Toby

Read my Mathex reflections 2009; Good start- a question at the beginning of your investigation helps you to write an effective conclusion at the end of the analysis. Your table is clear, and I realise that your sample size was limited by the number of year 8's from BBI who took part in the survey. HOWEVER- you could have taken some larger surveys, asking the same question for other students in Auckland and other parts of NZ to see if the BBI children are representative of the wider student population. If you did this, you could make comments about the influence of traffic in bigger cities and the need for motor transport in more rural areas (if this was the case). You need to look at your data, and try to give some explanation to the 'why' these results are as they are, and maybe comment on anything that surprised you when you looked at the results.


 * //To use data and statistics/ To use mathematical inquiry// ||
 * Stage 1; Identify the problem and form a question || I like your question- it is relevant to our school (and yourself) and can lead to an interesting 'So What' in terms of what students would like to buy- maybe we could make a deal with Dick Smith- or even set up an iPod swapping/ recycling service? ||
 * Stage 2; Plan and hypothesise || Your prediction is simple, and relates well to your question. A good idea is to support your hypothesis with some reasons- Why do you think this would be the case? I can't really find your plan- how did you decide on the number of students to survey? ||
 * Stage 3; Data collection || You used real students in your class, but look back at your question... How many year 8 students could you have asked in total? Your sample could have been much bigger, and bigger samples mean more data, and greater accuracy. ||
 * Stage 4; Analysis of data || Clear tables of results- I'm curious about how you calculated the average scores for each type of ipod- I guess those who have added to those who want does indicate the desirability of a product, but why not just use the total of the 2 categories rather than an average? I think I'd have liked more students to have been part of your survey. ||
 * Stage 5; Graphing and charting your data || Good mix of graphs- bar and pie. They show data clearly- it seems like ipod touch is on the way up and the nano is on the way out! Feedforward would be to give the graphs clearer names- avoid Chart 1,2,3 etc, and use the sentence "A graph to show...." for clarity. ||
 * Stage 6; Interrogating your graphed data || Your interrogation was brief, but accurate! ||
 * Stage 7; Conclusion, answer and 'So What' || Don't worry about being too specific- you mentioned about being '1 wrong' but try to look for general patterns and trends like most/ least/ increasingly/ decreasingly popular. ||

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