LEVEL 4

SKILLS FOR COMPUTING

Lecturer Guide

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Skills for Computing Lecturer Guide v1.0
 Modification History

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1.0 June 2011 For Release

© NCC Education Limited, 2011

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 CONTENTS

1. Module Overview and Objectives .............................................................................. 7

2. Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria .......................................................... 7
3. Syllabus ....................................................................................................................... 8
4. Related National Occupational Standards .............................................................. 10
5. Resources ................................................................................................................. 10
6. Pedagogic Approach ................................................................................................ 11
6.1 Lectures...................................................................................................................... 11
6.2 Tutorials ...................................................................................................................... 11
6.3 Seminars .................................................................................................................... 11
6.4 Laboratory Sessions ................................................................................................... 11
6.5 Private Study .............................................................................................................. 11
7. Assessment .............................................................................................................. 12
8. Further Reading List ................................................................................................. 12
Topic 1: Introduction: Learning to Learn............................................................................... 13
1.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................... 13
1.2 Pedagogic Approach .................................................................................................. 13
1.3 Timings ....................................................................................................................... 13
1.4 Lecture Notes ............................................................................................................. 14
1.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides .................................................................. 14
1.5 Seminar Notes ............................................................................................................ 18
1.5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 18
1.6 Private Study .............................................................................................................. 22
1.7 Tutorial Notes ............................................................................................................. 24
1.7.1 Tutorial Exercises............................................................................................ 24
1.7.2 Review of Private Study Exercises .................................................................. 25
Topic 2: Reading, Listening and Note-taking ........................................................................ 27
2.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................... 27
2.2 Pedagogic Approach .................................................................................................. 27
2.3 Timings ....................................................................................................................... 27
2.4 Lecture Notes ............................................................................................................. 28
2.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides .................................................................. 28
2.5 Seminar Notes ............................................................................................................ 31
2.5.1 Active Listening: Introduction........................................................................... 31
2.6 Private Study .............................................................................................................. 34
2.7 Tutorial Notes ............................................................................................................. 36
Topic 3: Writing ....................................................................................................................... 39

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 3.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................... 39
3.2 Pedagogic Approach .................................................................................................. 39
3.3 Timings ....................................................................................................................... 39
3.4 Lecture Notes ............................................................................................................. 40
3.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides .................................................................. 40
3.5 Seminar Notes ............................................................................................................ 44
3.6 Private Study .............................................................................................................. 46
3.7 Tutorial Notes ............................................................................................................. 49
Topic 4: Presentations ............................................................................................................ 53
4.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................... 53
4.2 Pedagogic Approach .................................................................................................. 53
4.3 Timings ....................................................................................................................... 53
4.4 Lecture Notes ............................................................................................................. 54
4.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides .................................................................. 54
4.5 Private Study .............................................................................................................. 56
4.6 Seminar Notes ............................................................................................................ 59
Topic 5: Problem Solving ....................................................................................................... 61
5.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................... 61
5.2 Pedagogic Approach .................................................................................................. 61
5.3 Timings ....................................................................................................................... 61
5.4 Lecture Notes ............................................................................................................. 62
5.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides .................................................................. 62
5.5 Private Study .............................................................................................................. 64
5.6 Seminar Notes ............................................................................................................ 65
Topic 6: Creative Thinking...................................................................................................... 71
6.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................... 71
6.2 Pedagogic Approach .................................................................................................. 71
6.3 Timings ....................................................................................................................... 71
6.4 Lecture Notes ............................................................................................................. 72
6.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides .................................................................. 72
6.5 Private Study .............................................................................................................. 73
6.5.1 TASC Worksheet ............................................................................................ 73
6.5.2 Six Hats Worksheet ......................................................................................... 78
6.6 Seminar Notes ............................................................................................................ 80
Topic 7: Assignment Preparation .......................................................................................... 83
7.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................... 83
7.2 Pedagogic Approach .................................................................................................. 83
7.3 Timings ....................................................................................................................... 83
7.4 Seminar Notes ............................................................................................................ 84

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 7.5 Private Study .............................................................................................................. 86
7.6 Tutorial Notes ............................................................................................................. 88
Topic 8: Data Acquisition ....................................................................................................... 91
8.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................... 91
8.2 Pedagogic Approach .................................................................................................. 91
8.3 Timings ....................................................................................................................... 91
8.4 Lecture Notes ............................................................................................................. 92
8.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides .................................................................. 92
8.5 Seminar Notes ............................................................................................................ 94
8.6 Private Study .............................................................................................................. 99
8.7 Tutorial Notes ........................................................................................................... 102
8.7.1 Tutorial Exercises.......................................................................................... 102
8.7.2 Review of Private Study Exercises ................................................................ 103
Topic 9: Charts and Estimates ............................................................................................. 105
9.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................. 105
9.2 Pedagogic Approach ................................................................................................ 105
9.3 Timings ..................................................................................................................... 105
9.4 Lecture Notes ........................................................................................................... 106
9.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides ................................................................ 106
9.5 Seminar Notes .......................................................................................................... 109
9.6 Laboratory Session ................................................................................................... 111
9.7 Private Study ............................................................................................................ 113
9.8 Tutorial Notes ........................................................................................................... 116
9.8.1 Tutorial Exercises.......................................................................................... 116
Topic 10: Accuracy and Correlation; Presenting Results .................................................... 119
10.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................. 119
10.2 Pedagogic Approach ................................................................................................ 119
10.3 Timings ..................................................................................................................... 119
10.4 Lecture Notes ........................................................................................................... 120
10.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides ................................................................ 120
10.5 Seminar Notes .......................................................................................................... 124
10.6 Private Study ............................................................................................................ 128
10.7 Laboratory Session ................................................................................................... 132
Topic 11: Regression Analysis .............................................................................................. 135
11.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................. 135
11.2 Pedagogic Approach ................................................................................................ 135
11.3 Timings ..................................................................................................................... 135
11.4 Lecture Notes ........................................................................................................... 136
11.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides ................................................................ 136

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 11.5 Private Study ............................................................................................................ 139
11.6 Tutorial Notes ........................................................................................................... 141
Topic 12: Data Revision and Exam Preparation .................................................................... 145
12.1 Learning Objectives .................................................................................................. 145
12.2 Pedagogic Approach ................................................................................................ 145
12.3 Timings ..................................................................................................................... 145
12.4 Seminar Notes .......................................................................................................... 146
12.5 Private Study ............................................................................................................ 149
12.6 Tutorial Notes ........................................................................................................... 150
12.6.1 Tutorial Exercises.......................................................................................... 150

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 Module Overview

1. Module Overview and Objectives

This unit aims to develop the skills to study at an appropriate level, and the ability to continue
professional development and engage with lifelong learning. The unit incorporates thinking skills
which can be applied to business problems in the IT domain; foundations of data handling and
statistical analysis skills; and communication skills for both technical/professional and academic
purposes.

2. Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Learning Outcomes; Assessment Criteria;
The Learner will: The Learner can:
1. Be able to use various skills to 1.1 Explain strategies and skills to support learning
support the study of Computing at QCF Level 4 and above
1.2 Appreciate the importance of contributing and
listening to discussion-based learning activities
1.3 Write clearly in a style appropriate to learning at
QCF Level 4
1.4 Explain the importance of using citations and
bibliographies and avoiding plagiarism
1.5 Apply a commonly-used system of organising
citations and bibliographies in one's own work
2. Be able to communicate in a 2.1 Explain and apply common industry standards
technical environment for technical documentation
2.2 Employ various media to communicate clearly in
English
2.3 Explain technical issues in a manner appropriate
to a non-technical audience
3. Be able to deploy thinking skills and 3.1 Summarise a range of problem-solving and
problem-solving paradigms in both a creative thinking techniques
business and learning context. 3.2 Apply at least one problem-solving technique to
a business and/or education-based problem
3.3 Apply a creative thinking technique to a problem
based on one's own learning experience
4. Be able to handle and present data 4.1 Extract pertinent data from a given source
4.2 Design an appropriate document or spreadsheet
to record given data
4.3 Record data accurately in a usable manner
4.4 Execute an elementary statistical analysis
4.5 Present data professionally in an appropriate
format to a specified audience

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 5. Understand the need for lifelong 5.1 Explain the concepts of Continuing Professional
learning Development (CPD) and lifelong learning
5.2 Explain the particular application of CPD and
lifelong learning to the IT Profession

3. Syllabus
Syllabus
Topic Title Content
No
1 Learning to Learn 1/12 • Learning Strategy (CREAM: Creative,
Reflective, Effective, Active, Motivated).
2 hours of • Personal Learning Plans
lectures • Learning Situations: Lectures, Seminars,
2 hour of Tutorials and Labs
seminars
• Continuing Professional Development
1 hours of
(CPD) and Lifelong learning: applying your
tutorials
learning skills in other contexts
Learning Outcomes: 1, 5
2 Reading, Listening 1/12 • Extracting information from written sources
and Note-taking • Taking notes from a speaker
2 hours of • Taking minutes in a meeting
lectures
2 hour of
seminars
1 hours of
tutorials Learning Outcomes: 1
3 Writing 1/12 • Analysing the question
• Planning and structuring
2 hours of • Introductions and conclusions
lectures
• Referencing
1 hour of
seminars
2 hours of
tutorials Learning Outcomes: 1, 2
4 Presentation Skills 1/12 • Presentation Skills: researching, preparing,
presenting and delivering
1 hour of
lectures
4 hours of
seminars Learning Outcomes: 2, 4

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 5 Problem Solving 1/12 • Problem Solving tools and techniques
• Problem definition and analysis
1 hour of • Success criteria and selecting a solution
lectures
4 hours of
seminars Learning Outcomes: 3
6 Creative Thinking 1/12 • Creative Thinking Techniques: Lateral
Thinking etc.
1 hour of • Creative Thinking Models: Parallel
lectures Thinking (De Bono ‘Six Hats’), TASC
4 hours of (Thinking Actively in a Social Context)
seminars Learning Outcomes: 1, 3
7 Assignment 1/12 • Technical documentation; knowing your
Preparation audience
3 hours of • Proof-reading
seminars • Exercises in writing and problem-solving
2 hours of based on topics 3-6, practising for
tutorials assignment tasks
Learning Outcomes: 1,2,3
8 Data Acquisition 1/12 • Methods of obtaining data
• Types of data
1 hour of • Storing data
lectures
3 hours of
seminars
1 hours of
tutorials Learning Outcomes: 4
9 Charts and 1/12 • Random variations
Estimates • The importance of normal distributions.
1 hour of • Estimating the mean and median
lectures
1 hour of
seminars
2 hours of
tutorials
1 hour of Learning Outcomes: 4
laboratory
sessions

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 10 Accuracy and 1/12 • Handling uncertainty
Correlation; • Data comparisons
Presenting Results
2 hours of • Organising information
lectures
• Charts and plots
1 hour of
• Showing dependence
seminars
2 hours of
laboratory
sessions Learning Outcomes: 2, 4
11 Regression Analysis 1/12 • Pearson correlation
• Simple linear regression
2 hours of • Spearman correlation
lectures
3 hours of
tutorials Learning Outcomes: 4
12 Data Handling 1/12 • Revision planning exercise
Revision and Exam • Exercises based on sample exam
Preparation questions
3 hours of
seminars
2 hours of
tutorials Learning Outcomes: 1, 3, 4 and 5

4. Related National Occupational Standards

The UK National Occupational Standards describe the skills that professionals are expected to
demonstrate in their jobs in order to carry them out effectively. They are developed by employers
and this information can be helpful in explaining the practical skills that students have covered in this
module.

Related National Occupational Standards (NOS)

Sector Subject Area: 6.1 ICT Professional Competence
Related NOS: 4.7.A.3 – Document, under supervision, specified information relating to
system/solution/service designs;
5.5.A.1 - Assist with gathering and documenting information to support systems installation,
implementation and handover;
5.5.P.2 - Document and present systems installation, implementation and handover activities;
6.1.S.3 - Communicate with others on information management activities;
6.2.A.2 - Document IT/technology security management processes

5. Resources
Lecturer Guide: This guide contains notes for lecturers on the organisation of each topic, and
suggested use of the resources. It also contains all of the suggested
exercises and model answers.

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PowerPoint Slides: These are presented for each topic for use in the lectures. They contain
many examples which can be used to explain the key concepts. Handout
versions of the slides are also available; it is recommended that these are
distributed to students for revision purposes as it is important that students
learn to take their own notes during lectures.

Student Guide: This contains the topic overviews and all of the suggested exercises.

Spreadsheet Data for Laboratory Sessions:

Spreadsheets with data for use in the laboratory sessions in Topics 9 and 11
are also available. These are referenced in both this guide and the Student
Guide and are available from the NCC Education Campus
(http://campus.nccedu.com)

6. Pedagogic Approach
Suggested Learning Hours
Lectures: Tutorials: Seminars: Laboratory: Private Study: Total:
15 14 28 3 90 150

The teacher-led time for this module is comprised of lectures, laboratory sessions, tutorials and
seminars. The breakdown of the hours is also given at the start of each topic.

6.1 Lectures
Lectures are designed to start each topic and PowerPoint slides are presented for use during these
sessions. Students should also be encouraged to be active during this time and to discuss and/or
practice the concepts covered. Lecturers should encourage active participation wherever possible.

6.2 Tutorials
These are designed to deal with the questions arising from the lectures and private study sessions.

6.3 Seminars
These are designed to provide tasks to involve group work, investigation and independent learning
for certain topics.

6.4 Laboratory Sessions

These sessions take a task-based approach to student learning. The details of the practical tutorials
and exercises which students should work through are provided in the Student Workbook.

6.5 Private Study

In addition to the taught portion of the module, students will also be expected to undertake private
study. Exercises are provided in the Student Guide for students to complete during this time.
Teachers will need to set deadlines for the completion of this work. These should ideally be before
the tutorial session for each topic, when Private Study Exercises are usually reviewed.

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7. Assessment
This module will be assessed by means of an assignment worth 50% of the total mark and an
examination worth 50% of the total mark. These assessments will cover the assessment criteria
given above and students will be expected to demonstrate that they have met the module’s learning
outcomes. Samples assessments are available through the NCC Education Campus
(http://campus.nccedu.com) for your reference.

The assignment for this module will include topics covered up to and including Topic 7. Questions
for the examination will be drawn from across the syllabus, but with a focus on Topics 8 to 12.
Please refer to the Academic Handbook for the programme for further details.

8. Further Reading List

A selection of sources of further reading around the content of this module must be available in your
Accredited Partner Centre’s library. The following list provides suggestions of some suitable
sources:

Cottrell, S. (2008). The Study Skills Handbook (Palgrave Study Skills), 3rd edition. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan.
ISBN-10: 0230573053
ISBN-13: 978-0230573055

De Bono, E. (2010). Six Thinking Hats. London: Penguin.

ISBN-10: 0141033053
ISBN-13: 978-0141033051

Race, P. (2003). How to Study: Practical Tips for Students, 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
ISBN-10: 140510693X
ISBN-13: 978-1405106931

Race, P. (2008). How to get a good degree: Making the Most of Your Time at University (Open Up
Study Skills), 2nd edition. Milton Keynes: Open University Press / McGraw-Hill.
ISBN-10: 033522265X
ISBN-13: 978-0335222650

Online Resources:

Bellinger, G., Durval, C. and Mills, A. (2004). Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom. Available
through http://www.systems-thinking.org/.

Wallace, B. (2010). TASC – Thinking Actively in a Social Context. http://www.tascwheel.com/

Palgrave Macmillan online study skills resource: www.skills4study.com

University of Manchester (UK) Reading Skills site:

http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/studyskills/essentials/reading/study_reading.html

University of Manchester (UK) Critical Thinking site:

http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/studyskills/essentials/reading/critical_thinking.html

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 Topic 1

Topic 1: Introduction: Learning to Learn

1.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of learning strategies and key skills for effective learning.

On completion of the topic, students will be able to:

• Develop strategies to optimise their learning activities;

• Reflect on their own learning and how to improve it;
• Plan their own learning.

1.2 Pedagogic Approach

Information will be transmitted to the students during the lecture. Students should then take part in
the seminar session, undertake private study exercises and be prepared to discuss answers to the
private study exercises in the tutorial session which should take place at the end of this topic.

1.3 Timings
Lectures: 2 hours

Seminars: 2 hours

Private Study: 7.5 hours

Tutorials: 1 hour

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1.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• Overview of each section of the C.R.E.A.M learning strategy;

• Sample approaches, tools and techniques within each of the five sections of this strategy;
• Guidance on Personal Learning Plans.

1.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Slide 2: A brief explanation of the aims of the module. You may wish to expand upon this
using the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for the module.

Slide 3: A brief explanation of the goals of this topic.

Slides 4-5: An overview of the C.R.E.A.M model, proposed in Cottrell (2008) [Chapter 4], is
given on this slide. C.R.E.A.M is a learning strategy, or set of strategies, and should
be presented to students as a model for building their own study plans in an
effective manner. An initial explanation of each section is given in the following
slides.

Slide 6: C stands for Creative Learning. There are two key points here. Firstly, using the
imagination is the route to internalising and applying what you have learned, rather
than memorising and repeating without understanding (“rote learning”). Secondly,
being creative about your learning develops the confidence in your ability to learn;
you might stress that this is important for lifelong learning and continuing
professional development. Some creative thinking and learning methods will be
studied in detail in Topic 5.

Slides 7-9: R stands for Reflective Learning. This is one of the key areas in which further and
higher education differs from school. Key questions which students need to be
asking themselves at this level are shown on the slide.

Slide 10: E stands for Effective Learning. This involves creating the best environment for
learning to take place. This includes the organisation of time to ensure that
everything can be done by deadlines and to keep concentration levels up, and
organisation of space to ensure that information can be retrieved when needed and
that the learner can study comfortably and effectively.

Slide 11: A stands for Active Learning. Many students think that the learning process is a
magical and mysterious transformation that happens just because they sit in a
lecture hall. Active learning is about engaging mentally and physically with the act
of learning, and taking control of how it happens.

Slide 12: M stands for Motivated Learning. This includes goals and objectives help to keep
the learner motivated and self-disciplined.

Slides 13-14: The summary exercises on these slides can be used as a checkpoint to ensure that
students are following the material so far. They may require some clarification of the
term ‘learning activity’ and of the difference between guided learning (lectures,

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 tutorials, seminars, labs) and private study (all of which are learning activities). It is
important for them to make this list and look at what types of learning activities they
had intended to carry out, as later on they will need to consider where they can
expand this base and incorporate different learning strategies (a habit which should
be encouraged throughout the module and onward).

Slide 15: A whole topic is devoted to creative learning through creative thinking later in the
module. However, here are some introductory ideas for creative learning strategies
which you can briefly explain to the students.

Lateral thinking – This skill can be practiced by listing the connections between two
unrelated everyday objects. For example: a book and a guitar. They could be
connected by their weight, by how they would burn, by the fact that they are both
originally made from trees; they may have been bought at the same time or from
shops in the same city or street.

Metaphors - “If this problem were phrased in these terms…” Often in computing,
we use metaphors from the older world of language and literature – for example, a
programming language or a web page. Phrasing a problem in different terms can
help to see it with a new perspective, which will find a solution. This is just as true
for 'real world' problems as it is for learning problems. This could even be 'silly'
terms, such as a thinking of elements of a computer network as stops on a bus
route.

Imagine alternatives - “What if I only had 100 words to answer this question?” is a
good example of implementing this skill when writing a long essay. This is
particularly useful for planning projects (again, both 'real world' IT projects and
learning projects): asking “what if I had unlimited resources?” or “what if I had
unlimited time?” can give important perspectives on the final, realistic plan.

Slides 16-17: Applying creative learning strategies means using numerous strategies to find the
right solution for a situation. Ask the students to look at the list of ‘descriptions’ on
the slide and note down which apply to their style of learning. This can be turned
into an exercise where they compare with each other and feed back to the class if
time permits. The key point to get across is that however many of these approaches
a student has tried already, trying new learning approaches and breaking with
routine is always a positive step.

