Keniel

Share my Mathex reflections 2009; Well done on opening your investigation around a question- perhaps add some reason/ rationale about why you selected this issue. Your question was well chosen because it enabled you to use the data from the Census At School site. Your sample size is relatively small, and needs to be clarified a little- how appropriate do you think it is to ask 20 different students each time? Is it better to ask the 20 students their opinions on 10 things or 20 different students each time (200 in total)? Aren't some issues connected, and won't some of your sample show connections e.g. someone who doesn't care about tagging won't be too fussed about crime will they? Also good at this stage is to add your own predictions about what you think will happen, so you can go back and check at the end of your survey. Your data is well presented in a variety of suitable forms BUT there appears to be some gaps- for instance, I can't find any data for year 10, and (for some reason) Year 12 and 9 are asked about immigration, but not year 11- is this so? Do you consider it fair to give a different selection of issues to each year group and then summarise what issues are important to 'kids around NZ?' You have made some good observations in your analysis, but could have gone further- if you were dealing with numerical data, you could have linked in some statistical measures to back up your opinions too?


 * //To use data and statistics/ To use mathematical inquiry// ||
 * Stage 1; Identify the problem and form a question || Good question will guide your investigation and keep you focused on the issue that you are finding out about. Your question has been constructed effectively, and indicates what information you'll be selecting from the census. Why did you think of this theme to study? Give some thought at the beginning about a possible 'So What?' action- hopefully your data will provide you with info which you can use to make some kind of change with- maybe to the confidence of some ethnic groups? ||
 * Stage 2; Plan and hypothesise || Your hypothesis is interesting- how did you come about these ideas? Give some explanation in your hypothesis about what experiences you may have in this area. Your plan is simple and clear. ||
 * Stage 3; Data collection || Well organised data- how many people did you sample? I like the way you have grouped and quartiled the data sets for each origin group. ||
 * Stage 4; Analysis of data || You have looked at any trends and patterns from the data in your tables- this is a good way to get you started about thinking about answering your question, and gets you thinking about what you might see in your graphs. Well done for working out the other measures of average like median and mode. ||
 * Stage 5; Graphing and charting your data || Very good choice of graph, I'm amazed at how clear your results are. Also, look for patterns within subjects- is there a curriculum are which seems to have children feeling confident? Your graphs are well chosen and well constructed using ICT. ||
 * Stage 6; Interrogating your graphed data || Excellent- you looked at patterns and trends in the data, and offered explanations for the different events and trends that you noticed. Very strong on this point. ||
 * Stage 7; Conclusion, answer and 'So What' || Well connected to your interrogation- How do you think you could now use this data to make a difference? (This is your 'So What?') Who could you share it with in order to try and make a difference? Excellent investigation! ||

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