Critiques of Recent Media

You may work alone or with at most three people and turn in one project per group. You'll complete all three themes.

Theme 1: Collecting Data and the Role of Chance and Probability
  • Search google news, scholar.google.com, newspapers, journals or magazines to find a news article that relates to collecting data and the role of chance and probability, such as a poll from the last 12 months
  • Write down the title, the source reference and the date the news article appeared in print or on the web.
  • Analyze and critique the information by referring to specific content and page numbers from the book that relates to collecting data and the role of chance and probability

    Theme 2: Boxplots
  • Search google news, scholar.google.com, newspapers, journals or magazines to find an article that includes boxplots from the last 12 months.
  • Write down the title, the source reference and the date the news article appeared in print or on the web.
  • Analyze and critique the boxplot information by referring to specific content and page numbers from the book that relates to boxplots.

    Theme 3: Predictors
  • Search google news, scholar.google.com, newspapers, journals or magazines to find a news article that discusses how something may "cause" or predict something else from the last 12 months (this may contain linear regression information, for example, or the word predict...)
  • Write down the title, the source reference and the date the news article appeared in print or on the web.
  • Analyze and critique the predictor information by referring to specific content and page numbers from the book that relates to predictors.

    Criteria for Grading

    At least one of your articles must be from an electronic database of our library OR physically from the Current Periodicals section in the lower level of our library - **** specify which satisfies this in your writeup****. You must incorporate the relevant Heart of Mathematics readings into your analyses and critiques. The depth of these connections form the majority of the grade for this assignment. So, for each portion, refer to any relevant content and page numbers Your project must also be typed and must flow well - ie in a consistent writing style. Bullet points are fine. There is no need to print out or photocopy the articles - listing the title, the source reference, and date suffices as acknowledgement.

  • Here is the rubric I'll use for grading.

    Sample of Predictors from Cody Watkins

    ``10 Predictors of College Success." Ecampusnews.com, Meris Stansbury, http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/predictors-college-success-683/, June 2, 2014.

    This article attempted to express the ten traits of a student who will do well in a college setting.

    Critiques:
  • How big was the sample? 80 research studies were used in this meta study, but the article never says how many students were involved in each study. The sample could have been too small for such a large project. (Heart of Mathematics p. 717-718)
  • The article never mentions where the studies took place. Were they in private colleges as well as public? Were they in well-respected schools or any school they could find? What kind of majors did the students have? What were the ages of the students? What were their family lives like? All these important questions and possible underlying factors need to be answered before we can fully trust these predictors. This is very similar to the case of Roosevelt versus Landon, as it may not include a large or diverse enough sample to accurately predict success. (Heart of Mathematics p. 655-656)
  • The study is also close to setting 2 (Heart of Mathematics p. 713) which states: "Some fact of Reality is unknown so we employ statistical analyses to help us determine what is most likely true." We know the information about how the students did in school, but we do not know the backgrounds of the students.
  • ...

    2008 Presidential Election--Sample book page #s

    Sample of page numbers from the book related to our class discussion on the impact of the youth vote on the 2008 presidential election from the hw readings.
    Choose 2 of 3 Projects
    You will choose two projects (of the three options) to write up carefully by their respective due dates. You may complete more for extra participation credit, and your two highest grades will count. Research has shown that projects are extremely beneficial in learning and applying academic knowledge, so I'll ask everyone to do some related activities for homework, regardless of whether you choose to complete that project.

    The projects are those listed on the calendar page, and I encourage you to complete the ones you find most interesting!
    Project 1: Earth and Universe - Annotated Bibliography
    Project 2: Benjamin Franklin's Financial Legacy
    Project 3: Critical Analysis of Recent Media