Slide 18: This slide looks at self-evaluation and learning journals. The key point here is that
writing in a journal, summarising feedback or filling out a questionnaire doesn’t
achieve anything if it is done without thinking. When carrying out these activities,
students should always ask themselves: what can I do differently in the future?

Slides 19-24: These slides encourage the students to think about what feedback is, what we can
use it for, and how to respond to it.

Some example answers to the exercise on Slide 21 (“How many types of feedback
can you think of”) include:

• Comments from tutor on private study exercises;

• The tutor may look at drafts of assignments and respond by speaking to you,
or by email, etc.
• The tutor may offer feedback after you have finished your assignment
component;

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 • Comments from other members of the class;
• A final grade from NCC Education;
• Feedback doesn't have to be substantial. For example, a family member
saying “you seem to be working very hard” or a friend or colleague saying “you
seem to be enjoying this NCC Education programme” are both examples of
useful feedback of which to be aware.

Feedback can be categorised as positive or negative, and both can cause

problems. Many – even most – people are embarrassed to receive positive
feedback, and do not know how to respond in case they appear arrogant or
unpleasant. On the other hand, negative feedback often causes people to be
defensive and even aggressive. Students should be encouraged to think of
feedback as useful information to record for their own use, and as a tool for
development, rather than “praise and criticism”.

Above all, you should stress the feedback ‘mantra’ from Slide 22:

• WRITE it down;
• THINK about it;
• ACT on it in future.

Slides 25-27: These slides demonstrate a simple method for prioritising and ordering tasks.

Slides 28-29: Encourage the students to think about how their time is spent and how its
management could be improved; this will feed into the Private Study exercise on
Time Circles (Exercise 1), and it will be helpful to refer back to this slide when
discussing the private study exercises during the tutorial session.

Slides 30-31: These slides contain some simple ideas for organising your working space. This is
an area which is often overlooked but well-managed notes, files and working
environments can make an enormous difference to the productivity of a student.
Emphasise the fact that it is no good organising your notes at the end of a module,
or just before the exam; organising as you go along is the only efficient way of
keeping control of notes, learning materials and study environment.

Slide 32: The active learning approaches presented on this slide are some areas for the
students to reflect on. Again you could turn this into an exercise, if time permits, by
asking students to consider which categories they fall into and where they could
improve their own approach. Many of the seminars in later topics include activities
which class as active learning. The Cottrell text on the further reading list also
includes some others which you may wish to use with the students either here or
later in the module.

Slide 33: The first two of these three motivation strategies will make up an intrinsic part of
any personal learning plan, and thus will be considered shortly. The third is an
easily-overlooked point for many students.

Slides 34-39: These slides go through the main stages of building a personal learning plan. The
students should begin to develop this for themselves during their private study time,
and further work will be done on these in the seminar sessions. The main sections
of a personal learning plan are:

• Analysis of strengths and weaknesses

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 • Goals, with success criteria
• Plan of learning activities, mapped to goals

A model learning plan template is given as part of Seminar Activity 2, and students
should be encouraged to make a start on this in advance of the seminar. The most
important thing to get across to the students about their learning plan is that it
should be used throughout their studies and updated often.

Slide 40: References

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1.5 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for the seminars for this topic is 2 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide.

Students should initially work alone on the activities below and then form into small groups to
discuss their ideas. You will need to monitor carefully to encourage students to really think about
their personal learning and come up with useful ideas. This may be an unfamiliar practice to many
students so both activities should also be followed by class feedback sessions where ideas can be
shared and additional advice and support provided.

Before commencing Activity 2, you may wish to go over the terms presented in the template to
ensure that students are familiar with their meanings (e.g. short term goals, success criteria etc.)
You may also wish to model some examples of short and long-term goals on the board and ask
students to comment on their suitability and suggested linked learning activities before they begin
work on their own plans. These examples could be outside the scope of this programme to allow
students to grasp the concept without covering their own potential answers. (e.g. Fly my own plane,
take part in a professional skiing competition etc.)

1.5.1 Introduction

In this session, we will prepare a learning self-evaluation form to use throughout this module, and a
set of goals and objectives to accompany it, which will help to motivate our learning.

Activity 1: Reflective Learning: Personal Learning Self-evaluation

The model below is a possible format for a personal learning self-evaluation. The left-hand column
gives areas for reflection; the right-hand column is used to record the reasons and evidence for
these reflections. It should be noted that evidence is very important when trying to evaluate your
own learning critically – we often feel that we are better or worse at something than we really are.
Often we can only clearly see our strengths and weaknesses when looking for firm evidence of our
own performance. This is why recording feedback on your work is so important.

Module:

Area of Reflection Evidence and Reasoning

1. In general terms, how well am I performing in What are my reasons for this self-evaluation?
this module?

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 Module:

Area of Reflection Evidence and Reasoning

2(a) What are my main strengths in this module? What are my reasons for this self-evaluation?
What do I do best?

2(b) Why am I better at these aspects?

3(a) What are my main areas of weakness in this What are my reasons for this self-evaluation?
module? Where do I struggle to succeed?

3(b) Why do I struggle with these aspects?

3(c) What can I do to improve in these aspects? What is my timescale for this improvement?

4(a) What have I learnt since I began this What are my reasons for this self-evaluation?
module?

4(b) What areas have I improved in since I

began this module?

rd
(Adapted from: Cottrell, S. (2008). The Study Skills Handbook (Palgrave Study Skills), 3 edition.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p62.)

Look at the template above and start to think of the types of evidence which might be useful for self-
evaluation. Make a list, then discuss in small groups.

Now, on your own, add notes to the plan about what you have learned during the first lecture. When
you have finished, compare them to others in your class. Have you learned similar or different things
so far? Remember that learning is a personal experience, and don’t worry if others have picked out
different elements on their plans.

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You need to add to this plan throughout the Skills for Computing module. We will revisit it in a later
topic. If you haven't been keeping records of this evidence for self-evaluation as you go along, you
will find it much harder to complete later.

Suggested Answer:

Evidence includes:

• Any feedback from the tutor: verbal or written, formal or informal, based on class or
assessment.
• Any logical reasoning based on experience. For example, 'my performance in this topic is
relatively weak because I had to spend extra time on the private study exercises'.

Students may also come up with further suggestions.

Activity 2: Effective Learning: Personal Learning Plan

Start to develop your own personal learning plan. Discuss the content of your plan with other
students and/or your tutor(s). The plan should generally be completed in the following way:

1. Identify your motivations for learning

2. Identify your strengths and weaknesses as a learner

3. Based on your motivations, write a draft of your long-term objectives

4. Based on your strengths and weaknesses, write a draft of your short-term goals. Think of these
as a bridge – what do you need to achieve in order to get from where you are to where you
want to be? How do you overcome your weaknesses and build on your strengths in order to
meet your long-term objectives?

5. Plan your learning activities – week by week – and keep this up-to-date as you go along.

Personal Learning Plan

Motivations (why am I studying this programme?)
•
•
•
Learning Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths Weaknesses

Goals and Objectives

Short-Term Goals

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Number Goal Success Criteria Timeframe
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Long-Term Objectives
Objective Checkpoints and related Success Criteria Timeframe
short-term goals
A:
B:
C:
Plan of Learning Activities
Week Commencing (date): Activity Related Goal/Objective(s)

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1.6 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide. Students are expected to use this time to complete the exercises below ahead of the
tutorial session for this topic and to review the material covered so far.

Exercise 1: Effective Learning: Time Circles

1. Draw a circle and divide it into 24 segments. The circle represents one day, and each segment
represents one hour.

2. Mark off sections for each of the main activities which you do during a typical day. An example
is given below.
00:00

18:00 06:00

12:00

3. Now draw a new circle which shows how you would like to use your time. What steps can you
take to achieve this?
rd
(Adapted from: Cottrell, S. (2008). The Study Skills Handbook (Palgrave Study Skills), 3 edition.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p 75-76)

Suggested Answer:

It is hoped that most students, if they carry out this task honestly, will identify “time-wasters”, in other
words certain activities or certain times of day when they are not at their most effective. It is vital to
stress that the diagrams must be individual and that a Time Circle which is too perfect and idealistic
will never be achieved. This is counterproductive as such failure to study plan is a common de-
motivating factor.

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Exercise 2: Reflective Learning: Learning Journal

Start a learning journal. This doesn't work for everyone, but it very often is an effective way to
develop your own learning.

A learning journal is just for you – you don't have to show it to anyone else but, of course, you may
wish to do this. You can write anything that you think is relevant in the journal. Here are a few
suggestions to begin with:

• How do you feel about the programme in general?

• How do you feel about your classmates and tutors?
• What challenges and difficulties have you faced so far?
• Has your attitude or motivation changed?
• In what environment have you learnt most effectively?
• What are the most important things you have learnt?
• How does what you have learnt relate to 'real life'?

Remember that a learning journal doesn't have to be written in a notebook. You could keep a series
of entries in a folder on your computer or as memos or voice recordings in a mobile phone. You
could even keep a public learning journal in a blog. The possibilities are endless; what matters is the
act of writing it, not how it is presented or where/how it is kept.

rd
(Adapted from: Cottrell, S. (2008). The Study Skills Handbook (Palgrave Study Skills), 3 edition.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p63)

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1.7 Tutorial Notes
The time allowance for tutorials in this topic is 1 hour.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the tutorial activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided in their
guide.

1.7.1 Tutorial Exercises

Exercise 1: Reflective Learning: Seminar self-evaluation

The self-evaluation chart below looks at how we get the most out of seminar activities by
contributing to the class. You can use it for every topic in this module, and indeed many topics on
this diploma, if desired.

Aspect for Consideration 1 = poor, 5 = excellent

1. Had I done enough preparation for the seminar? 1 2 3 4 5

2. Did I make any contributions during the 1 2 3 4 5

seminar?

3. Did I speak too much, or over other people? 1 2 3 4 5

4. Were my questions and comments relevant to 1 2 3 4 5

the discussion?

5. Did I listen to the questions and comments that 1 2 3 4 5

other people made?

6. Did I take good enough notes? 1 2 3 4 5

7. Did I pay attention throughout or get distracted? 1 2 3 4 5

8. Do I know what I need to do to prepare for the 1 2 3 4 5

next session?

9. What could I do better in the next seminar?

1. Try filling this out for the seminar you attended for Topic 1 of this module.

2. Now compare answers with some others in your class. Are they similar or different? Do you
tend to choose extreme responses (ones and fives) or tend towards the middle (threes)?
rd
(Adapted from: Cottrell, S. (2008). The Study Skills Handbook (Palgrave Study Skills), 3 edition.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p104)

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Suggested Answer:

Most students will either give extreme or average answers, and this very much depends on
personality. The important point is that students need to be honest with themselves; depending on
age, maturity and experience, the students may or may not need to work on an honest evaluation of
their own performance, and those who show poor self-awareness at this stage should be guided in
future topics.

1.7.2 Review of Private Study Exercises

The remainder of the tutorial time should be allocated for each student to give a brief overview on
the Time Circle and Reflective Learning Journal prepared in during private study time, and to receive
feedback on these from both the tutor and other students. You may wish to organise students firstly
into small groups to discuss the results before running a whole class feedback session.

Students should also have developed their Personal Learning Plans since the seminar session, and
they should bring these to the Tutorial as a basis for further discussion if time permits.

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 Topic 2

Topic 2: Reading, Listening and Note-taking

2.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of reading, listening and note-taking skills. On completion of the
topic, students will be able to:

• Efficiently extract information from a written source;

• Listen actively to extract information from speech;
• Take notes in an effective manner.

2.2 Pedagogic Approach

Information will be transmitted to the students during the lecture. Students should then complete
Private Study Exercise 1 before the tutorial session and Private Study Exercise 2 before the seminar
session.

2.3 Timings
Lectures: 2 hours

Seminar: 2 hours

Private Study: 7.5 hours

Tutorials: 1 hour

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2.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• Taking notes effectively

• Reading Skills
• Listening Skills

2.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Slides 2-4: These slides give the objectives and basic principles for the topic. It is useful to
establish from the outset the idea that learning at its most basic level requires the
retrieval and recording of information (these are, of course, ideas that will be
returned to in the later topics dealing with Data Handling). Listening skills involve
extracting key information from an auditory source; reading skills involve extracting
key information from a written source; and note-taking skills involve recording this
information in the best possible way in order that we can learn from them.

Slide 5: This slide provides a brief explanation of the reasons for taking notes. You may
want to try to elicit these from students before showing them the slide. The first idea
presented here is the most important – it isn’t just about getting information out of
the lecture and onto the exam paper, but rather the act of note-taking, particularly
summarising, is intrinsic to learning.

Slides 6-7: This introduces the idea of setting objectives which your note-taking activities will
achieve. It should perhaps be made clear that the ‘practiced’ note-taker wouldn’t do
this, or would rather instinctively know how to tailor the notes for the use (or
audience) they are meant for. However, at this stage it is a useful practice. Ask
students to work in small groups to discuss their objectives and then run a class
feedback session. Again, stress the importance of taking notes with the objective of
learning and internalising...

Slide 8: This slide highlights the two main approaches to note-taking. Be aware that,
although taking notes as annotations may be more instinctively associated with
written sources, this also includes making notes on a lecture or presentation by
annotating printed handouts based on the slides.

Slides 9-10: These slides give seven suggestions for good practice when making notes by
annotation.

Slide 11: This slide addresses the question of how to decide whether to annotate or make
notes on a separate page.

Slides 12-13: The question of what to include in study notes is often one of the most difficult for
students. After students have reviewed their own notes, ask them to show them to
the group and discuss the questions, before running a class feedback session. If
time allows, the discussion part of the exercise can be greatly enriched by
introducing the question of what to exclude from notes in particular circumstances,

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Slides 14-16: Slides 14-16 give an overview of the Cornell method of note-taking, and Slide 11
contains an exercise based on this. Students have a Cornell template in their
Student Guides in Private Study Exercise 1 for this topic. They may wish to draw on
this here, or you might prefer to prepare photocopies of that page to hand out to
them in advance. It is important to encourage experimentation with this method
during the current lecture, since the interpretation and application of it is very
individual.

Slides 17-18: These slides give a brief introduction to styles of reading, focussing on the two
which are most relevant in Higher Education – speed reading and detailed reading.

Slide 19: This slide outlines a three-step process for speed reading a text. It should be made
clear that this is to be used for subsidiary texts and not key texts; in other words, if a
particular source is useful as background, in support of an argument in an essay-
type assignment, or provides information which is peripheral yet useful to the main
focus of learning, this is the technique to use.

You may also wish to introduce the idea of reading for breadth of learning and
reading for depth of learning. This means that we speed-read a larger number of
texts to develop broad background knowledge and understanding, then read key
texts in detail to develop real depth of understanding in the most vital areas of a
subject.

Slides 20-25: These slides give an overview of the SQ3R method for acquiring detailed
understanding from a written text. This is common in universities (and is especially
popular in the United States). There are a large number of online sources which
can be used to provide addtional information if necessary. An overview from the
University of Manchester in the UK is recommended in the further reading list for
this module.

Slides 26-28: These slides cover some key points and principles about taking notes in a lecture or
presentation scenario. It is worth emphasising that the best way to develop these
skills is by practising as much as possible. The seminar will deal with the idea of
active listening exercises in some detail, so the principles outlined here are an initial
starting point only.

Slide 29: Here we revisit Exercise 3 (Slide 16). At that point, the students should have drawn
a Cornell grid and used it to take notes for the remainder of the lecture. There may
be uncertainty about what to put in the Cue Column and the Summary Box – if so,
go back over Slides 14-15 or explain as necessary.

Slide 30: We now return to Exercise 1 (Slide 7). Students are now asked to evaluate their
notes against the objectives they set. Remind them that ‘practice makes perfect’ if
they don’t feel that their notes are currently good enough. There is also benefit in a
discussion about setting realistic objectives. Can you learn all there is to know
about a subject just by taking notes in a lecture? No. Can you learn all you need to
know about it by taking notes in a lecture? Perhaps, but again this is unlikely.

If time remains, there is also value in asking whether the notes in which the Cornell
system was used (i.e. from Slide 16 onwards) are more useful in general, and if
they are better for meeting certain objectives – for example, does the summary box
make these notes more useful for revision? Alternatively, the benefit of the cue
column for locating information could be demonstrated by asking students to find
two separate pieces of information, one drawn from before Slide 16 and one from

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 after. We can again make the point here that the act of summarising and selecting
headers for the cue column is a learning experience which should hopefully have
helped the students to internalise the information.

Slide 31: References. The main reference for this topic is Race (2003). The Cornell method
was originally proposed in Walter Pauk’s How to Study in College. The latest edition
of this is given in the further reading list for this module. The University of
Manchester’s online resources are also useful.

Lecturers’ Notes:

It is advisable to remind students that they need to complete Private Study Exercise 1 before the
seminar sessions for this topic. The other exercises should be completed before the tutorial session
as normal.

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2.5 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for the seminars for this topic is 2 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide.

You will need to give a short introduction to Active Listening at the start of this seminar and ensure
that students understand what is meant by repeating, paraphrasing and reflecting. The diagram
below is also available in the Student Guide and is can be used as the basis for this. Students
should have completed Private Study Exercise 1 ahead of the seminar and this should also have
helped them to establish some background information.

You will also need to have texts available for students to use during this seminar. This could be
newspapers, magazines or textbooks. See Activity 1 below for further information.

2.5.1 Active Listening: Introduction

REPEATING PARAPHRASING REFLECTING

Perceiving Perceiving Perceiving

Remembering
Remembering Remembering

Rendering a
message through Thinking and
Thinking and
Exact Repetition Reasoning Reasoning

Rendering a message
using similar words Adapting
and phrase structures

Rendering a
message using
your own words

(Adapted from a diagram by Imelda Bickham (http://www.people-communicating.com/communicator.html),

published under a Creative Commons License (GNU Free Documentation License v1.2). Original image available
from Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Active-listening-chart.png)

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Activity 1: Listen and Repeat

Work in pairs, as directed by your lecturer.

a. Person A reads out a sentence. This can be anything from a textbook, newspaper or
magazine. Person B should try to repeat it word for word. Now swap over.

b. Next, Person A should read a paragraph of three or four sentences. Again, Person B should
try to repeat this word for word. Now swap over and repeat a few times.

Do you begin to find it easier? This is a skill that can be learned by practising.

c. Now, Person A should again read out a paragraph of three or four sentences (at a normal
speed, without pauses). Person B should attempt to write it down word for word.

Why do you think this is harder? Discuss in your pairs, and then feedback to the whole
group.

Activity 2: Listen and Paraphrase

Work in pairs, as directed by your lecturer.

a. Person A reads out a sentence. Person B should try to repeat the meaning of the sentence
in their own words without repeating it verbatim (word for word). Now swap over.

b. Next, Person A should read a paragraph of three or four sentences. Again, Person B should
try to repeat the sense and meaning of the paragraph without using the same words. Now
swap over and repeat a few times.

c. Person A should again read out a paragraph of three or four sentences (at a normal speed,
without pauses). Person B should attempt to write down the sense of what they say.

Now Person B reads back what they have written; does Person A understand it to mean the
same thing? Now swap over and repeat a few times.

d. Is it easier to write notes which explain the sense of a paragraph than to write down a
paragraph word-for-word? Discuss this in your pairs and then feedback to the whole group.

Activity 3: Listen, Understand and Reflect

Work in pairs, as directed by your lecturer.

a. Person A reads out a few sentences.

Person B: take a moment to reflect on what has been said to you.

• What did each sentence mean?
• What were the key points? Write them down.
• Now think of a way in which you can reflect the meaning of these sentences in an
entirely new way. Perhaps you can think of a metaphor to describe what Person A
has said to you? Or maybe you can give an example which demonstrates the point of
what they have said? You could even draw a picture or diagram and describe what
you have drawn to demonstrate that you have understood the meaning.

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 • When you have done this, explain back to Person A what you think is the meaning of
what they said.

Person A:
• How well did your partner understand your meaning?
• Explain to them what aspects they have and have not reflected back to you
accurately.

b. Now swap over and repeat the exercise.

