Understanding Data
Source: Dr Annette Green
Making sense of data and statistics requires an ability to interpret and reflect on numerical and statistical information in a variety of documents?
We are bombarded with data every day, from newspapers, to sporting results, stock market statistics to bus timetables.
Many of your students find this data at the least confusing and at worst, incomprehensible and intimidating. Those students that demonstrate numerate behaviours are able to work with or manipulate a range of different problems.
They have developed skills to identify how maths is used.
They work through mathematical operations and ponder and interpret what is required in problem solving. Finally, you will observe they are able to discuss the result of the investigations. Your role as an adult numeracy teacher in VET is to develop these skills further, building on any foundations already there.
When your students use mathematical processes they need to understand the language of mathematics. Let us work through some of the numerical and statistical information that your students must understand to function effectively each day.
The following information and examples may be revision to some students, Nevertheless it is important to understand there are a variety of ways information can be introduced to students.??
Simple Statistics
When we talk about statistics there are a number of concepts that we represent mathematically. These include: mean, median, mode, and range.