.  The assignment did a great job of illustrating how it can be dangerous to label two as the same or different; such a label often depends on how the data are analyzed.  Finally, I found the article that dealt with how to conduct a proper survery to quite interesting.  I honestly never that about using such a thought out approach, but it makes perfect sense.  How could one properly form helpful questions if you have no clearly defined purpose?

Week 2 of 540

This week's activities saw us extending our knowledge of statistical information, along with beginning to understand how to collect data.  For example, a majority of our group/individual work revolved around defining terms, and checking out data collecting software.  This was informative, as we learned the meanings of some terms, along with being able to play with some features of the software.  My favorite part of the lesson was the continuation of dealing with statistical terminology.  After listening to the recording of class from last week (had a varsity baseball game that night), I feel I finally have an understanding of standard deviation.  I have heard the term a couple of different times, but I now feel I truly understand its purpose.  Essentially, I view the standard deviation as the average of the distances of each value from the actual mean.  This tests how strong the mean value is, telling whether it is indicative of the numbers as a whole.  I also enjoyed using the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet features to complete the guided practice worksheet (what a time saver)!