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2.6 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic as a whole is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide. Students are expected to use this time to complete the exercises below ahead of the
tutorial session for this topic and to review the material covered so far

Exercise 1: Research and make notes

You should complete this exercise before the seminar for this topic.

a. Look up sources of information which relate to Active Listening. These may be in books,
journals or reliable sites on the Internet.

b. Make notes on these sources, remembering the techniques explained in the lecture. Use the
Cornell system to make your notes, and remember to write a section summary in the box at
the bottom of each page. A template is given overleaf which you can use as a model for this.
Don’t forget to keep a list of your sources as well.

Cue Column Notes

Summary Box

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Exercise 2: Research and make notes

Use available sources from your centre library (or public library) and the Internet to:

a. List the sections which a set of meeting minutes should contain.

b. List some of the key activities of a minute-taker.

c. List some of the common problems faced when taking minutes.

d. Indicate how taking minutes is similar to taking notes in lectures? How is it different? Write a
short comparison of the two.

Suggested Answer:

The following answers are provided as an overview. Students may also have additional valid
suggestions.

a. The ‘easy answer’ to the first part is that this should be drawn from the agenda. It is assumed
that most students will list the common standard items: Date/time, Venue,
Attendees/Apologies. Further sections at the head may include reviewing minutes of the last
meeting etc. The main body should be organised by discussion area in line with the agenda.
The end sections may include Date of Next Meeting and Any Other Business.

b. Key activities may include: taking rough notes during your meetings; typing up these notes;
producing a summary of actions; distributing them to attendees and other relevant people;
filing minutes for future reference.

c. Common problems may include: it can be difficult to know exactly what has been agreed; no-
one is sticking to the agenda; everyone is talking at once; there is a long, complex discussion
and you don’t know which bits are important to record; you have been very involved in a
particular issue and want to say things, but can’t minute at the same time.

d. Key similarities include:

• Both involve extracting information from speech

• Both happen in ‘real time’

Key differences include:

• Lectures normally have only one speaker; in meetings, different people may
talk at the same time
• Meeting minutes have an established format; how closely this relates to the
agenda may vary. Lectures do not have an established format in anything
other than the vaguest sense; however, the lecturer will usually spell out the
structure of the presentation at the beginning, and a course syllabus should
tell you what will be covered in the lecture in advance.

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2.7 Tutorial Notes
The time allowance for tutorials in this topic is 1 hour.

Lecturers’ Notes

Students have copies of the tutorial activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided in their
guide.

This tutorial should begin with a review of Private Study Exercise 2 as a whole class. Students can
then work in small groups to discuss the questions in Exercise 2, before feeding back to the whole
class. The discussion should be steered to encourage the students to reflect on how the skills they
are developing can not only be applied to study situations but also to aspects of their careers later
on; hence the comparison between taking notes in lectures and taking minutes in a meeting in
Exercise 1.

Cottrell (2008) pp.339 – 341 offers a resource to take this further should you wish to do so. This
looks at a broader assessment of the skills developed in study which transfer to the professional
environment.

Exercise 1:

Based on the final part of Private Study Exercise 2, discuss with your class the similarities and
differences between taking notes in a lecture and taking minutes in a meeting.

Exercise 2:

What transferable skills do you think you have developed in this module so far? You may wish to
discuss this in broader terms, and think about everything you have learned up to now and how it
might apply in a professional environment.

Exercise 3:

During the lecture, we learned about two types of reading for academic use – speed reading and
detailed reading (SQ3R).

Looking ahead to the rest of the module, which subjects in ‘Skills for Computing’ do you think you
will need to read about in detail, and what areas can you identify where speed-reading ‘around the
topic’ might be appropriate? A good starting point might be to look at the Learning Outcomes and
Syllabus in the module specification, if you aren’t already familiar with them.

Make a list of these areas, and discuss these with the other students in your group.

Suggested Answer:

A possible answer to this task is given below, although there are many justifiable responses. Very
able students will be able connect this to their Personal Learning Plan, developed in the previous
topic, and in particular to the analysis of strengths and weaknesses within it (i.e. they will see that
where they have identified a weakness in their learning, detailed reading will be required to help
correct it).

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Speed Reading (Peripheral Subjects) Detailed Reading (Key Subjects)
Creative thinking / problem solving techniques Writing academic and technical documents
beyond those covered in Topics 5-6
Advanced techniques in PowerPoint, advanced Presentation Skills
public speaking skills
Various Data, knowledge and information Core data handling and statistical techniques
models

Once again, there is an opportunity to expand this discussion into the lifelong learning domain by
asking the students to come up with scenarios where speed reading and detailed reading might be
applied in a professional IT environment. Examples might include:

• Speed Reading: Information of interest and relevance to the company in general but not related
to your job role; e.g. minutes, reports and updates from other departments.
• Detailed Reading: Information relating to your department, job role and future development;
departmental objectives, processes relating to your job, systems documentation for systems
you support/work with, training manuals.

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 Topic 3

Topic 3: Writing

3.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of academic writing.

On completion of the topic, students will be able to:

• Analyse a question in order to establish the requirements of a task;

• Understand the essentials of writing essay-style answers at a Higher Education level;
• Correctly reference sources and quotations in text;
• Write a reference list.

3.2 Pedagogic Approach

The lecture covers the key points of essay writing, and the seminar supports this with a workshop-
style learning session based on correct referencing and reference lists. Students should complete
Private Study Exercise 1 before the seminar session and the rest of the Private Study Exercises
before the tutorial session.

3.3 Timings
Lectures: 2 hours

Seminar: 1 hour

Private Study: 7.5 hours

Tutorials: 2 hours

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3.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• How do we break down an essay question in order to answer it?

• How should an essay be structured?
• What is meant by ‘appropriate style’ for an academic essay?
• What is referencing, and why is it important?
• What are bibliographies and reference lists?

3.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Slide 2: A brief explanation of the aims of the topic should be given. The key here is to
develop skills which not only engender writing styles that are appropriate for
academic use, but which are transferable beyond this.

Slides 3-4: A failure to analyse the question is very often a cause of students performing very
poorly on an essay-style question. It is not possible to over-emphasise the fact that
a brilliant answer which does not address the question will not receive a good mark
in an assessment.

Students should always begin by breaking down the question and asking:

• What are we being asked to do?

• What is the scope of the task?

Slide 5: This slide gives a simple example. Give students one or two minutes to note down
the key words, elaborate on what these mean by asking themselves the two
questions above and compare their answer with another student.

Slide 6: Elicit feedback from students before showing them the solution on this slide
(compare and contrast).

Slide 7: This slide looks at the words defining the scope of the task. Notes on the
interpretation of these key words might include the following:

.mp3 and .wav: This limits the number of file types under consideration very
specifically to two, therefore any information we come across on .aiff files, for
example, can be discarded.

Storing: We are concerned primarily with file storage, not file transmission etc. So if,
for example, we noted that .mp3 files are much smaller and therefore easier to send
by email, that would not be within the scope of the question – but noting that .mp3
files are much smaller and therefore require less disk space to store would be
pertinent.

Audio: This word primarily gives information on what type of files these are, to guide
our investigation into the facts of the matter. However, this scope word combines
with the last also triggers a further question to guide our discussion: What attributes
are important when storing audio files? Answers to this might include: file size,

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 sound quality, and whether data is lost or deteriorates. These will make up the key
points in an answer.

This example may be augmented by further examples of your own devising to be

sure that the students have the concept. Further examples are provided in the
seminar sessions.

Slides 8-11: Further key word exercises are given to provide the students with an opportunity to
test their own abilities at question analysis. Allow the students to work through the
examples on Slide 8 in pairs or small groups before eliciting feedback and going
through the solutions.

Slides12-13: These slides give an overview of common words that students may see in
assignment or examination questions and an explanation of each and how they
should be approached.

Slide 14: Once we have analysed and broken down the question, an essay plan can be
developed. You may want to elicit from students what this means before showing
them the slide to assess their knowledge in this area.

Slide 15: This continues the example given above of comparing and contrasting.

Slide 16: This slide adds that every answer should have an introduction and conclusion.
Whether its a 500 word question written in an exam or a 50,000 word thesis, this
holds true. You might like to check students’ understanding of the purposes of
introductions and conclusions before showing them the following slides.

Slide 17: Explain the point on introductions as shown on the slide. It is worth noting that if a
student has analysed the question incorrectly and re-stated their interpretation of it,
then a marker may well award some marks on what they have understood the
question to mean; on the other hand, if they have mis-understood the question and
not clearly explained their interpretation in the introduction, they may receive no
marks at all.

Phil Race gives an excellent tip in his book How to Study which you may wish to
convey to your students:

"You can only write a really good introduction when you know exactly what
you’re introducing, so leave the introduction till you’ve more or less finished
everything else... You can, of course, write a draft introduction to pave the
way for the better one you’ll write later, but this is probably best done as a
bullet-point list.” (Race, 2003: 68)

Slide 18: Conclusions are an area where a lot of students lose marks in their work. It is
worthwhile taking a few moments to ask students to discuss how they might
conclude different types of answers. Another useful exercise is to ask students to
list things which should not be included in a conclusion (e.g introducing new points
not made elsewhere) or to give examples of ’bad’ conclusions (e.g those which do
not make reference to the question, or those which are vague and do not make
useful points).

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Slides 19-20: We can now augment this plan with some more detailed notes on what we will write
in each section. The students can do this in groups as a discussion exercise and
feedback to the rest of the class. A model answer is then provided on Slide 18.

Slides 21-23: These three slides broadly address the tone or register used in writing academic
answers – and these apply not just to essays and long-answer questions, but to any
assessed writing. It is vitally important to stress that, even if no mark is specifically
given for writing style, markers will rarely be impressed with a piece of work in a
colloquial or otherwise inappropriate style, and the best marks will always be written
with a clear academic tone in mind. You may want to give a few examples of
different tones to ensure that students understand the differences between them.

Slides 24-26: These slides provide a framework for drafting and improving written work.Before
showing the slides, try to elicit from students what drafting is and why it is important
(to improve the quality of the written product). You may also want to ask students to
give examples of times when they have re-drafted their work and why they did this.
. You may wish to refer back to Slide 26 at other times during this topic, as it can
serve as a final editing/ proofing checklist,

Slides 27-28: This ’fast writing’ exercise should be strictly time-limited. Students should be
encouraged to write as much as possible, which will probably go against their
instincts (particularly if English is not their first language). The concern here is to put
ideas on paper and relate them to the plan – the detail can come later. Once they
have completed this, move on to Slide 28, which asks them to re-draft what they
have just written before the tutorial session; they should be encouraged to follow
the drafting stages outlined in Slides 24-6 when doing so.

Slide 29: The idea of ’conducting research’ may sound intimidating to a student just
beginning a Level 4 diploma, but the basic idea of research is very straightforward –
hence the definition given on Slide 19:

’Research’ means gathering information which will help you answer a

question

The act of researching means locating information, recording it, and applying
it to a question.

It is worth stating clearly that when students hear ’research’ mentioned at this
stage, it normally means the gathering and application of information, and should
not be a cause for concern.

Slides 30-31: You may choose to briefly explain the definition of primary sources (data you collect
yourself) vs. secondary sources (the writing of others), but this is covered in more
detail in a later topic on Data Handling and may safely be left until then.

At the moment, this topic is only concerned with secondary sources, some
examples of which are given on the slide:

• Books
• Journals
• Internet
• Newspapers, industry magazines etc.

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 At this point, you should either give an example (or examples) in each category to
be sure that the students are clear on the distinctions, or if time permits engage
them in the exercise below.

Optional Exercise: Ask the students to name a publication in each of these four
categories.

Suggested Answers:

Obviously books are self-evident.

Journals – this may be the hardest for students just starting their studies at this
level. Those who have read through the specifications for this and other modules
may be familiar with some of the major computing journals, e.g. the Proceedings of
the Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) or the journal Information Systems.

Internet sources – make the point that where the qualification of the author is not
specified we cannot trust the source. The best example of an untrustworthy source
is Wikipedia; anyone can edit a Wikipedia article, whether they are qualified to or
not. Explaining what a Wiki is may be appropriate as general interest for computing
students.

Newspapers – inappropriate answers would be local newspapers limited to a

certain area and general interest magazines. For example, an academic paper in
the computing discipline is highly unlikely to reference the Manchester Evening
News, but the technology section of the New York Times might well be appropriate.
IT Industry magazines such as Computer Weekly may reasonably be referenced in
an academic paper in a technology field, though they should be considered as less
desirable sources than their academic equivalents.

Slides 32-33: A reference list lists all the sources which have been referred to when answering a
question. These slides explain the broad requirements for a reference list; more
detail is given in the seminar exercise.

Conveniently, Slide 30 – the references / further reading slide for this topic – is a
usable example of how to present reference list entries.

Slide 34: This slide is designed to clarify the difference between a Bibliography and a
Reference List. It is worth pointing out to students that the term ’Bibliography’ is
sometimes used to mean either or both.

Slide 35: This slide gives an overview of the stages of writing an essay style answer to a
question. You should go through this making sure that students understand the key
aspects of each stage.

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3.5 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for the seminars for this topic is 1 hour.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities and texts in the Student Guide. Answers are not
given in their guide.

Before the seminar, you will need to ask students to read the Harvard Referencing worksheet given
in Private Study Exercise 1. During the seminar they should then work in small groups on the tasks
given in Seminar Activity 1 before comparing their solutions with the other groups in the class. This
may be done in a variety of ways, including working out the solution electronically then sharing on-
screen, photocopying solutions during a break, swapping solutions with other groups, posting the
texts on the walls of the classroom for students to move around and read, or even reading aloud.
Depending on the method you intend to use, you will need to instruct the students on whether all of
the group members need to produce a copy of their solution or whether one copy will be sufficient.

Activity 1: Harvard Referencing

Work in small groups and re-write the text below.

You will need to:

• Use correct Harvard references.

• Provide a reference list in an appropriate style at the end.
• Ensure the style is appropriate. What sort of tone have you seen in textbooks and journals?
Formal or colloquial? Make sure that your text has an appropriate tone.

HOW NOT TO WRITE AND REFERENCE:

ECommerce platforms now and in the future.

I have studied extensively the use of eCommerce platforms in industry, and it is very clear that in the
modern world we can’t live without them. There are lots of different ones available.

We can see from the book “E-business and ECommerce Management: Strategy, Implementation,
and Practice” by Dave Chaffey, that it’s very hard for a business to remain competitive in the market
without having eCommerce. Even though the book, which is published in Essex by Pearson and
Prentice Hall, was published way back in 2004, nevertheless it is still quite good for this subject.

It talks about different types of ecommerce transactions (like auction types on page 58) as well as
the different strategies using eCommerce, such as e-procurement, Business-to-business and
business-to-customer transactions and other things. At the end, there are some chapters on e-
marketing (p336) and customer resource management (p390) which give a broader view of what can
be done with eCommerce.

All of this means that it is very hard to imagine a world without eCommerce.

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Suggested Answer:

A study of ECommerce platforms in the contemporary business environment and their future
development

Any study of the application of eCommerce platforms in industry makes it very clear that they are
indispensible in the modern business world. A simple internet search will reveal a comprehensive
range of different packages and platforms which are readily available.

At the present time, it is very difficult to remain competitive in the business world without an
eCommerce solution (Chaffey, 2004: 1).

Chaffey’s seminal textbook still covers the subject comprehensively seven years after its publication.
His analysis of auction types provides a good foundation for the study of eCommerce transactions
(Chaffey, 2004: 58) and his evaluation of some strategic applications of eCommerce aspects (such
as e-procurement) still holds true. The text also adds a study of peripheral aspects of eCommerce,
including e-marketing (Chaffey, 2004: 336) and Customer Resource Management systems (Chaffey,
2004: 390).

When we consider not only the strategic applications of different types of eCommerce transactions
but also the associated business applications of e-marketing and CRM linked to a transaction
system, it is clear that the future of business will depend heavily on this form of commerce.

Reference List

Chaffey, D. (2004). E-business and ECommerce Management: Strategy, Implementation, and

Practice. Essex, Pearson/Prentice-Hall.

Key criticisms and corrections:

1. Vagueness: e.g. “in the modern world”. We’re talking specifically about in Business and
about people and places with internet access and open trade.

2. Book reference: this is spread out across two sentences, and very hard to follow; there is no
reference list.

3. Line of Argument: The text does not make its point clearly and concisely.

4. Colloquial phrases: e.g. “lots of different ones”, “and things”.

5. Making value judgments: the textbook “is quite good for this” rather than “addresses the
subject comprehensively” or similar.

6. Answering the question: although the question is poorly specified, the text doesn’t address
the subject clearly enough; parts of it seems to be a review of the textbook in question.

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3.6 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1: Preparation for the Seminar Session

Before the seminar, read the text on the next page on Harvard Referencing.

Exercise 2:

Analyse the question below, making notes on the task required and highlighting the key words.

Discuss the following statement: One hundred years from now, everyone in the world will
own a mobile computing device

Exercise 3:

Write a clear argument supporting the statement in Exercise 2. You will need to identify at least two
sources which support your argument and reference them correctly.

Exercise 4:

Write a clear argument opposing the statement in Exercise 2. You will need to identify at least two
sources which support your argument and reference them correctly.

Exercise 5:

Present the sources which you used to write the arguments above in the form of a reference list in
the Harvard style.

Exercise 6:

Complete the ‘fast writing’ exercise which you discussed during the lecture. You will need to bring
your original first draft and your new draft to the tutorial for this topic. If possible, you should make 3
photocopies of each one.

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 Harvard Referencing Worksheet
The Harvard Referencing system is used throughout the world in academic institutions, and is a
requirement of all NCC Education assignment submissions.

Part One: In-text reference style

We reference sources included in the reference list using parentheses. Within the parentheses, we
give the Author’s Surname and Year of Publication of the source, and if appropriate the Page
Number, like this: (Davenport, 2011: 63).

This means that in the reference list which is ordered alphabetically, we can look down to the
author’s name, then if we have referenced more than one work by that author we can identify which
one by the year, and if we want to find that source in a library then the page number lets us
immediately turn to the relevant part.

If we wish to make a point without directly quoting a source but still making reference to it as the
point of origin of an idea or argument, we can place our reference in-line at the end of a sentence
like this (Davenport, 2011: 89-99).

Alternatively, if we wish to reference at the end of a quotation, we do so like this:

Direct quotations should be indented on both sides like this. Direct

quotations should be indented on both sides like this. Direct quotations
should be indented on both sides like this.

(Davenport, 2011: 121)

Note that when a direct quotation is presented with indentations in this way, it does not require
“quotation marks”; if a quotation is more than a few words long, it is best to indent is as shown
above.

Part Two: Reference list style

The Harvard style reference list is ordered by the author’s surname, and includes the following key
items of information and formatting standards.

Name, Initial (Year). Title of work. Location of publisher, name of publisher.

For example:

Davenport, G. (2011). How to write essays and influence people. Manchester, NCC Press

If referencing an article in a journal or book which is a collection of works, we use the following
standard:

Woodsmoor, H. (2010). A survey of computing students and their essay-writing habits. In

Grove, H (ed.) A collection of surveys relating to computing students. Kuala Lumpur, MY
Publications Ltd.

Disley, P. H. (2009). A journal article of great distinction. In the Journal of Interesting Articles,
volume 6 (winter 2009). Cape Town, RSA Press.

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When referencing a website, it may not always be possible to identify the author or title, though we
should do so whenever possible. Website references must include a URL and the date on which the
site was visited and the information retrieved. For example:

Bellinger, G., Durval, C. and Mills, A. (2004). Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom.
[Available Online] http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm. [Retrieved 10th February
2011.]

Remember:

Always reference every source you use, however little you use it. If you fail to do so, you
are committing plagiarism

Reference ideas, not just quotations. Anything that is not your own original idea must be
referenced.

Use good sources with reliable authors

Put all your sources in a reference list, and order it alphabetically by surname.

See also: NCC Education Plagiarism and Referencing guidance, available through the Campus
virtual learning environment.

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3.7 Tutorial Notes
The time allowance for tutorials in this topic is 2 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the tutorial activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided in their
guide.

