IPM Project: The brief.
Learning outcome:
Gain an insight into the requirement of the project.
Understand the project brief and learn about deadlines for the submission.
Locate the sources of data and know the criteria for selecting data.
Module Title: Introduction to pure mathematics
Title of Coursework: Visualising Data Poster Presentation
Type of Coursework: Poster plus individual presentation
and questions
Weighting of coursework: 40% of Pure Maths 1 Module
Assessment: Please see separate sheet containing mark
scheme – you MUST read this.
Visualising Data
Poster Presentation
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Introduction to coursework
Statistics is one of the most important areas of maths which
is used in modern science, business and engineering. Most
companies and governments now make decisions based on
statistical evidence rather than feelings.
If you work in business then you must be able to present
statistics in a way which can be understood. You need to be
able to analyse data and explain the message behind the
data. In this coursework you will analyse a set of data and
explain your findings using a poster and also a presentation.
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What is the purpose of the coursework?
Most students who are completing the Intro to Pure maths will
go on to be engineers or work in business or scientific jobs.
This coursework helps students to practice main important
objectives:
• To be able to demonstrate that they can think
independently and critically about problems.
• To be able to use computer programs such as Microsoft
Excel in order to analyse data statistically .
• To be able to use problem solving skills to break down and
solve problems including those which are unstructured.
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Overview of what you need to do:
1. Choose a set of data from https://www.gapminder.org/data/
to analyse and investigate.
2. Produce an A3 colour poster (electronic) which summarises
what you find out.
3. Record (on the poster) a 5 to 8 minutes an audio presentation
based on your poster.
Students must use the data from:
Sources of Data
Pick one source of data looking at the following website:
www.gapminder.org/data/
This contains over 500 different excel spreadsheets containing
data. Some will be more useful than others. Don’t just pick the
first one you come across.
Don’t copy the Gapminder graphs – you need to produce your
own analysis.
You don’t necessarily need to use all of the data in a particular
spreadsheet (there is far too much in some of them), instead you
could pick between 5 and 7 countries, or particular years to look
at.
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What must your poster include?
✓ It must be A3 in size, be in full colour and be produced on a computer, not by
hand using. www.gapminder.org/data/
✓ Your poster must have a title, as well as your first name and surname.
✓ Your poster should be attractive and easy to understand for anyone looking at it.
✓ It must include at least three different types of statistical diagram (produced
from at least 3 different calculations of statistical measures like mean, mode,
median, variance, standard deviation, lower quartiles, upper quartile, inter
quartiles, range, maximum and minimum.)
✓ Statistical diagrams should have labelled axes and titles and be of good quality.
✓ You must write about the methods you used during this project (show sample of
calculations for one the countries you have chosen).
✓ Your poster must include the sampled table of data (for the chosen countries and
years only).
✓ You must write a conclusion explaining how the use of statistical measures like
mean, mode, median, variance, standard deviation, lower quartiles, upper
quartile, inter quartiles, range, maximum and minimum.
What must your poster include?
✓ We would suggest a font size of 18-20 for most writing on your poster. Your
poster must have a web link or book citation showing where you got the
data from.
✓ You must explain any anomalies, outliers or gaps in your data.
✓ You must write at least one summary paragraph on what you found out
(conclusion).
What must you do during your presentation?
✓ You must inert an audio presentation (recording) into your
poster.
✓ You must not use PowerPoint slides during your presentation
as you will be talking about your A3 poster which your
examiners can see.
✓ Explain which methods of statistical calculations you used
during your project.
✓ Explain what you found out and what your graphs and statistics
say about the data.
✓ You must use good English, use the correct mathematical
vocabularies, and speak at a pace which is not too fast and be
easily understood.
✓ You must use external resources to support your findings and
therefore you must use standard methods of referencing.
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What type of statistics should you use in this project?
You should calculate a variety of statistics which you have learnt
about in this module. You must explain what each statistic is
telling you. Here is a reminder of the syllabus:
Statistics syllabus summary
Measures of location — mean, median, mode
Measures of dispersion — variance, standard deviation, range and
inter-percentile ranges.
Correlation and regression – basic introduction.
statistical measures like mean, mode, median, variance, standard
deviation, lower quartiles, upper quartile, inter quartiles, range,
maximum and minimum.
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What types of graphs should I create?
You can create any type of statistical graph which is
understandable by your tutor. Here are some ideas:
Line graphs, scatter Plots, box plots, bar charts, histograms, pie
charts etc.
You can use other types of graph or diagram. – if you are not
sure, you must ask your tutor.
All graphs must be clearly labelled with clear titles, axis labels
etc.
Your graph must be relevant to your investigation and explained
on your poster.
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What should my written analysis be like?
You should always explain clearly what your data is telling you.
You must use good English.
You must clearly explain how the use of statistical measures
helped you in presenting the data.
If you do not explain your calculations/graphs then you will
not get a good mark.
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Plagiarism
All the normal plagiarism rules apply. (Check the Leeds ISC rules
if you aren’t sure.)
However, for this particular project:
✓ It is ok to use the same data source as another student
It is not ok to copy each other’s graphs or written text
If you use the same data as a friend you must be very careful
not to copy anything which they write or produce.
Plagiarism will lead to serious consequences (see Leeds
International Study Centre rules for further details.) Your
teachers are experts and will catch you easily if you commit
plagiarism.
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And finally:
Read the marking criteria grid to find out how you will be
marked!
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