Exercise 1:

In groups of two or three, discuss the solutions which you wrote to the private study exercises. Your
group should then devise the following, based on a combination of your individual answers:

• Identification of the task and scope implied by the question

• A plan for an essay to answer this question, including the key arguments for and against the
statements, and notes on what would be included in the introduction and conclusion.
• A reference list containing all of the sources which members of the group had consulted.

Suggested Answer:

Task: We are being asked to Discuss. This implies at least one argument in support of
and one argument in opposition to the statement.

Scope: One hundred years from now means that we are being asked to predict future
technology trends. It also means that the question is one which will require some
degree of imaginative thought as well as pure factual research. Everyone in the
world sets a very bold scope in terms of numbers and geography. Mobile
computing device needs to be defined through research.

A model answer for parts 2 and 3 is given on the next page. This may be printed and given to
students at this point (clearly they need to attempt to do this independently first). If time permits,
allow them to read the model answer, and then discuss how it compares to their own group plans
and their own work in the self-study exercises. However, before doing this, make sure that any
problems or misunderstandings around planning, referencing and reference lists are cleared up. If
no time remains, suggest that the students take away the model answer and compare it to their own
individual and group work in their own time.

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Model Answer

Discuss the following statement: One hundred years from now, everyone in the world will own a
mobile computing device

Mobile computing devices are becoming more and more ubiquitous in the modern world. For the
purposes of this answer, we will consider mobile computing devices to be limited to laptop and
netbook computers, and cell phones with wireless internet technology. Although common in many
Western countries, these types of mobile devices are not yet widely available in many parts of the
world. More importantly, the basic infrastructure to support such devices is not always in place, and
this will require extensive investment of money and resources to address in certain regions.

On the other hand, we might consider as context the state of technology one hundred years in the
past. The years 1910-1913 saw the invention of the electric starter motor (Boyd, 1957), the radio
amplifier (Hope, 1979) and cellophane (Rys, 1999), all of which are available globally today. We
could assume, therefore, that mobile communication devices which seem so cutting edge in 2011
will be commonplace in one hundred years’ time.

The vital point, though, is that despite the world-wide availability of all these items, affordability is a
different matter when considering whether ‘everyone in the world’ will own them. It is not true that
everyone in the world owns a car or an electric radio. If we examine the United Kingdom alone, a
Royal Automobile Club report cites the number of car owners in 2007 as “over 31 million” (Lund,
2009: 3), approximately half of the population at that time.

Finally, in order to balance this discussion, we must note the fact that predicting future trends in
such a manner is a highly imprecise art. The last century has seen an astounding range of political
upheavals around the world, not to mention wars, revolutions and a whole range of other events
which have shaped the course of what we term ‘civilisation’. Thus any conclusion drawn from this
discussion must be tempered with the knowledge that we can do nothing but ‘best guess’ a
response.

To summarise, then, we can state that based on historical example, it is likely that everyone in the
world will at least have access to mobile computing devices in one hundred years’ time; however,
the likelihood of everyone owning one, based on sensible assumptions about political climate
globally, is very slim.

Reference List

Boyd, T. (1957). Professional Amateur: The Biography of Charles Franklin Kettering. New York, NY,
E.P.Dutton & Co.

Hope, A. (1979). The Battles of Armstrong – Radio’s Forgotten Man. In New Scientist, 1 February
1979.

Leibling, D. (2008). Car Ownership in Great Britain. London, RAC Foundation

Lund, W. (2009). Invention History Timeline from 1900 to 1925. [Available Online]
http://www.inventionspatents.com/Artcles19-timeline3.htm (Retrieved 16 February 2011)

Rys, P. (1999). Dr J. E. Brandenberger. A biographical article on the Brandenberger Foundation

website: http://www.stiftungbrandenberger.ch/cello_fr_e.htm (Retrieved 16 February 2011)

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Exercise 2:

Referencing is often seen as a ‘chore’ which is required in academic work; however there are very
good and important reasons for referencing correctly.

In groups, discuss why you need to reference correctly in your writing. Try to think of as many
possible reasons as you can; you should be able to come up with at least four or five.

Suggested Answer:

There are many possible answers, of course; Cottrell (p130) gives the following five key reasons:

• Acknowledging a source is a courtesy to the person whose ideas or words you have used

• Make it clear that you are not plagiarising someone else’s’ work.

• The source helps the readers to find the original texts or web pages to read themselves

• If you need to check something later, the reference will help you find it again

• Readers will have confidence in your assertions if they know where your information has
come from

(Cottrell, 2008: 130)

Exercise 3:

During the lecture, you were asked to carry out a ‘fast writing’ task, and then to revise what you
wrote before this tutorial class.

1. Looking at both the rough draft that you wrote quickly during the lecture and the improved
version you have prepared, discuss how helpful you found this approach.

2. Share your rough and improved drafts with other students in your group. Did you make the
same improvements as others, or have you focussed on improving different areas (content,
style, use of English etc.)?

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 Topic 4

Topic 4: Presentations

4.1 Objectives
This topic provides an overview of presentations. On completion of the topic, students will be able
to:

• Prepare and deliver a presentation.

4.2 Pedagogic Approach

The lecture covers the key points of giving presentations, and the seminars support this with
workshop-style learning sessions.

The students may well require guidance on the order in which they undertake the various private
study and seminar tasks. An overview of this is given in the first slide of the lecture as it is assumed
that the lecture will take place at the beginning of the topic; if this is not the case, students should be
alerted to the structure of the topic in advance.

4.3 Timings
Lectures: 1 hour

Seminar: 4 hours

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4.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• The lecture explains some key aspects of, and approaches to, giving a presentation.
• The seminars give opportunities to practice both giving and evaluating presentations,
individually and in groups.

4.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Slide 2: A brief explanation of the aims of the topic should be given.

Slide 3: An overview of the structure of the topic. It is important that the activities and
exercises are carried out in the order shown.

Slides 4-5: This is a very brief overview of what situations might considered to be
presentations, and the reasons we might be asked to give them.

Slide 6: Race (2003) divides the process of preparing a presentation into three stages. It
may be worth noting that the Preparation stage is by far the longest in terms of time
commitment, though many people focus too much on presenting and therefore
neglect to prepare in enough detail.

Slide 7: These are key things to know before you begin. The length and whether there will
be questions at the end are both vital. It may be worth pointing out that students
may also want to know whether the questions need to be included in the specified
time limit or whether additional time has been allowed – and if so, how much?
Details of the audience not only help to prepare yourself and calm your nerves (i,e
knowing what to expect), but also to help you pitch the correct tone, language, level
of formality etc. Finally, knowing what facilities are available to aid your presentation
avoids wasting time preparing supplementary materials that you cannot use on the
day.

Slide 8: Planning cannot be stressed enough, and the parallel to essay planning in the last
topic is an important one. Presentations will nearly always have an introduction and
conclusion, and the sections within the presentation should be clear. Encourage the
students to think back to Topic 2, when they were taking Cornell notes from a
lecture – the ’Cue Column’ that they used then would contain the section headings
in a presentation. Now the situation is reversed they should ask themselves; would
someone taking notes from their presentation know how to break it up into clear
sections, points and ideas?

Slide 9: The first two elements are more-or-less ubiquitous, though you may perhaps be
asked to lead a seminar/discussion without visuals. The use of handouts varies,
and has its pros and cons (see Slide 12).

Slides 10-12: These slides give some tips and advantages/disadvantages of different approaches
to visuals, notes/scripts and handouts. If time permits, open this to the students for

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 disucssion; ask them how they have given presentations in the past (or seen other
people give presentations) – what did they think was good and bad?

Slide 13: You may well find students in the class who think that they are good at improvising
and don’t need to practice; there are almost no instances where they would not
improve their presentation by practicing. The often-held idea that an unprepared
presentation is more spontatneous and engaging ignores the many instances
where those who have not prepared properly have delivered a presentation poorly.

Slide 14: Many excellent presentations are let down when the presenter cannot answer
questions at the end, this area should never be overlooked.

Slides 15-18: These slides give some tips for the presentation itself – overcoming nerves, tips for
speaking in public, and items to include at the beginning and end. If time allows,
invite the students to come up with more ideas in any of these three areas, either
from their own experiences or by using their imagination.

Slide 19: References – Race (2003) is the most comprehensive for this topic, but Cottrell also
gives it some brief yet useful coverage. There are many Internet resources –
especially on public speaking – but students should be made aware that they are of
variable quality.

Lecturers’ Notes:

In the private study exercises for this topic, students are required to prepare an individual
presentation and a group presentation for delivery in the seminar session. At the end of the lecture,
it would be advisable to split the students into suitable groups to carry out the tasks. You may also
wish to check that all of the various presentation topics will be covered or assign topics to ensure
that this is the case. Time limits for each of the presentations can also be specified depending on
the size of your class. It may also be advisable to split the seminar session into at least two
sessions, one for the individual presentations and one for the group presentations, to avoid students
having to do two presentations in a short space of time.

It is also worthwhile taking a moment to go through Private Study Exercise 1 at the end of the
lecture. In particular, some students may not understand the concept of Evaluation Criteria, and they
should have the opportunity to clear this up before they complete the preparatory work for the
seminar.

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4.5 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1: Evaluation Criteria

Design a Presentation Evaluation Sheet, with which you will evaluate the presentations of others in
your class. Use the table below and add additional categories, criteria and weightings.

Category Criteria Weighting

Introduction Is it clear and concise? 5%

Does it introduce the speaker(s)?
Does it explain the scope of the presentation?

In order to construct a good evaluation sheet, you will need to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is essential to a good presentation? (These will be your Categories)

• What is non-essential but still important enough to include?
• If a presentation is to be successful in a particular category, what will it achieve? (These will be
your Criteria)
• What are the most and least important categories? (This will inform your weightings)
• If someone judged my presentation against these criteria, would I feel that I had been judged
fairly?

Suggested Answer:

Category Criteria Weighting

Introduction Is it clear and concise? 5%

Does it introduce the speaker(s)?
Does it explain the scope of the presentation?

Content Does the presentation set out relevant issues? 40%

Does the presentation explain key terms
Is the student confident with material?
Does the presentation aid understanding of the subject?

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 Structure Is the structure logical? 25%
Is the presentation easy to follow?
Are there clear sections? Does the student provide
section headings?
How does each section relate to overall purpose?

Conclusion Is it clear and concise? 5%

Does it summarise the main points?
Does it relate accurately to the scope of the presentation?

Delivery Was the speed of delivery appropriate? Too fast, or too 10%
slow?
Did the student maintain eye contact with the audience?
Did the student speak clearly and audibly?
Was the tone of voice of the presentation appropriate?

Use of Visual Aids Does the student use handouts, PowerPoint slides or 5%
other visual aids?
Are these visual aids relevant to content?
Are these visual aids prepared to a professional
standard?

Response to Is the student willing to answer questions? 10%

Questions Does the student invite questions from the audience?

TOTAL 100%

Exercise 2: Prepare an Individual Presentation

Prepare a presentation on your own on one of the following subjects:

• “The role of Information Technology in the expansion of a small business”

• “Learning Strategies in Higher Education”
• “How the internet has changed society in the last ten years”

You will deliver this presentation to the rest of the class in the seminar session.

Exercise 3: Prepare a Group Presentation

Work in groups of between two and five as instructed by your lecturer.

Design a group presentation on one of the following subjects:

• “How to avoid plagiarism in academic writing”

• “Introduction to the C.R.E.A.M. learning strategies model”
• “What skills does the IT professional need for the modern business world?”

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You should produce the following within your group:

• The outline content for a set of slides

• Notes to go with each slide to help delivery

You will also need to identify who will deliver each part of the presentation (everyone must deliver
something).

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4.6 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for the seminars for this topic is 4 hours

Lecturers’ Notes:

Please ensure that you have read the additional notes at the end of the lecture notes that explain
how these seminar sessions should be conducted.

You will need to allow time after each activity to conduct a class feedback session. It may also be
helpful if you can prepare photocopies of the evaluation form for use during the presentations. You
may wish to give additional individual feedback to students on their presentations.

Activity 1:

Discuss your Evaluation Criteria with others in your class. What criteria did everyone identify, and
where are the differences between your evaluation grids?

Decide on a final version of the grid to use for this session. Remember that there are no right and
wrong answers to this.

Activity 2:

You will now give your individual presentation to the rest of the group.

Use the Evaluation Form you created in Activity 1 to prepare feedback on each presentation you
hear (NB not numerical marks). You should give feedback to every member of the group.

Activity 3:

You will now give your group presentation to the class. The rest of the class will act as the 'audience'
and make notes. The 'audience' will then give your group verbal feedback.

You will then act as a member of the audience as above while you listen to the presentations of the
other groups.

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 Topic 5

Topic 5: Problem Solving

5.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of different approaches to problem solving. On completion of the
topic, students will be able to:

• Analyse a problem in context;

• Define success criteria for solving a problem;
• Propose solutions to a problem;
• Evaluate solutions against success criteria;
• Select a solution based on evaluation.

5.2 Pedagogic Approach

Information will be transmitted to the students during the lectures. Students should undertake the
private study exercises before taking part in the seminar sessions.

5.3 Timings
Lectures: 1 hour

Seminars: 4 hours

Private Study: 7.5 hours

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5.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• Essential ingredients of all models for problem solving

• Using diagrams
• Introduction to complex problems: imperfect environments and problems which develop over
time
• Research-based business ‘practice’ problem (Seminar one)
• Transformations and lateral thinking to generate solutions (Seminar two)

5.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Slide 2: Objectives of the topic.

Slide 3: Stress the fact that there are many different approaches, strategies, models and
techniques for solving problems – and encourage the students to research this for
themselves – but that these five stages are common to almost all.

Slide 4: Remind students here about the ’key word’ analysis from topic 3, and the idea of
breaking down a question (or problem) into its constituent parts.

Slides 5-7: Success criteria are vital to any problem solving activities. Take a few moments to
make sure that the students have grasped this and fully understand the meaning of
the term ’success criteria’. If time allows, it is recommended to give an example of a
simple problem and ask students to come up with all the feasible success criteria,
though they will have opportunities to practice this later.

Slide 8: Encourage students to use their imagination freely throughout this topic, when
thinking of as many possible solutions as they can.

Slides 9-14: These slides explore the idea of evaluating possible solutions against success
criteria. The later slides (12-14) consider some simple approaches to ranking and
evaluating solutions against multiple criteria.

Slide 15: The key idea when selecting a solution is that judgement must be used; no ranking
or scoring system is guaranteed to give you the ’right’ answer. Such judgement can
only be developed through experience.

Slides 16-17: Further expansion on the theme of selection. The idea of low risk, high benefit
solutions being an ideal should be emphasised.

Slides 18-19: Using diagrams. Many students will find it considerably easier to visualise and
address a problem if they draw out the associated processes or relationships
between aspects of a problem situation. Diagrams are increasingly useful in
addressing more complex problems, in order to break them down into manageable
units/module. You may want to introduce this idea here, since modularity features
in the seminar session.

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Slides 20-22: These slides introduce the two most common sources of complexity – imperfection
and time. Three key strategies for dealing with imperfection are introduced – many
students may struggle with the idea of changing or adapting an imperfect problem,
especially in an education environment. The idea of milestones to address the
stages in solving a problem which stretches over time is also introduced.

Slides 23-24: References and further reading.

Lecturers’ Notes:

The private study activities for this topic involve students preparing for a number of activities to be
completed during seminar time. The seminar time for this topic is 4 hours. It may be advisable to
split the seminar activities into at least two sessions. If you do this, make sure that students are clear
as to which activities will be undertaken in each session.

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5.5 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours in total.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1:

During the seminar sessions for this topic, you will be asked to work in groups to solve the following
problem:

You are employed by a company which sells clocks and watches. They have a chain of five shops in
different cities in your country. They want to begin selling their products on the internet, and so you
have been asked to look at the possible eCommerce systems that they could use to do this.

The Board of Directors is wary of risking too much money on this, in case no-one buys the products
online. However, the system has to look professional to the customer and must be secure in order to
inspire confidence in online purchasing. Finally, and most importantly, the system must work
consistently and effectively.

In order to be able to solve this problem effectively in your seminar class, you will need to carry out
some research on the Internet into different commercially-available eCommerce systems. Look into
several of these and make detailed notes, including notes of costs, functionality and availability in
your country. Also look into any local companies who provide eCommerce solutions in your area.

Exercise 2:

During the seminar sessions, you will be asked to carry out tasks related to transformations,
modularity and lateral thinking. You should familiarise yourself with these ideas, which are
explained in the seminar notes, in advance of the class. Read around these concepts, either in the
library or on the Internet (or if possible, both). Make notes on all you read, and ask your peers or
tutors if you do not understand the seminar notes ahead of the session.

Now practice your skills by setting yourself imaginary problems to solve. Try out some lateral
thinking and transformations/metaphors on your own.

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5.6 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for this seminar is 4 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide. Please ensure that you have read the additional notes at the end of the lecture notes that
explain how these seminar sessions should be conducted.

Activity 1: Problem Solving

Problem

You are employed by a company which sells clocks and watches. They have a chain of five shops in
different cities in your country. They want to begin selling their products on the internet, and so you
have been asked to look at the possible eCommerce systems that they could use to do this.

The Board of Directors is wary of risking too much money on this in case no-one buys the products
online. However, the system has to look professional to the customer and must be secure in order to
inspire confidence in online purchasing. Finally, and most importantly, the system must work
consistently and effectively.

Work in groups of between two and four, using the research you gathered during your private study
time.

Following the five stages outlined in the lecture, work together to:

1. Define the goal and scope of this problem

2. Produce a list of success criteria

3. Produce a list of possible solutions

4. Evaluate solutions against success criteria

5. Select a ‘best fit’ solution

Once you have worked through all five stages, prepare a presentation for the rest of your class. The
presentation should explain each stage in order, including all the possible solutions which you
considered, and a justification of your selection.

Suggested Answer:

A suggested solution is presented below. Students may also have come up with other ideas. You
may want to photocopy the sheet below for distribution after all of the groups have presented their
work.

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 Worked Solution

1. Analyse the problem

• What are we being asked to do?
- Propose an eCommerce package, or more likely two or three for the Board
to select from
• What are the boundaries/conditions?
- Cost: not too high
- Looks professional
- Secure
- Good and consistent functionality

2. Determine success criteria

• These can be developed from the boundaries/conditions which have been
identified above;
- A: The cost must not be so high as to worry the Board
- B: The system must appear professional to the user/customer
- C: The system must be secure
- D: The system must function well consistently
• Note that for the first of these, you will have to make assumptions about the size
of your company and what amount of investment would cause concern;
remember to be transparent about this assumption, and your reasons for making
it.

3. Produce many possible solutions

• This will be based on the research you carried out during your private studies.
• A few possible options include:
- Simple ‘one-click’ systems, free from Third Parties (e.g. Google Checkout)
- Freeware/Open-source systems, such as ZenCart
- ‘Off-the-shelf’ eCommerce software package, such as Actinic
- Bespoke service from local consultancy

4. Evaluate solutions against success criteria

A ranking grid is given overleaf, similar to the one demonstrated in the lecture;

Criterion Criterion Criterion Criterion TOTAL

A B C D
Simple ‘one-click’ system =1 4 4 3 12
Freeware/Open-source =1 3 3 4 11
system
‘Off-the-shelf’ e- 3 =1 =1 =1 6
commerce software
package
Bespoke service 4 =1 =1 =1 7

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 5. Select ‘best fit’ solution

The ‘Off-the-shelf’ system should, according to this ranking system, be presented as the
best compromise solution. However, we could justify presenting to the Board the
benefits of the more expensive bespoke service and/or the possibilities of free open-
source software despite drawbacks in terms of security and technical support/reliability.
The ‘one-click’ system looks like a poor choice and should probably not be presented to
the Board, especially since both it and the open-source option are free at point of
implementation. Don’t forget, though, when considering your recommendation to the
Board – the open source solution may be free, but if it goes wrong you must have a
technician on staff and on call to fix it. So the hidden costs of technical support staff
should be presented to the Board to give a rounded picture.

Activity 2: Lateral Thinking

Choose two unrelated everyday objects in your home. List every imaginable connection between
them.

Example: A book and a guitar

• Similar weight (if the book is large!)

• Both would burn easily
• Both made from materials derived from trees
• Both made in the same country?
• Perhaps they were both bought in the same year, city or street?
• Etc.

Now exchange your list with someone else in your class. Do you think of the same connections
between objects? Do you even own the objects which the other person has chosen? This is why a
problem is best solved by many minds!

Discuss amongst the whole group how similar or different your lists were.

Consider:

• How many connections each of you came up with on your own

• How many connections two of you could think of together

Suggested Answer:

It should quickly become evident that two people can think of more connections between any two
objects than one person can. Hopefully the students will have come up with some wildly different
and imaginative ideas. If they have not, they should be particularly encouraged to be more
imaginative in the next topic, which focuses on creative thinking skills.

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Activity 3: Transformations and Metaphors

It is often helpful to visualise a problem in terms of a different one with equivalent constraints. This is
referred to as a metaphor, and transformation is the act of imagining how the ‘real’ situation
translates into the metaphorical one, and back again. Here is an example:

Two competing engineering companies require the same raw material. It is mined in four locations.
All of the mines are owned by the government, which will not favour one company over the other –
therefore they need to negotiate an amicable arrangement for sharing resources. The largest mine
has exactly the same output as the other three combined.

Let us imagine instead that I am sharing a piece of cake with a friend; I will cut it into two slices, but I
will then allow my friend to choose which slice she would like first.

Transforming this metaphor into a solution would work as follows: representatives from Company A
look at the output of the four mines, and identify that the first mine produces as much as the other
three combined. Therefore they propose that one company takes all the resources from the largest
mine and the other uses the three small mines; they then invite Company B to choose which they
would prefer.

Discuss in small groups the following questions:

• In the problem which we addressed earlier in the seminar session (the eCommerce system for
clock and watch sales), could we have used transformation as a technique for generating
solutions?
• If so, how? If not, why not?

Suggested Answer:

This could be argued either way. The students may come up with many creative metaphors for an
eCommerce sales system, and there is no wrong answer. However, the most able students are
likely to suggest that the problem is too straightforward for a transformation/metaphor approach to
be of value – we know that we need to select an eCommerce system, we know what it needs to do
and what the influencing factors are, so the solution is a moderately simple value judgement.

Activity 4: Modularity

Another use of transformation is to build up towards the solution of a problem starting from simpler
versions. This approach, which is useful in programming, lends itself to modularity. When you have
a large and complex problem, it can be hard to isolate individual areas of difficulty. Thus you get a
simple version working, and then you add a single new component and get that working, and so on.

1. In groups, consider the college where you are currently studying. Imagine that you have to build
a computer system for your college – one single system to carry out every computerised activity
which takes place on the site.

2. Think of as many things as possible which this system would need to do. Now group them
together as modules – i.e. small problems which could be solved with a micro-system. Here is
an example to help you get started:

Transforming a standard company finance computer system:

Tasks the system has to do:

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 • Keep a record of names and addresses of teaching staff
• Keep a record of staff teaching hours
• Keep a record of hourly/weekly/monthly salaries paid to staff

Module:

Staff finance module – this micro-system needs to be able to store data on staff names,
addresses, teaching hours and salaries, and also make automated bank payments to
teaching staff

3. When you have all of the tasks grouped together in modules, draw a diagram of how these fit
together.

Suggested Answer:

Students’ sample diagrams are likely to be large and complex in the end; more able students will
have divided the task between group members in order to produce a more comprehensive solution.
The example below would be a partial solution, but there are many areas which could be involved,
and the possibilities for expanding the scope of the task are substantial.

Again, the more able students may comment on the imperfection of the problem, i.e. it is highly
impractical; to design a single system to do so much. The circles below demonstrate overlap, which
is the first stage towards deciding which modules would be developed first

Staff Finance Module Student Finance Module

Stores names, addresses, Stores names, addresses, course
teaching hours and salaries of details and fees of staff; receives
staff; makes automated payments credit card payments

Timetabling Module Student Results module

Stores names, teaching Stores names, addresses,
hours and course details of course details and results of
staff, plus details of students; prints transcripts
classroom availability; and certificates
produces automated
timetables

Room-booking system
Allows online room-
booking – an extension of
the timetabling module

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 Topic 6

Topic 6: Creative Thinking

6.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an introduction to two different creative thinking frameworks. On completion of
the topic, students will be able to:

• Apply creative thinking techniques to problem scenarios in a structured manner.

6.2 Pedagogic Approach

Information will be transmitted to the students during the lectures. Students should then complete
the private study exercises before taking part in the seminar sessions.

6.3 Timings
Lecture: 1 hour

Seminar: 4 hours

Private Study: 7.5 hours

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6.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• Introduction to types of thinking activities

• Introduction to TASC – Thinking Actively in a Social Context
• Introduction to Six Thinking Hats (Parallel Thinking)

6.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Slide 2: Introduction to the objectives of the topic. It may be worthwhile explaining that
models of creative thinking interlock with the general problem solving
methodologies explained in the last topic. So for example, the five-stage model
from topic 5 fits within phases 2-4 of the TASC cycle; Six Thinking Hats, on the
other hand, would most often be applied to the generation and evaluation of ideas
within a problem-solving framework. It may also be worthwhile making clear to
students that the models covered in this topic were primarily designed for
collaborative creative thinking, although they can also be used by the individual.

Slide 3: The amount of explanation of brain-storming and mind-mapping required will vary
widely between students from different cultures. If students are completely
unfamiliar with these techniques, it is recommended that you take some extra time
to cover and practice them here. There are a wide range of resources available
online; a particularly succinct one can be found on Monash University’s study skills
website at http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/quickrefs/25-brainstorming.xml

Slides 4-8: These slides cover the concept of whole-brain thinking, which provides a useful
paradigm for different phases of both TASC and Six Thinking Hats by dividing what
we actually do when thinking in a structured manner into two broad groups (Left-
brain – Logical/Critical and Right-brain – Creative). A key point here is that,
although this is a topic on Creative Thinking (which one would imagine to be a right-
brain-dominated activity), the balance of creative and critical must always be
sought. There are some words and terms in these slides that students may not
have come across before, you should ensure that students understand these fully.

Slides 9-11: These slides provide a brief introduction to TASC. The TASC worksheet given in
the private study exercises gives further details, so these slides can be covered
reasonably quickly to give a flavour of the basic content.

Slides 12-14: These slides provide a similar introduction to Six Thinking Hats. The concept of
serial or parallel thinking may require a little more explanation if students are
unfamiliar with the terms from other contexts.

Slide 15: Explains the format of the rest of the topic.

Lecturers’ Notes:

You should ensure that students are aware that they need to complete the necessary private study
exercises before taking part in the seminar sessions.

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6.5 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours in total.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1:

Read the TASC Worksheet in Section 6.5.1 below in preparation for the seminar.

Exercise 2:

Research the concept of “Whole-Brain Thinking” using a range of sources. Make notes for reference
later. Be prepared to discuss your research in the seminar session.

Exercise 3:

Read the Six Hats Worksheet given in Section 6.5.2 below in preparation for the seminar.

Exercise 4:

Research the concept of Parallel Thinking and some of its applications in the business world. Make
notes about the latter.

6.5.1 TASC Worksheet

TASC (Thinking Actively in a Social Context) was originally developed by Belle Wallace for use in
schools in Southern Africa, but has been continuously expanded over a number of years to be
applied in a variety of educational situations.

The principles behind TASC are stated as follows:

Firstly, provide teachers with a creative problem-solving framework that would

allow them to make full use of their natural gifts and skills; and secondly, provide
learners with the scaffolding they need to move increasingly towards
independent, autonomous learning that celebrated their many and diverse gifts.

(Wallace, 2011, online)

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TASC is founded on the TASC Wheel:

Learn from Gather /

Experience Organise

Identify
Communicate

Evaluate Generate

Implement
Decide

[Adapted from the TASC Website; www.tascwheel.com. © Belle Wallace]

The eight phases of TASC are defined and organised as follows:

Phase One: Gather/Organise

The starting point of a TASC cycle, this phase involves the pooling of existing resources of
knowledge within a working group.

What do we do? What tools can we use?

Recall all existing knowledge relevant to the problem Brainstorming

(however tangentially) Mind Mapping
Record this knowledge

Organise this knowledge

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Phase Two: Identify

Phase 2 involves identifying the scope of the problem or task and the success criteria by which it will
later be evaluated

What do we do? What tools can we use?

Define the task/problem Skills learned in Topic 3 for analysing

an essay question can be applied here.
Identify the scope and parameters of the problem or task

Define the goals and objectives: what, in the simplest Writing Success Criteria is not very
terms, are we trying to achieve? different to writing Evaluation Criteria
for presentations, which you did in the
Define success criteria: how will we know when we have seminar of Topic 4. Look back to this
achieved our goals/objectives? exercise.

Ask questions to each other – expand understanding of

the problem at hand

Phase Three: Generate

This is the most creative phase, involving what is often called “Blue Sky Thinking”. You will gather
every possible idea for how to solve the problem or complete the task which you can think of,
however improbable or impossible – nothing is excluded. This is also the typical 'Right-brained'
phase of thinking.

What do we do? What tools can we use?

Every group member thinks of every possible idea for Brainstorming

solving the problem or completing the task “Blue-sky” thinking
No idea is excluded for now, even if others consider it Lateral thinking
non-viable or impossible. Metaphors

Try to work off the ideas of others – how can you modify
an idea from someone else in the group based on your
own personal abilities and experiences?

Phase Four: Decide

This is the most logical and rational phase, a complete contrast to the previous one, and a typical
'Left-brained' phase. In the 'Decide' phase learners consider the factors which make ideas non-
viable as a solution to a problem or task.

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 What do we do? What tools can we use?

List factors which could make an idea non-viable; e.g. time Critical thinking
constraints, financial and human resources available, health and
safety concerns

Compare the ideas generated in the previous stage with the list
of restricting factors. Eliminate non-viable ideas.

Now compare the remaining ideas with your work on the scope
of the project from phase
Eliminate any ideas which are out of scope or do not address
the problem/task as you have analysed/defined it

From the remaining ideas, discuss the pros and cons, and
decide on which solution you will proceed with

Phase Five: Implement

At this point, the optimum solution should be implemented. However, for the time being, we're
interested in the ‘thinking’ rather than the product or project, so this phase will be left alone for the
time being.

Phase Six: Evaluate

This phase involves criticism of the work which has been done, and judgements based on the
success criteria established in phase two.

What do we do? What tools can we use?

Look at the success criteria which you developed in Phase 2. Evaluation against success criteria
Has your solution fulfilled these criteria? If not, which has it Critical Thinking
failed to fulfil?

Questions to ask:
What have I/we done?
How well was it done?
Did I/we make the right decisions, in hindsight?
How could I/we do it better?
Did I/we solve the problem?

Thinking Involved
Discuss whether the goal was achieved
Check against criteria
Consider ways to improve
Target specific ways to improve
Give opportunity for re-doing / improving
Check on group / individual efficiency

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Phase Seven: Communicate

This phase involves the sharing of the learning experience with others.

What do we do? What tools can we use?

Identify who we can and should share our learning with. This Presentation
might be peers in a class, or later on journals and publishers; Report
the internet is also an ever-growing vehicle for sharing
information

Ask: what is the best way to share this information? Think

about your audience – how will they find it easiest to
understand your message?

How can we explain what we have learned?

Phase Eight: Learn from Experience

One of the unique aspects of TASC is that it is a circular model. The final stage is where learning
turns into personal development. By consolidating the skills and knowledge which we have acquired
while solving a problem, we increase our core knowledge – which is brought to bear in Phase One
of the next problem that we need to solve.

What do we do? What tools can we use?

What have you learned? Make a list. Start by going back to Self-reflection (see Topic One)
the evaluation stage and looking at what went well and what
did not; what do you now know that you did not know then,
and which will help you to avoid making the same mistakes
next time?

What skills did you use in solving this problem? Have those
skills developed in any way? Did you acquire new skills on
the way?

How have you changed? This might relate to how you

interact with other members of a team, how your social
relationships with your peers have developed, etc. - you may
also be more confident after developing a successful
solution.

How can you use what you have learned in other contexts?'

References

• http://www.tascwheel.com/
• http://www.tascwheel.com/belle-wallace

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6.5.2 Six Hats Worksheet

The idea of the Six Hats is simple – each (imaginary) Hat represents an attitude, mindset or position.
We adopt this position as wholeheartedly as possible when we ‘put on’ the Hat, and then look at the
problem in question from that viewpoint.

The overview of the Six Hats is given as follows:

• White Hat is neutral and objective; concerned with facts, figures and proof.

• Red Hat allows an intuitive, emotional response, unconstrained by logic.

• Black Hat is cautious, critical and careful – it looks for weaknesses in an idea.

• Yellow Hat is positive, optimistic and looks for the benefits and ‘up sides’ in any idea

• Green Hat indicates creativity and new ideas

• Blue Hat is cool and detached, concerned with control and organisation of the thinking
process.

We can think of the six hats as three pairs:

White: Neutral/Objective Red: Emotional

Black: Critical Yellow: Positive

Blue: Detached Green: Creative

You should also note that, of each pair, the one on the left is a predominantly left-brained activity
(white, black, blue) whilst the one on the right is a predominantly right-brained activity (red, yellow,
green).

Using the Hats

There are two basic forms of application – serial and parallel. In a serial application, an idea is
subjected to the viewpoint of each hat in turn. We do this often on a smaller and less ordered scale;
for example, a list of pros and cons for an idea is nothing more than subjecting it to the yellow and
black hat viewpoints in turn. The white hat – red hat opposition (rational vs. emotional) will also be
familiar to many. The serial application can be carried out by one person or a group. Parallel
application, on the other hand, is always a group thinking model. In this format, every member of a
group wears one hat and engages in the discussion using only that viewpoint. The Blue Hat is
traditionally worn by the chair or facilitator; variants of the parallel application involve other members
switching between hats (e.g. half of the group white, half red – then change to half yellow, half black,
and so on). There is also the opportunity to ‘pass the blue hat’, effectively making someone else the
chair and therefore allowing everyone to facilitate for part of a discussion.

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When using the Six Hats in a group, it is always essential to have a chair or facilitator, and it is
equally essential that only the chair can determine which hat is being worn by whom. In other words,
it is never permissible to say “I would just like to look at this from a black-hat viewpoint”, since that is
simply allowing members of the group to fall back into their ‘comfort zones’ and normal modes of
thinking. One of the great benefits of Six Hats is to force people to think from different viewpoints –
ones that they adapt naturally, and ones that they do not. As a result, a certain amount of discipline
and enforcement from the chair are vital.

However the Hats are used, there is always a great deal of flexibility in their application; there is
never a fixed order, though first-time chairs/facilitators are advised to plan the order in advance
along with the time allowed under each hat. There are situations when we might not want to use all
of the hats, or where certain hats need to be ‘heard’ for longer or given more regard. For example, in
particularly stressful or difficult circumstances, a facilitator might want to limit the use of the Red Hat
to try to avoid people becoming angry or upset. There are also occasions – though they are rare –
when there is simply nothing to say under a give hat; for example, an idea might be so brilliant that
there is no possible criticism of it under the black hat, or so terrible that no-one can find a positive
element in it!

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6.6 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for this seminar is 4 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide.

There are two distinct sections to the seminar activities for this topic. The first part is based on
Private Study Exercise 1 on the TASC framework. The second part of the seminar is based on
Private Study Exercise 3 on the Six Hats framework. For this reason, it may be advisable to split the
seminar sessions into two 2 hour sessions.

You should begin each section by eliciting a brief summary of the content of the relevant worksheet
from the private study time, to ensure that the students have read it thoroughly and understood the
principles.

Exercise 1: Using the TASC Framework

Work in a small group of between 2 and 5 people as directed by your lecturer. Apply the TASC
framework to the following problem.

You are employed by a small bookshop to build them an eCommerce platform. This will allow
people to buy their stock over the internet. How will you go about designing and building this
system?

Think about:

• What the system needs to do, and what more it could potentially do?
• What you will need to make it happen (people, skills)
• What resources are available (e.g. free software packages that you could use)?

During the 'Communication phase' (7), you should prepare a brief presentation to the rest of class.
This should include all of the ideas you have considered, which you have selected, and how you
made the selection.

During the 'Learn from Experience' phase (8), spend ten or fifteen minutes after the presentation
making notes individually on what you have learned from the experience, then compare them with
the rest of your group.

Use the TASC working sheet in your Student Guide, and make sure you keep notes on each stage.

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Suggested Answer:

Clearly, there is no given solution for this type of exercise. Some sample ideas for each phase may
include:

• Phase One: Students should record all they collectively know about eCommerce systems
and bookshops. They may expand this to include other areas such as sales and eMarketing
if they have relevant experience.

• Phase Two: Problem Definition – the key elements of functionality and demands of the
customer.

• Phase Three and Four: This should be familiar from the previous topic on Problem Solving.
You should look for a good volume of ideas, clear success criteria and coherent evaluation.

• Phases Five and Six: The students should be encouraged to imagine or envisage how this
might work and to challenge each other, since they will not be actually implementing and
evaluating an eCommerce system during this seminar.

• Phase Seven: The most obvious course here is either a written report or presentation, and
should be aimed at the owner(s) of the bookshop.

• Phase Eight: This will depend on the individual and group experience during the activity

Exercise 2: Using the Six Hats Method

Work in a small group of between 2 and 5 people as directed by your lecturer. Apply the Six Hats
method to the following problem.

You work for an IT support team which has built a database system for an international college. The
college has three campuses in different countries, though all of the staff speak the same first
language. The three campuses are several hundred miles apart, and the smallest is in a remote
area that is hard to travel to.

The database system is accessed through a web interface, and staff can log into it from any
internet-connected computer.

You need to train all of the student support staff (8 people at each campus) in using this system.
You also need to train the senior management (5 people based on the largest campus) in using the
system.

Consider solutions for how to carry out this training, and select one of them.

Think about:

• What do people need to get out of the training?

• Practicalities – travel vs. technology
• Whether one training solution is good enough for all the people who you need to train.

Also consider the best way to apply the Six Hats method to this problem. Remember, if you are
using the hats ‘in parallel’ then someone needs to be appointed as chair or facilitator (‘wearing the
blue hat’).

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Use the Six Hats working sheet in your Student Guide, and make sure you keep notes throughout.

Suggested Answer:

Clearly, there is no given solution for this type of exercise. Some sample points may include:

• White Hat: The facts – what must be done, and success criteria

• Green Hat: Creative, including the generation of ideas

• Red Hat: emotional response to ideas generated.

• Black Hat: critical response to ideas generated

• Yellow Hat: positive response to ideas generated

• Blue Hat should be worn by the facilitator(s) within the group, and also used to make a
selection judgement at the end.

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 Topic 7

Topic 7: Assignment Preparation

7.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of assignment preparation. On completion of the topic, students will
be able to:

• Prepare for the assignment component of the Skills for Computing module assessment;
• Develop skills to complete future coursework assignments;
• Develop skills in writing for an audience and proofreading;
• Understand the benefits of lifelong learning.

7.2 Pedagogic Approach

There is no lecture set for this topic. Students should take part in the seminar sessions, undertake
the private study exercises using the skills they have learned and finally take part in the tutorial
session.

7.3 Timings
Seminar: 3 hours

Tutorial: 2 hours

Private Study: 7.5 hours

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7.4 Seminar Notes
The time allowance for the seminar in this topic is 3 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the tutorial activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided in their
guide.

When timetabling this seminar session (or sessions), it is envisaged that Activity 4 will take at least
90 minutes to 2 hours, and it would be beneficial to precede it with a break. The remaining activities
should be allocated roughly equal amounts of time.

Activity 1: Organising your time

Strategies for planning your time were discussed in Topic 1, and it is essential to plan your
assignment time carefully.

In Topic 5, we discussed using milestones in the solving of complex problems. We can use the
same approach here.

First, break down the tasks within your assignment. Work out what proportion, as a percentage, will
need to be spent on each task. As a rule of thumb, this should usually reflect the proportion of marks
available. Next, decide how long in hours you will be able to spend on each task and when you will
be able to put those hours in. You should now be able to give a date on which each task will be
complete. Where possible, add a day or two for the unforeseen. The date for the completion of each
task is a milestone. Write out your list of milestones, and keep it in a prominent position while you
work on your assignment – don’t put it in a drawer and forget about it.

During the later part of this seminar and in your private study time this week, you will be working on
the sample assignment as practice. Looking at the sample assignment, work out how long you will
have to spend on each task, and determine your milestones. Discuss this with others in your class
and with your tutor if you wish.

Activity 2: Knowing your audience

An important aspect which is easily overlooked in an assignment is who you are writing for.
Sometimes, you are writing a ‘purely academic’ report. However, assignments may ask you to write
a specific type of report, for example, a technical specification or a report for management in a
business case study.

In your groups, discuss how you might adapt your writing for an audience. What audience should
you pitch to in the sample assignment? Particularly consider how, as an IT professional, you will
have to communicate technical information to different audiences, and what problems you may face
in doing this.

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Activity 3: Assignment Walkthrough

Look at your sample assignment for this module. This is the format that your real assignment will
take when it is issued.

To begin with, the assignment states a problem. The sample problem is as follows:

You are the manager of an IT department of ten people. You work for a company which has
a great benefits package, and therefore excellent staff retention; however, this means that all
of your team have been working there for at least four years, and some as long as ten,
therefore increasingly their technical skills are not up-to-date and they struggle with the latest
technologies.

Your senior management team has allocated a budget of US$12,000 to address this
problem, and they want you to produce a report detailing how you will spend this money to
get the best results.

During this part of the seminar, you should work through the assignment tasks 1-3 in small groups.
Don’t necessarily spend as much time on each task as you would for the real assignment; instead,
discuss how you will go about each task, what to focus on, and work together to generate ideas.

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7.5 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1: Proof Reading

Proof-reading your work carefully before submission is vitally important for picking up the maximum
number of marks, and for presenting a professional image to whoever marks your work.

In the passage below, there are ten spelling errors which would not be identified by a spell-checker
in Microsoft Word or similar word-processing applications. There are also two deliberate misuses of
apostrophes. Identify them all.

Finlandia Communications Incorporated (FINCOM) specialises in managing information systems

development projects four a wide range of international customers. FINCOM seas itself increasingly
in the role of prime contractor, bidding for the management of large projects which will subcontract
specialist work to smaller companies, and its longer-term business plan reflects this view. Its senior
management is fully aware of the roll that innovative software plays in maintaining a competitive
hedge, and also recognises the increasing importance of using effective information systems in its
own business operations.

The First National Bank of Greenland has bean a good customer of FINCOM for several years and
has long-established contacts at all levels, including the highest levels of management. Greenland’s
business is considered as strategist by FINCOMs board, and the growth of this business is expected
to be based on an increasingly emphasis on ‘partnership’-type approaches to projects.

A knew Commercial Enterprises division has recently been formed by Greenland; its general
manager (who is also responsible for marketing) has been looking at the supply market fro the
provision of an Internet-based home banking system product which he feels would offer Greenland a
significant commercial advantage in the marketplace. This product would include standard account
handling transactions plus financial adversary services and marketing information.

Suggested Answer:

This is included in the notes for the tutorial session

Exercise 2: Research Task

Using the internet and print sources, produce a definition of the following two terms:

• Continuing Professional Development

• Lifelong Learning

Make sure that you include a list of all the references you have used at the end of each.

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Suggested Answer:

See Tutorial exercise for model definitions.

Exercise 3: Assignment Practice

Make notes for how you would complete the assignment. Include all of the work your group did
during the seminar, and your own reflections on this. You will also need to prepare a brief
presentation for your tutorial class on how you would go about answering it.

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7.6 Tutorial Notes
The time allowance for tutorials in this topic is 2 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the tutorial activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided in their
guide.

Exercise 1: Practice Assignment Presentation

You will now give the brief presentation you prepared in Private Study Exercise 3 to the rest of the
class.

You should then reflect on this experience before engaging with the assignment for this module.

Exercise 2: Lifelong Learning

The sample problem raises the important question of continuing to learn and update your skills as
an IT professional. We refer to this as Continuing Professional Development or Lifelong Learning.

In groups, discuss the definitions of Continuing Professional Development or Lifelong Learning. Try
to reach a consensus definition of each within your group, utilising elements of the definitions
prepared by all members.

In addition, discuss these ideas within your group, and list some points which you think makes them
important.

Suggested Answer:

Exemplar definitions would be as follows;

Lifelong Learning is very simply the idea that learning does not happen only in your youth as
preparation for a career, but should continue throughout your life with varying levels of formality.

Continuing Professional Development is the recognition that being able to do a job now does not
mean that you always will be able to, and that in a fast-paced and dynamic world (especially a
technology-based environment) any professional must continually review and update his or her
skills, knowledge and competences. This can include learning new skills through formal (lifelong)
learning, but also more-or-less formal training courses, noting and reflecting on knowledge and skills
acquired through experience, and engaging in developmental activities not directly engaged to one’s
current role to broaden one’s experience.

Without doubt, IT professionals who do not engage in Continuing Professional Development in order
to keep up-to-date with technologies are likely to become unemployable at some point. If the
students have not grasped this in their group discussions, the point should be made clear to them.

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Exercise 3: Review of Proof Reading Task

Share your results from the proof reading task in Private Study Exercise 1 with the other students in
your group. Have you identified the same errors?

Suggested Answer:

In this version, the errors are highlighted (bold/underline) and the corrections shown in square
brackets.

Finlandia Communications Incorporated (FINCOM) specialises in managing information systems

development projects four [for] a wide range of international customers. FINCOM seas [sees] itself
increasingly in the role of prime contractor, bidding for the management of large projects which will
subcontract specialist work to smaller companies, and its longer-term business plan reflects this
view. Its senior management is fully aware of the roll [role] that innovative software plays in
maintaining a competitive hedge [edge], and also recognises the increasing importance of using
effective information systems in its own business operations.

The First National Bank of Greenland has bean [been] a good customer of FINCOM for several
years and has long-established contacts at all levels, including the highest levels of management.
Greenland’s business is considered as strategist [strategic] by FINCOM[’]s board, and the growth
of this business is expected to be based on an increasingly [increasing] emphasis on
‘partnership’-type approaches to projects.

A knew [new] Commercial Enterprises division has recently been formed by Greenland; its general
manager (who is also responsible for marketing) has been looking at the supply market fro [for] the
provision of an Internet-based home banking system product which he feels would offer Greenland a
significant commercial advantage in the marketplace. This product would include standard account
handling transaction’s [transactions] plus financial adversary [advisory] services and marketing
information.

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 Topic 8

Topic 8: Data Acquisition

8.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of data acquisition. On completion of the topic, students will be able
to:

• Describe different ways of obtaining data and their significance for data analysis;
• Identify different types of data and how they determine the way data is analysed;
• Understand data storage and representation requirements.

8.2 Pedagogic Approach

The essential concepts will be transmitted to the students during the lecture. This is then followed by
the seminar and private study tasks to consolidate students’ learning. It is advisable to leave the
tutorial session until the end of the topic to allow for discussion of the private study exercises.

8.3 Timings
Lectures: 1 hour

Seminar: 3 hours

Tutorial: 1 hour

Private Study: 7.5 hours

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8.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• What is data and how do we obtain it?

• Which considerations are important for data storage?
• What are the main types of data and how does this affect the way we use it?

8.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Slide 2: This slide provides the learning outcomes and can be used to introduce the topic of
data acquisition. You could give some examples of each of these aspects of dealing
with data that students may recognise from personal experience. They may
evaluate facts differently if heard from a salesperson, a stranger, or a friend.
Students could be asked how the letters of the alphabet could be stored, for
example in their memories by memorisation, in a song or rhyme, written down or
printed, or on a computer disk. Food may be described in terms of both flavour and
calorific content (energy) but these different types of information are important in
different ways.

Slide 3-4: The distinction between data and information should be made here. It should be
clarified that the quantity of data is not a good indication of the quality of the
information. For example, many thousands of data samples are used to produce
weather forecasts, but they are not always reliable.

Slide 5: As an example of how measurements can be subjective, you can ask the students
whether a particular person they are familiar with is short or tall. It is likely that there
will be some differences in what the students say, proving that this cannot be a
definitive answer to whether the person is in fact short, or tall. You can then
contrast these different opinions with a description of height as a measurement in
centimetres.

Slide 6: It may be useful here to elicit some further examples of surveys from the students,
for example customer satisfaction or national elections.

Slides 7-8: You should emphasise that a reference to the data source is a necessary part of
the description, not an optional detail. It may be useful to discuss ways in which
analyses based on secondary sources may be distorted, biased, or incomplete.

Slide 9: You should explain that automatically-generated data is not 'fake' data but rather a
way of testing and exploring theoretical models, software systems etc, which may
be more practical than obtaining a large number of measurements.

Slide 10: These points may be obvious to computer-literate students. However, it may be
helpful to ask the class for examples of disasters due to the lack of a backup.

Slide 11: Here we are discussing errors associated with the transfer and storage of data. This
is distinct from the uncertainty in the data values, which depends on how they are
measured (this will be discussed in Topic 10).

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Slides 12-13: You may like to point out that a file might be processed by the computer regardless
of the format, but if the format is not what is expected the results will be
meaningless. This is more likely (and more difficult to detect) when many files from
many sources are used together.

Slide 14: You might add here that to obtain the benefits of quantitative analysis we need to
design our research to produce numerical values. You could also mention that the
points made in the slide explain why the bulk of scientific research is quantitative
(scientific results must be reproducible).

Slide 15: An example of a common situation where both quantitative and qualitative
information are used is a job application. You could elicit from students how each
would be used to check their understanding of these ideas. For example, the initial
list of applicants could be determined quantitatively, by degree result for example,
and the final choice could be made qualitatively, by an interview.

Slide 16: It is important to clarify that the values of discrete data are the number of
occurrences of a category, not the category itself. In the example given, the data
value is not two, where there are (for example) two children in a given family, but
rather how many families contain (for example) two children.

Slide 17: The example given of converting continuous to discrete data mentions one category
('less than 8 hours'.) One category is insufficient, as discrete data is described in
terms of relative frequency. If time allows, open a discussion with the students to
encourage them to identify this, along with the implied second category ('8 hours or
more'.)

Slide 18: You may wish to explain this area in more depth: where results are affected by
many factors, we measure new values and control values under identical
conditions, apart from the one factor we're interested in. Therefore a lot of the
complex behaviour cancels out between them. This is used widely in medical
research.

Lecturers’ Notes

Students need to complete Private Study Exercise 1 before the seminar sessions for this topic. You
should highlight this at the end of the lecture.

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8.5 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for the seminars for this topic is 3 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide.

Although much of data pre-processing and experimental design is common sense, the students
need to be aware of some of the typical procedures involved. In this seminar we explore some
scenarios, giving the students the opportunity to identify and discuss possible approaches.

Activity 1:

Sometimes we can't directly measure the quantity we are interested in. However, we can try to
deduce some information about that quantity from the data that we do have access to. For example,
it is good to have a balance between social life and studying, but it is difficult to measure social life.

Working in groups of 3 or 4, observe the other people in your group.

a. Make a short list of questions that would help you to use your observations to deduce how
sociable they are. For example, do they know your name? Do you think that they spend a long
time on their clothes and personal appearance? Were any of them chatting before starting the
seminar?

b. What type of data have you obtained from your observations? Can you be sure that the
information you deduced is accurate?

c. Are you yourself a primary or a a secondary source of information on the social life of the other
members of your group? Why? Discuss the accuracy of your deductions with the others in your
group.

Suggested Answer:

b. The observations are qualitative data and a matter of personal opinion, therefore possibly
inaccurate.

c. You are a secondary source, as only the other members of the group have direct access to
information about their social lives.

Activity 2:

Working together in groups of 3 or 4:

a. If you would like to find out how much studying other students do, what would you use to obtain
that information?

b. When designing a survey, how should the questions be structured? Why?

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 c. Working as a group, design a survey of about 3 questions to obtain data on how much other
students study. When you have all finished, exchange your survey with other groups. Which
differences do you see in the other surveys? How will this affect the data?

Suggested Answer:

a. We would use a questionnaire, or survey.

b. The questions should be structured so that they are unambiguous (can only be interpreted in
one way) and there is a small number of possible answers, preferably numerical. This is so that
the answers can be easily categorised prior to analysis.

c. You should look at a sample of the questions and study them as a group, making sure that they
conform to the guidelines set out in part (b).

Activity 3:

A new mobile phone operator would like to obtain information on the retail prices of currently
available models of mobile telephones (or cell phones, or mobiles.) They obtain nearly 200 values
for the prices of mobile phones, satellite phones, pagers and landline telephones.

a. Give examples of information we could extract from this data.

b. This data is obtained from a number of different countries. The mobile phone operator requires
relevant information. Which two procedures would form the initial part of our data processing?

Suggested Answer:

a. These could include the maximum and minimum values, the average, and the number of
phones in each category.

b. Prices should be converted to a common currency, and values which apply to other types of
telephone (not mobile phones) should be excluded.

Activity 4:

A trouser manufacturer would like to make its business more efficient, using information on the
proportions of people who require short, medium and long trousers. The manufacturer sends many
of its trousers to two clothing shops in the same city, and asks the manager of each shop to make a
note of whether each of their customers is short, medium, or tall.

a. Which type of data do the manufacturers obtain? What is a common difficulty associated with
this type of data?

b. The relative proportions of short, medium and tall customers reported by one shop manager are
significantly different from those reported by the other. What could the reasons be?

c. What is an important advantage of a scientific measurement? Suggest two practical ways in

which the shop managers could improve the usefulness of the data they provide to the
manufacturers?

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Suggested Answer:

a. They obtain qualitative data, which sometimes contains irreproducible values because the
values can be a matter of personal opinion.

b. This could be because of a genuine difference in the relative heights of people who visit each of
these shops, which may cater to different market segments. It could also be due to large
variations in relatively small datasets. It is most likely to due to different criteria for estimating
degree of tallness, which is a vague concept.

c. An advantage of a scientific measurement is that it is reproducible, because it does not depend

on personal opinions or methods. The data could be improved if the shop managers provide a
height estimate of their customers, for example in centimetres. This would still be far less
accurate than measuring their height with measuring tape, but it would no longer include
subjective, personal opinions on which height is ”tall” or ”short”. Alternatively, the shop
managers could continue as before, but also provide the manufacturer with their personal
definitions, in centimetres, of the range of heights that they would place in each category.

Activity 5:

Working in small groups, you will design a questionnaire which evaluates this course, from the
students' point of view.

a. Before the seminar, you spent some time researching aspects of survey design, using the
Internet and library resources. In particular, you should be familiar with the idea of the Likert
scale. Now read the guidelines given below for designing an effective survey, or questionnaire,
or opinion poll.

• You must determine the context and objective of the survey: what advantage do you expect
to gain from it? For this questionnaire, the context is given above, and the objectives will be
relevant to the educational effectiveness of the course.

• The results from the survey must be useful. This means that all questions must have
actionable responses: the answers which are given will affect decision-making and future
procedures. In the context of this questionnaire, the possible answers must help to identify
specific areas of improvement of the course, and concrete and specific ways to improve the
educational effectiveness of the course.

• You may wish to include a brief introduction on the context of the survey, so that the
respondents understand the relevance of the questions.

• You must bear in mind that the usefulness of the survey is limited by how representative your
respondents are, and how relevant the survey is to them. In the present context, students
who have only just started the course will not be able to evaluate it as well as students who
have already completed it.

• The questions must be brief, simple, and clear. They must be unambiguous: they can only
be interpreted in one way.

• When choosing questions, you may find it helpful to work backwards from your objectives:
decide in what ways you would like the survey to make a difference, then what information
would help to determine those ways, and lastly which questions would lead to the required
information.

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 • The questions should be as specific as possible. For example, not “Is the homework too
difficult?” but rather “Which homework exercises (if any) were too difficult?” You may find it
helpful to start with a simple statement (for example, “the homework is difficult”) and then
convert it to a question.

• Sometimes asking similar questions in different ways will help you to analyse the response,
especially for vague responses. For example: “Rate the average difficulty of the homework
exercises on a scale of 1 to 5” combined with “What percentage of the homework did you
find easy?”

• To make it easier to analyse the responses, and to obtain clear responses, it is best to use
closed-ended questions. For an open-ended question, the respondent provides the entire
answer. Closed-ended questions provide the respondent with a choice between existing
responses. These could be a simple choice between alternatives, or they could require
choosing a position on a Likert scale, for example 1 to 5, or very good, good, ok, bad, very
bad.

• The possible responses must not overlap or leave any gaps. It must not be possible to
choose more than one response, or to choose a response which is not listed. If absolutely
necessary, you can include “None of the above”, or “Other”, as a possible response.

b. In your groups, create a questionnaire evaluating students' experience of this course. Do not use
any of the specific example questions given above. On a separate sheet, for each portion of the
questionnaire, explain and justify your design decisions, referring to the guidelines.

c. When you have finished, exchange questionnaires and design documents with other groups.
See if you can find ways in which their design decisions are better or worse than yours, for
similar questions.

Suggested Answer:

Some sample sections of a questionnaire are:

How helpful to your learning were the following classes in this module?

Very unhelpful Unhelpful Average Helpful Very helpful

Lectures

Seminars

Laboratory
Sessions

Seminars

Was it easy to make an appointment to see your tutor if you needed help? Yes / No

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Was your tutor approachable? Yes/No

You may wish to use your institution’s own student feedback questionnaire as a sample to give to
the students at the end of this session.

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8.6 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1: Seminar Preparation

Before the seminar for this topic, spend some time researching aspects of survey design, using the
internet and library resources. In particular, make sure that you are familiar with the idea of the Likert
scale 1.

Exercise 2:

Find out the birthday of a friend, from a primary source, and a secondary source, explaining why
each source is of the given type. Give an example of something you have learnt from a primary
source, and from a secondary source.

Suggested Answer:

A primary source would be the friend, or their mother, because they have direct access to the
original information. A secondary source would be anyone else. When someone introduces
themselves to you, you have learnt their name from a primary source. When you read about the
governments' plans in a newspaper, the newspaper is a secondary source.

Exercise 3:

While you are studying, every now and then have a look at the minute hand of a clock. Are these
values discrete or continuous? Why?

Suggested Answer:

Discrete, because they can only have one of 60 values.

Exercise 4:

Estimate your height in metres as you are now, as you were one year ago, and when you were five
years old. Using your height at the age of five as a baseline, what can you say about your height
one year ago and today? Using your height today as a baseline, what can you say about your height
one year ago, and when you were five? Give an example of a data comparison with respect to a
baseline, for example in the financial report of a company.

1
Originally published in: Likert, R. (1932). A Technique for the Measurement of Attitudes, In Archives of
Psychology, No.140. A wide range of internet sources are available on this subject.

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Suggested Answer:

Your height today and one year ago is significantly more than it was at the age of five. Your height
one year ago was not significantly different to your height today, but your height at the age of five
was significantly less than your height today. Companies often compare their profits or losses over
a time period to the profit or loss over the corresponding time period in the previous year.

Exercise 5:

The planning committee for a city is studying the future development of the city centre. They
commission a study of the heights of buildings in the centre from a surveying company. This
company sends out employees over a period of time with modern equipment which photographs the
buildings and processes the images to produce height estimates. These estimates are in feet, and
the corresponding data is saved by default in the software package's own proprietary storage
format.

a. When each surveyor returns to the surveying company with the data on their laptop, what is the
first thing that they must do?

b. How should the data be processed before being analysed?

c. The data may be used over a number of years, by old and new employees. In order to help
interpret the data, other information (apart from the heights of the buildings) may be relevant.
Each surveyor should insert a header in the file for each dataset that they have collected. Which
descriptions of the dataset would be useful in the header?

Suggested Answer:

a. They must make a backup copy of the data on a different computer or storage medium.

b. The heights should be converted to the standard unit of measurement used by the company,
and the data should be exported to a standard file format in use by the company.

c. The header could include: the date, the name of the surveyor, the location of the
measurements, any additional comments, and the number of values in the dataset.

Exercise 6:

Based on information that you have access to on a computer, the internet, or any other source,
make a list of formats used to store digital images. Remember that file formats used for images are
generally different to formats used for video. If you use Microsoft Windows, right-click on a picture
file on your hard disk or an image on the Web, and then select 'Properties', to view the file format,
including the extension. (The file extension is usually a three-letter abbreviation, and comes after the
file name.)

You could explore the appearance of various formats by displaying an image in one format, using
available software, and then save it in another format and view it again. Alternatively, some
information on image formats is available on the internet. Which formats are compressed? Which
can you use to convert a file without changing the picture?

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Suggested Answer:

Common image formats include: giff, tiff, bmp, wmf/emf, png, jpg. Of these, jpg (jpeg), emf/wmf
(Microsoft Windows metafile and enhanced metafile) and giff, and sometimes tiff are compressed.
The other (uncompressed) formats like the bmp (bitmap) format will not affect the image.

Exercise 7: Data Collection

Take the student feedback survey which your group put together during the seminar. Reflecting on
the discussions and comparisons which followed, develop your own survey based on this.

Now ask your classmates to fill it in and return it to you. You will need this data in Topic 10, so make
sure to ask for the surveys back in time.

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8.7 Tutorial Notes
The time allowance for tutorials in this topic is 1 hour.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the tutorial activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided in their
guide.

These exercises introduce students to the processing of data, using relatively 'real-world' examples:
it is important that they realise that, unlike the exercises in this course, real world data does not
always come bundled in a neat package of easily categorised values. We need to recognise
available information as data in order to process it.

8.7.1 Tutorial Exercises

Exercise 1:

Although we have been able to store written information for thousands of years, it is only in the last
century that we have been able to store audio information (music).

Some of the storage media that have been used are: moving needles leaving scratches on wax,
more accurate movements of needles following a path on a vinyl record (a type of plastic which
could easily be scratched), magnetisation on tape (cassettes), which could be stretched, optical
discs including CDs, and solid-state memory used for example in MP3 players.

Discuss the effect on the data of these storage media.

Suggested Answer:

Early technology was vulnerable to errors introduced, for example by scratching or stretching. It was
not possible to make backups easily until magnetic tape/cassettes arrived. CDs include error-
correcting codes which make them more resistant to degradation.

Exercise 2:

Along with modern electronic storage media, we now also have a large number of audio formats.
Many devices will recognise the WAV format, which is uncompressed, the MP3 format, which is
compressed, and other formats depending on the associated device or software, for example mobile
phone ringtones which are highly compressed. How does this affect the way we use these formats?
Are conversions possible between different audio formats? Is all the information still there after
conversion? Why?

Suggested Answer:

The different formats are mutually incompatible, so that we are obliged to use the appropriate device
to listen to them. It is possible to convert between digital formats, but, as information is discarded in
lossy compression, not all the information is preserved when converting from a lossless or low
compression to a high compression format.

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Exercise 3:

A food processing factory acquires new software-controlled equipment to monitor the food
production. This depends on many factors, including the current values of the temperature and
humidity within the factory.

a. For each individual food product made by the machinery, the new equipment stores data
including the type of product, whether its weight and other characteristics are within an
appropriate range, and various other data which is usually the same for each type of product.
The factory produces a very large quantity of food, and their current data storage is inadequate.
What can they do about this?

b. The factory managers would like some idea of the quantity of ingredients to order every week,
as the quantity of food produced varies according to the factors calculated by the monitoring
equipment. They will know this after they have used the new equipment for some months, but
how can they determine this in advance?

Suggested Answer:

a. As the bulk of the data consists of repeated values, it should be compressed.

b. They could perform a pilot study for a brief time, obtaining values for the relevant quantities (for
example temperature and humidity.) The data from this pilot study could then be used as the
basis of a simulation, which would generate a range of values from similar distributions. This
could be processed with the existing software, in the same way that it would process 'live'
values, giving an idea of how the output would vary.

8.7.2 Review of Private Study Exercises

You should now go through the private study exercises with the students, and ask them if they have
any questions on specific areas of this topic.

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 Topic 9

Topic 9: Charts and Estimates

9.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of basic statistical data analysis.

On completion of the topic, students will be able to:

• Use appropriate charts to represent data;

• Understand how data is described statistically;
• Use statistical estimation to describe data.

9.2 Pedagogic Approach

The essential concepts will be transmitted to the students during the lecture. They will then practise
the skills during the laboratory sessions.

9.3 Timings
Lectures: 1 hour

Seminars: 1 hour

Tutorials: 2 hours

Laboratory Sessions: 1 hour

Private Study: 7.5 hours

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9.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• Representing proportions and relative frequencies using charts

• Describing random quantities using distributions
• Estimating central values of distributions

9.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Slide 2: This slide presents the learning outcomes for this topic. You can introduce statistics
by explaining that we use it for descriptions that apply to a set of values, rather than
specific values in the dataset. We do this by focussing on the relative frequencies of
different values, which can be shown with a chart. Distributions are a way of
describing the whole dataset, and estimates are a way of characterising distributions.

Slides 3-4: If the students are unfamiliar with pie and bar charts then you could discuss these in
more detail: explain that the area of each portion shows the relative contribution to the
whole.

For students new to statistics, it may help them to realise that they can transfer the
skills they are familiar with in a deterministic context to working with random
variables. For example, proportions are related to relative frequencies which can
apply equally well to either situation.

Slide 5: Clarify that a histogram is not another name for a bar chart. For example, the heights
of the students in the class could be shown as a bar chart. If instead we show the
number of students whose height falls within each of four ranges, this is a histogram.
Later we make the step from histograms to distributions.

Slide 6: Before putting up this slide, it may be useful to ask the students to imagine that they
are measuring a piece of string, and which factors might cause the measurement to
vary when repeated. It is worth emphasising that all real measurements are affected
by factors beyond our control.

Slide 7: Here you could discuss the distinction between the predictable, deterministic
component of the measurement and the random component that we cannot
reproduce, and the desirability of handling them separately. Optionally, you could
include a brief discussion of “signal” versus “noise”, using as an example a telephone
conversation or a poor quality image on a television set.

Slide 8: The students could perform a quick binning exercise on the class, for example the
number of male and female students, or right-handed and left-handed.

Slide 9: As discussed previously for histograms, a distribution represents relative frequency

and thus the shape does not depend on the amount of data. Optionally, at this point
you could mention normalisation. By dividing the number of occurrences in each bin
by the total number of occurrences, we ensure that the shape of the histogram does
not depend on the number of samples. In the case of a distribution, this means that

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 the total area is unity, i.e. there is a probability of exactly 100% that a value from a
given distribution will lie somewhere in that distribution.

Slide 10: Here we return to the point that a distribution only gives us information about a set of
data, not about specific values within the dataset. Thus it is useful for randomly
varying values because it summarises all the information which is not varying.

Slide 11: Here we are giving a very informal statement of the Central Limit Theorem, which
states that when many random variations from fairly arbitrary distributions are
combined in each value, the distribution of those values will be normal. As the term
“bell-shaped curve” occurs regularly, you could also explain that the curve is shaped
like a bell viewed from the side.

Slide 12: This would be a good place to repeat that the peak of the distribution does not
represent large values, but frequent values. Relatively large values are on the right of
the distribution.

Slide 13: Again we use statistics to summarise information. As shown previously for the normal
distribution, when we represent data visually it becomes obvious that the central
value is a natural choice for characterising the distribution.

Slide 14: A few details which could be mentioned: the median is a robust estimator and thus is
useful when we have no reason to believe that we are dealing with values from a
normal distribution. When we have an odd number of values the median is the middle
value; for an even number of values it is the average of the two middle values.

Slide 15: It could be mentioned that when the distribution is not specified, it is assumed to be a
normal distribution, as this describes most measurements.

Slide 16: If the students are not already familiar with the concept of an average, you could go
through this more slowly, talking them through the procedure.

Slide 17: One way of looking at the increase in accuracy with a larger dataset is that the mean
summarises the data. If there is more data, there is more information contained in the
mean, so it is a less vague, more accurate summary.

Slide 18: Here the students must understand that the derived distribution for estimates of the
mean is distinct from the distribution of the datasets for which we calculate the mean.
Optionally, it could be mentioned that the width of this distribution is inversely
proportional to the square root of the number of samples in the original dataset.

Slide 19: Introduce the probability density function first. Ask students to determine what they
understand by the term probability. This can be introduced by considering the
example of tossing a coin and it landing heads or tails with a probability of 0.5. You
can then draw a probability density function for this. You can then ask the students to
develop a similar probability density function for the rolling of the six-sided dice.
(Note that we are using the probability density function to introduce the concept and
are not concerned too much with the strict use of the terminology). The purpose of
this part of the lecture is to show to students that there are distributions other than the
normal.

Slide 20: The discrete uniform distribution is presented here. The key point is the probability of
1/6 and the six discrete values. You can then ask students to think of a continuous

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 uniform distribution (i.e. when an event is equally probable over a continuous
variable, the most normal being time)

Slide 21: This slide gives an example of a continuous uniform distribution.

Slide 22: The uniform distribution is shown on the slide. The key points to note are the
probability of zero outside the range between 12:00 and 14:00 and that the event will
occur (area = 1).

Slide 23: The key points are summarised here. The slide asks the students to think about the
mean. This will be covered in the tutorial exercises, but the idea can be introduced
here and is, of course, the middle value (60 minutes or 13:00)

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9.5 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for this seminar is 1 hour.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide.

This session is intended to provide practice in reasoning about distributions. The first activity is
based on the uniform distribution only because that distribution is less familiar than the normal
distribution, so the students need to examine their understanding of distributions in order to deduce
the correct answers. The second activity discusses an application of distributions to experimental
data. It is assumed implicitly that the distribution does not vary: the variance is constant.

Activity 1:

The normal distribution is the most commonly occurring distribution, but many other distributions
also occur in practice. The standard uniform (or rectangular) distribution is 0 for values smaller than
zero and larger than one, and it is 1 for values between zero and one. You should sketch the
distribution, as a visual aid to your reasoning. Using logical reasoning and discussion with your
fellow students, consider the following questions:

a. Expressing probabilities as either a number or a percentage, what is the probability of obtaining

a value of 2.25 from the standard uniform distribution?

b. What is the probability of obtaining a value between zero and one?

c. What is the probability of obtaining a value between zero and one half?

d. What does this tell us about the location of the median?

e. Which are more likely, the values of about 0.5 or values of about 0.001? Why?

f. What range of values, centred at the mean, occurs 70% of the time?

g. If we calculate the mean of ten values drawn from the standard uniform distribution, and then
repeat this procedure many times, can we expect the distribution of values that we obtain for the
mean to follow a uniform distribution?

Suggested Answers:

a. 0 or 0%

b. 1 or 100%

c. 0.5 or 50%

d. Since the median occurs at the point where half the values are to the left of it, and half to the
right, this means that the point (0.5) is the median of the standard uniform distribution.

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e. This is a trick question. Both values are equally likely. This is indicated by the fact that the
height of the standard uniform distribution is the same for both values.

f. 0.15 to 0.85

g. No, we cannot expect the distribution of the means of the datasets to also be a uniform
distribution. (In fact it is an approximately bell-shaped curve.)

Activity 2:

We often need to estimate the value of a quantity which is unchanging, but sometimes our
measurements will show a progressive change. The simplest behaviour is that instead of remaining
constant, it changes at a constant rate. Determining the corresponding straight line is called linear
regression. We can use this to describe the behaviour of the changing measurements. A similar
process can be used for more complex shapes. Curve-fitting is the process of finding the
parameters describing some known functional form, not necessarily a straight line, so that the
resulting curve is in some sense “close” to the data – we fit the data to the curve.

If we have a range of n values, X1, X2, …. Xn , then one way we can fit the data is to minimise the
average of the squares of the distances between the values and the curve (for example, the
corresponding point on a straight line for linear regression).

a. If the quantity we are interested in follows a straight line, and includes some random error, then
can we expect to get an exact straight line from our measurements?

b. By squaring the difference, we are ensuring that certain values will have a strong effect on our
fit. Which values will have the strongest effect?

c. If we obtain more experimental values, what will be the effect on our estimate of the underlying
curve? Why?

Suggested Answer:

a. No, we will never obtain the exact behaviour from our experimental results.

b. The values which are most distant from the theoretical fitted curve or straight line will have the
strongest effect.

c. We will obtain a more accurate description of the curve, because adjacent random errors will
partially cancel.

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9.6 Laboratory Session
The time allocation for the Laboratory Sessions for this topic is 1 hour.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide.

The main purpose of this laboratory session is to familiarise students with the basic mechanics of
using a spreadsheet. Students will need individual help with, for example, applying a function to a
range of values. The provided data file must be available to all students at the start of the laboratory
session and can be found on Campus (http://campus.nccedu.com). This file can be opened by
OpenOffice/LibreOffice or Microsoft Office (including MS Office XP)

Activity 1:

Open the provided worksheet, 'StudentdataSFCtopic9'.

The first column of values represents the relative frequencies of a set of measurements. Select the
column, then click on the chart icon and choose an appropriate chart in which to plot these values.
What does this curve represent?

Suggested Answer:

The students should be allowed to experiment with different plot formats, but a suitable format would
be a continuous line or (column) bar chart without points (line only).

This is a normal distribution. It could also be called a distribution with a bell-shaped curve.

Activity 2:

The values in the second column represent the results of a measurement of an angle in radians.
How might you estimate the typical value of the measured quantity? Click on an adjacent empty cell,
then click on the function icon to apply a function to these values. Use the online help if you are not
sure what your function is called. Possible functions include the median and the average or mean.

Suggested Answer:

The students should be encouraged to use the online help when they are unsure, rather than asking
the instructor. The quantity could be estimated from the mean (0.381) or the median (0.398).

Activity 3:

Recently installed equipment at a national border measures the weight (in kg) of each vehicle (car,
motorcycle, bus) that passes over it. This equipment warms up slowly in the morning, and may
produce defective data, but it then works normally. Columns D, E and F of the worksheet show data
from 3 mornings.

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 a. Copy the values from columns D, E and F into column G in order to combine all the valid data in
one column.

b. Use the spreadsheet to calculate the mean weight per vehicle.

c. To find out which type of vehicle usually passes over this weighing equipment, use the
spreadsheet to find the median weight. Which of the three types of vehicle typically passes over
the equipment?

Suggested Answer:

b. 3045 kg

c. The median is 1523 kg. The students should notice that there are 3 distinct groups of weights in
the data. A weight of 1523kg is likely to represent a car.

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9.7 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1:

The following table lists the ingredients of a cake, by weight. Choose an appropriate chart to
represent the relative proportions of each ingredient, and sketch it.

Flour : 1 kg

Sugar : 0.5 kg

Eggs : 0.1 kg

Suggested Answer:

A pie chart.

Exercise 2:

What does a histogram describe? Sketch a histogram with 4 bins, which represents the number of
hours you sleep each night. What is the most common range of values for the time that you sleep?
How is this shown on the histogram?

Suggested Answer:

A histogram shows the relative frequency with which values occur. The most frequently occurring
value is in the range which has the greatest height in the histogram.

Exercise 3:

Take the data which you gathered from others in your class when you designed a questionnaire as
part of the previous topic. Present it using a range of appropriate charts.

Suggested Answer:

This will vary widely, depending on the format and content of the questionnaire which each student
put together. Students should present a separate chart for each question of their survey. In
particular, those using Likert scales are likely to be presented as histograms. More able students will
be aware that, if converting (for example) a five-point Likert scale to a Histogram, the result is likely
to be a normal distribution with the central category (typically ”OK” or ”Average”) as the peak.

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Exercise 4:

The two histograms below show the same 1000 data values.

250 450
400
200
350
300
150
250

100 200
150
50 100
50
0 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The one on the left uses 15 bins, the one on the right has 8 bins. Which distribution could these
histograms be approximating?

Why do the histograms not look exactly like this distribution?

Compare the two histograms: what are the main differences between them?

What would we need to do in order to obtain plots which look more like the underlying distribution?

Suggested Answer:

a. The normal distribution.

There are random variations which cancel out more over a large number of values, but over a
smaller number of values will show deviations from the form of the underlying distribution.

The one with the smaller number of bins shows a better approximation to the shape of the normal
distribution, but the smaller number of bins result in a less smooth shape.

We would need a lot more data, and a larger number of bins.

Exercise 5:

A large clock over the town hall in a northern English town strikes every hour. It is known to be a
very accurate clock. A retired scientist lives nearby. She decides to use her very accurate equipment
to measure the exact time that the clock strikes, during the daytime. Subtracting her results from the
exact time obtained by synchronisation with an accurate source, she obtains a series of time
differences, in milliseconds, for the measurements she makes over three days. These are shown
below:

Day 1: 1, -2, 0, 2, 2, 0, 1, 2, -3, 0, 1, -1

Day 2: -2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 1, 0, -1, 1, 1, -2, 0

Day 3: 1, -1, 0, -3, 2, -2, -1, 0, -3, 2, 1, 0

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What are the three values corresponding to the mean time difference per day, for each day?

The results show the component of the original measurement which includes only the various
random errors. What do we call this component?

What is the overall mean time difference, averaged over three days? (You can calculate this from
the data for all three days. However, you already have the means for non-overlapping portions of the
data which include all the values, so there is a more efficient way of calculating the overall mean.)

We would expect the variation away from the exact time to be small, otherwise the changes would
accumulate and the clock would no longer be accurate. Compare the one day means and the overall
mean. Is the variation away from zero smaller or larger for the overall mean? Why?

Suggested Answer:

a. 0.25, 0.17, -0.33

Noise

0.03, obtained by averaging the three previously obtained averages.

Smaller, because it results from a larger number of values and thus is more accurate.

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9.8 Tutorial Notes
The time allowance for tutorials in this topic is 2 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the tutorial activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided in their
guide.

In general, the distributions described in this module are not normalised. Optionally, normalisation
could be discussed. The first exercise is intended to demonstrate a practical, real-life application of
the techniques that the students have been learning. The second exercise is intended to broaden
their understanding of distributions by demonstrating other examples. Although the uniform and
exponential distributions occur in practice, the students do not need to familiarise themselves with
these distributions.

9.8.1 Tutorial Exercises

Exercise 1:

Image processing is used to enhance (improve) images, for example by removing noise. One
common technique is called “de-speckling”. This removes random spots (speckles) which have been
superimposed on the original image.

On a computer, an image is represented by dots, called pixels, with various levels of brightness from
black to white. (We assume the image is in shades of grey, not colour). By looking at how often we
obtain various levels of brightness in adjacent pixels, we can build a histogram of brightness levels
for nearby pixels. This is generally not similar to a normal distribution.

We can eliminate noise (de-speckle) by replacing each pixel with the central value from the
histogram of nearby pixels.

a. Which estimator will we use to obtain the central value? Why?

b. The following table lists the relative frequencies of the brightness levels. Sketch the
corresponding histogram.

Brightness (0=Black) Relative frequency

0-19: 22

20-39: 14

40-59: 4

60-79: 1

80-99: 7

c. The noise in the image is caused by bright spots scattered at random through the image. How is
this indicated in the histogram?

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d. Calculate the appropriate brightness value for the “de-speckled” pixel, paying attention to how
many values there are in total (hint: there are not 5 values, this is the number of bins in the
histogram).

e. If we replace the brightness level of each pixel with the mean brightness of nearby pixels, this
will not eliminate the speckle, it will just blur the whole image, including the noise. Try to explain
this by considering the effect of averaging on the histogram you sketched. Discuss this with
others in the tutorial.

Suggested Answers:

a. We would use the median, because, as mentioned, the distribution of brightness levels is
different from a normal distribution.

c. This is shown in the histogram by the isolated peak on the right, at the highest brightness.

d. This part may be tricky for the students, and they could benefit from some guidance. The
median is 14, which is the median of the brightness levels, not the median of the relative
frequencies of ranges of brightness levels.

e. This question is mainly intended for guided discussion. Whereas the median will not be affected
much or at all by the speckles, the mean will be significantly distorted. Taking an average of the
surrounding values is in fact what blurring is.

Exercise 2:

For a normal distribution, the mean and median are both at the central peak of the distribution. This
is also the mode. (The mode is the value that occurs most frequently: the value which is associated
with the maximum height in a distribution, and the highest bar in a histogram.) Many other
distributions also occur in practice, with very different shapes.

a. On a long car journey, the children in the back of the car are asked how many red cars they can
see. The number of red cars they see in five minute period over an hour is shown below:

14, 11, 12, 16, 14, 15, 12, 16, 13, 15, 12, 16.

Sketch a histogram showing these results.

b. The bars in the histogram correspond to the relative frequencies of cars spotted in successive 5
minute intervals, over an hour. How would the bars change if we had a lot more data, for
example from more car journeys?

c. If we have a lot more data, and make the binning time intervals narrower, the resulting
histogram will approximate a distribution. Sketch the distribution of the number of red cars
visible at any moment over a time period of -10 to +70 minutes. This is called a uniform
distribution.

d. The trains in Britain are not famous for being punctual, but they never leave before their
departure time. They usually leave close to their departure time, or a bit later. They are less
likely to leave later still (10 or 15 minutes late) and even less likely to be very late (20 or 30
minutes late.) They are seldom over 40 or 50 minutes late. Sketch the distribution of the number
of minutes delay before departure, over a range of -10 to +60 minutes. This is called an
exponential distribution.

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e. Some people are naturally left-handed, but in some cases are trained to use their right hands
for common tasks, like writing. If we pass a biscuit to someone, they are more likely to accept it
with their left hand if they are left-handed, but sometimes will use the other hand. There are
many times more right-handed people than left-handed people.

A study in many schools used the biscuit-passing method in each class of each school to find
out if people were right-handed or left-handed. A biscuit was passed on different occasions to
each child, 10 times in total per child. The qualitative data was converted to quantitative data by
adding 0.1 to the total for each child when they accepted it with the right hand, and subtracting
0.1 each time they accepted it with the left hand. Repeating the experiment for many children in
many classes in many schools resulted in a complicated distribution of values. The minimum
possible average value per child is -1 (always accepting it with the left hand) and the maximum
possible value is +1 (always accepting it with the right hand.) Sketch the approximate
distribution over the range -1.1 to +1.1 of the data distribution for all children in the study.

f. For the above three distributions, indicate roughly where the mean, median and mode will lie.

Suggested Answers:

b. The bars would become more equal in height, all tending towards the average number of red
cars in a five minute interval.

c. The distribution should be zero in the range -10 to 0 and 60 to 70; between these values it will
have constant height.

d. The distribution should be zero for times smaller than zero, then jump to a finite value for
positive times and then approximate a decaying exponential.

e. This distribution will be zero for values smaller than -1 or larger than 1. It will have two peaks,
the one on the left occurring at a value between -1 and 0, and a much larger one on the right at
a value between 0 and 1.

f. The uniform distribution has a mean and median in the centre of the non-zero region; the mode
is the whole non-zero region, or could be considered undefined. The exponential distribution
has the mode at 0, the median to the right of that, and then the mean. The last distribution will
have the mode at the peak of the right maximum, the median will lie to the left of that, and the
mean further to the left. This is because the mean is affected more strongly by outlying values.

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 Topic 10

Topic 10: Accuracy and Correlation; Presenting Results

10.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of handling errors and correlated variables.

On completion of the topic, students will be able to:

• Understand the role of errors in data analysis;

• Explore relationships between correlated variables;
• Understand how to interpret correlation;
• Apply critical thinking to presenting and interpreting statistical analyses;
• Obtain appropriate statistical descriptions using a spreadsheet.

10.2 Pedagogic Approach

The essential concepts will be transmitted to the students during the lecture. They will then practise
the skills during the laboratory sessions.

10.3 Timings
Lectures: 2 hours

Seminars: 1 hour

Laboratory: 2 hours

Private Study: 7.5 hours

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10.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• Causes and types of error in data

• Interpreting standard errors
• Covarying quantities and correlation
• Common errors in statistical presentation
• Abuse of statistical analyses

10.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Lecturers’ Notes

It is suggested that the two hours of lecture time for this topic are divided into two separate one-hour
lectures. The slides contain a separate title slide for the second lecture.

Slide 2: In this topic we start to ask how meaningful our results are. We gain a better
understanding of the accuracy of our results by analysing the errors. We also learn
how to interpret results from measurements of related quantities, as opposed to
single quantities.

Slide 3: Here we introduce the term “error” in the technical sense: it is not similar to
“mistake”. It is a measure of vagueness or unpredictability.

Slide 4: This is the type of error with which we are mainly concerned in this module.

Slide 5: It should be made clear that although we can sometimes detect the presence of
these types of error using statistics, we cannot use statistics to analyse these
errors.

Slide 6: Here we use the ± notation, which is probably already familiar to the students, else
it may require explaining.

Slide 7: Bias is a somewhat subtle concept. You should take your time explaining it.

Slide 8: You could pause here and use these sources of error to illustrate the types of error
discussed in the previous slides. This could be elicited from the students, for
example bias may introduce systematic errors, instrumentation will introduce noise
(random errors) and environmental changes could cause either.

Slide 9: Regardless of whether the students are familiar with the concept of significant
figures, it should be elucidated that how we represent values may be in itself a
source of error. Optionally, you could mention how often the above sources of error
affect measurements: random noise occurs almost always, systematic error
regularly, and transfer error fairly rarely.

Slide 10: The students must be made aware that the size of the standard error shows how
variable a quantity is. It is not only telling us how uncertain the values are, it is also

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 giving us extra information about the behaviour of that quantity. The terms
“standard error” and “standard deviation” are often used interchangeably. The
standard error is an estimate of the standard deviation, based on the data, in the
same way that the estimated mean approximates the exact (unknown) mean.

Slide 11-12: The meaning of the standard error (in terms of the 68.3% confidence limits) is
potentially confusing at first. Use the figure to convey this visually and intuitively. It
should also be mentioned that values do occur outside of those limits. Also, a value
is not “more accurate” if it occurs closer to the estimated mean. The (unknown)
exact underlying mean is not equal to the estimated mean.

Slide 13: There is a subtle point here: in repeated analyses using multiple datasets, the mean
will lie within the confidence interval this percentage of the time; however, for a
single dataset there is not a 95% chance that the exact mean will lie within this
interval. The exact mean is not a randomly varying quantity.

Slide 14: You may wish to give some specific numerical examples to make this concrete.

Slide 15: An example of a measurement which is made primarily indirectly, using correlated
quantities, is IQ (Intelligence Quotient.) Optionally, you could explain that it can be
useful to find out if things are independent. We can do this with statistics. You could
also explain that the reason we can never be sure, from a purely statistical analysis,
that one thing does depend on another is because they both might depend on the
same third thing, which could make them change their values in a similar way even
if there is no causal relationship between them.

Slide 16: While discussing this slide, if possible flip back and forth to the next one, as the
concepts presented here are much easier to absorb visually.

Slide 17: Here we anticipate the next slides, as we haven't yet defined correlation, but you
will probably refer back to this slide anyway while explaining correlation. You could
check the students' understanding of the scatter plots by asking them, for the plot
on the left, which combinations of values occur rarely (low height large weight and
large height low weight.)

Slide 18: Although there are warnings elsewhere in this topic and about uncritical acceptance
of correlation as (spurious!) evidence of a causal relationship, the fact is that
determining correlation is a very useful first step towards mapping the relationships
in any complex, real world problem. It could be useful to convey some of this to the
students.

Slide 19: You could explain why establishing lack of correlation can be useful, for simplifying
models of complex systems by excluding irrelevant components, or also for
disproving hypothetical dependencies. Regardless of their opinions on the subject,
you might like to involve the students in a brief discussion of how they could use
this approach in the context of astrology. This could start from a scatterplot like the
second one in slide 17, showing the lack of correlation between birthday and height.

Slide 20: Title Slide: Lecture 2

Slide 21: Students should realise that although statistics is used by scientists, this does not
mean that the results are intrinsically scientifically valid. Results should be
questioned. We live in a time of being exposed to a lot of information, which is
sometimes hard to evaluate. Fortunately, it is possible to recognise (often

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 unintentional) abuse of data analysis methods. We briefly describe some common
pitfalls in the following slides.Slides 22-23: This is common for scientific results
reported in the popular press.

Slides 24-25: As a general rule, discarding data does not improve results, it only introduces bias.
Another common example of asking the 'right' questions is large companies funding
research that tries to establish if their product is good for your health. This research
may well be unbiased and independent, but investigations of harmful effects of their
product are not funded.

Slides 26-27: The importance of referencing sources has also been discussed earlier in this
module.

Slides 28-29: It is not always obvious that a control dataset is necessary, because it is not always
obvious that the measurement environment is changing or significantly affected by
other factors.

Slides 30-31: Other examples are given in the seminar and laboratory session. There are of
course many aspects of statistical abuse we have not discussed here, for example
relating to hypothesis testing, but this lecture is intended to be partly a quick review
of previous material, and partly an appeal to students to think about their own data
analysis, and that of others.

Slide 32: The remainder of this lecture demonstrates some simple chart presentations, as
outlined on this slide. Charts were introduced in Topic 9 to discuss distributions so
some of this should be revision for students.

Slide 33: Histograms provide a view of data with data classified into bins or classes. It
should be emphasised as it is later with an example, that bin size is important. At
this point ask what a meaningful bin size might be.

Slide 34: The example chosen uses bin sizes of 5 degrees

Slide 35: Histograms use frequency tables as shown here. Note that we are using frequency
rather than relative frequency at this point (although relative frequency could be
used if scaled by the sum total of the number of instances).

Slide 36: A Histogram is shown. You may like to ask students what information they think that
this conveys.

Slide 37: The key point is the bin size; a smaller bin size is shown on the next slide

Slide 38: Ask the students; does this convey the information as well or less well than the
previous histogram? There is no correct answer, but it could be argued that the bin
size is a little small.

Slides 39-40: Emphasise categorical data – give an example (makes of cars in the car park,
brands of drink in the cafeteria), then ask students to think of their own and
examples of things that are not categorical (e.g. heights of class members, ages of
class members). Slide 40 gives an example.

Slide 41: The table has been constructed using the data on the previous slide – note the
relative frequency.

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Slide 42: Bar chart. Consider how it differs from the histogram; the categorical nature of the
data makes bin size discussions redundant

Slide 43: Pie chart. Ask the students which is easier to read. Are there circumstances where
one should be favoured over another?

Slide 44: Time series are used to plot the variation of a data variable over time.

Slide 45: Ask the students how this example differs from the histogram. What does it show
that is different?

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10.5 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for the Seminar for this topic is 2 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide.

Although the following material is suitable for students working in groups, it can also be performed
by students working independently. However, they should be encouraged to discuss the exercises,
some of which may be counterintuitive or hard to grasp for some of the students.

Activity 1:

Working in groups of three or four, discuss each of the following questions.

A scientist measures the height of 19 people, in centimetres. The same measurements are repeated
by her assistant, and subtracted from the first set of measurements. The resulting values are shown
in the table below.

Difference in measurement of height in cm:

-0.05
0.61
0.40
0.42
0.20
0.59
0.10
-0.15
-0.34
0.29
-0.16
0.03
0.59
-0.46
-0.27
-0.52
-0.38
0.08
-0.23
-0.50

a. What values would you expect to see if all the measurements were perfectly accurate?

b. What value would you expect the estimated mean of these measurements to be close to? (Do
not calculate the mean.)

c. The standard error in these values is 0.37 cm. The mean is -0.05 cm. How would you write the
mean value including the standard error? How many values are not within a standard error of
the mean? Is this reasonable or does it indicate a problem in the experiment or the

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 measurement? Do you think this is caused by user error, systematic error, or random error?
Discuss whether our estimate of the mean would be more accurate if these values are not
included in the calculation.

Suggested Answer:

a. They would all be zero, as we would be subtracting identical values.

b. We would expect it to be close to zero, since we know that this is the exact underlying mean
which we are estimating with a calculated mean.

c. The mean is -0.05 ± 0.37 cm. Six values are not within a standard error of the mean. This is
30% of the values, which is roughly what we would expect, since on average about 70% of the
values will be within one standard error. The errors are random errors, else they would not
cancel to give a mean close to zero. If these values are not included then our estimate of the
mean will be less accurate, because it will be based on a smaller number of values.

Activity 2:

A mountaineering club obtained data on the heights of a large number of mountain climbers, and the
heights of the mountains they climbed. This is shown in a scatter plot:

4500

4000

3500
Mountain Height (metres)

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
1.55 1.6 1.65 1.7 1.75 1.8 1.85 1.9
Climber Height (metres)

a. Does the plot show a correlation between the datasets?

b. What does this tell us about the relationship between the height of mountain climbers and the
height of the mountains they climb?

c. Based on the data, what height of mountains is climbed by a tall mountain climber?

d. Looking at the plot, we see combined data for both datasets. If we are interested only in the
distribution of height for mountain climbers, what is the approximate shape for this distribution
based on the plot?

e. How would the scatter plot be different if taller mountain climbers preferred low mountains and
shorter mountain climbers preferred high mountains?

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f. The data used for the plot contains a thousand data pairs. If we had only four data pairs in total,
would we still be able to determine the correlation (or absence of correlation) and analyse the
relationship?

Suggested Answer:

a. There is no apparent correlation. There are regions of higher density, but these are reflections
of the individual distributions. There is no consistent variation other than along the horizontal
and vertical directions.

b. They are uncorrelated, therefore there is no connection between them.

c. We cannot deduce this from the data: as the datasets are uncorrelated, knowing the value of
one quantity does not help us to estimate the other.

d. The distribution of height for mountain climbers appears to be a bell-shaped curve.

e. There would be a clustering of points in the upper left and lower right regions of the plot.

f. With such a small number of points on the plot we would be unable to draw any useful
conclusions.

Activity 3:

Studies have shown that people buy more ice cream in the summer than in the winter. Also, other
studies have shown that more people are admitted to hospital suffering from dehydration (too little
water in the body) in the summer than in the winter.

a. Does this suggest that the values (money spent on ice cream and dehydration cases) are likely
to be correlated?

b. Can we conclude that eating ice cream causes dehydration? Why?

Suggested Answer:

a. As the quantities will be varying in a similar way at similar times, yes we would expect to see a
correlation.

b. We cannot conclude this because we do not have a reason to believe that the correlation
indicates a dependence of one value on the other. In fact, we can guess that it is more likely that
they are separately dependant on something else (temperature).

Activity 4:

A farmer reads about a new type of chicken feed which makes hens lay more eggs. A study
performed by an independent research group claimed that the number of eggs laid per hen with this
new feed over a given time period was on average 10.03, with a standard error of 0.15 eggs. This
was a significant increase over the 7.06 eggs per hen for the same time period with standard
chicken feed, shown by a previous study performed elsewhere.

a. What is missing from this result?

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b. The farmer decides to perform his own experiment. On average, over a given time period, his
hens lay 9.93 eggs, with a standard deviation of 0.98 eggs, with the standard feed. With the
new feed, his hens lay 10.91 eggs, with a standard error of 0.83 eggs, over the same time
period. He is impressed by this increase of about 10%. What is he neglecting?

Suggested Answer:

a. There is no standard error for the second value, making the comparison meaningless. In
addition, there is no source for the study with standard feed. The source could be for example,
the company producing the new feed, which could also be commissioning the study by the
independent research group and supplying some of the data.

b. He is neglecting the fact that, according to the standard errors, the accuracy in the results is not
sufficient to show any clear improvement. In fact, because the values with their standard errors
overlap, it is possible that the values are the same or even that the performance is worse with
the new feed.

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10.6 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1:

The following table of values represents the average daily time spent on homework, in hours, and
the percentage obtained in the examination, for each student in a group of 10 students.

Homework time Exam mark

3 70

9 93

1 52

2 37

4 87

2 44

8 91

5 75

a. How could we explore the relationship between these quantities? Sketch the appropriate plot.

b. Is there a correlation? Describe one possible conclusion that does not contradict the behaviour
in the plot, given that the examinations occur after the homework.

Suggested Answer:

a. These paired values should be plotted on a scatter plot.

b. This will show a diagonal clustering of values, which will suggest that the values are correlated
and are, increasing together. It is possible that doing more homework results in higher exam
marks, but it is also possible that the type of person who spends more time doing homework
also spends more time studying for examinations.

Exercise 2:

The following two tables represent a series of measurements by two different people with the
unusual names of A and B. They are measuring a normally distributed dimensionless (no units)
quantity with a mean of zero and a standard error of 1. These are very difficult measurements so
unfortunately one of the two people has cheated, making up results without doing the

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measurements. Which of the two has cheated? How do we know this? (Hint: we know that the
values are from a normal distribution, so we know what proportion of values will be relatively close to
the mean.)

A B
1.08 -0.05
2.58 0.89
1.17 0.67
0.82 0.48
0.69 -1.4
1.12 0.82
2.18 -0.03
0.48 -0.95
-0.99 0.9
0.49 -0.03
-1.55 0.57
1.85 -0.29
0.02 0.82
2.39 0.78
-0.31 -0.55
0.84 0.27
-0.79 0.36
-0.09 0.86
-0.23 0.4
0.78 -0.21

Suggested Answer:

B has probably cheated. A has 12 values within a standard error of the given exact mean of zero,
which is reasonable since there will be roughly 14 values (70%) within one standard error of the
mean. B has all 20 values within a standard error of the mean. This is possible but unrealistically
accurate.

Exercise 3:

Using a newspaper, the internet, or any other source, make a list of exchange rates from your
currency to other currencies. (Try to obtain values for at least ten currencies). Find out the
approximate population size for each of the regions represented by these currencies.

a. Present the combined results by sketching a scatter plot. Is the data correlated or uncorrelated?
How did you reach this conclusion? Based on your plot, is it possible to make an estimate of the
exchange rate for a country with a small population? Why?

b. Based on your plot, if the population of one of the regions represented in your plot doubles over
the next ten years, what would be your best estimate for the exchange rate at that time?

c. How could you make your conclusions less vague and more certain?

Suggested Answer:

The data will almost certainly be uncorrelated. This will be obvious from the fact that there will be no
clear clustering of the values along any curve, although they may be clustered in a horizontal or
vertical direction to an extent which will depend on the scale of the plot. Thus, it will not be possible

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to make an exchange rate estimate given the population size, as we cannot deduce information
across uncorrelated datasets. Similarly, if the population doubles, we will have no new information
about the exchange rate for that country, so our best guess will be the current exchange rate. These
conclusions could be made more accurate by using larger datasets.

Exercise 4:

A factory producing paint makes continuous measurements of the mixture, so that it does not
contain too much or too little water. The water content is measured by seeing how quickly the paint
goes through a narrow pipe. It goes more slowly when it contains less water, because it is thicker.

a. In order to evaluate the results from the measurements, what else is required?

b. The results show that the mean water content is 300.1 grams per litre, and the ideal water
content is in the range 290 to 310 grams per litre. Does this mean that the paint mixture
contains the correct amount of water? How could it be possible for the water content to be
outside the ideal range?

c. Some customers have complained that they have received paint that was too thin and watery.
The quality control manager spoke to the engineer who said that was not possible, because she
measures the water content every day, as soon as she arrives at work, and the amount of water
used in total during the day shows that those values are typical. How could she be wrong?
(Hint: in order to avoid biased estimates, we should not limit any factors in our measurements,
unless we are only interested in the behaviour in those limited conditions).

Suggested Answer:

a. We need baseline data, to use as a control. This will show how much the results can vary,
randomly or according to the environment.

b. We cannot be sure that the water content is correct, because we are not given the standard
error, showing how variable the values are at this time. For example, a standard error of ±200
grams per litre would indicate that the water content was varying too much, and often too high
or too low, even if the average looks good.

c. It is possible that the water content is different at other times of the day, even if on average it is
the same as the morning value. For example, low temperature at night could make the paint
more thick, so that too much water would be added. By only making measurements at the same
time every day, the engineer is excluding factors which might vary with time of day, so the
estimate may be biased.

Exercise 5:

A farmer would like to take out a bank loan to improve his farm. He calculates that he needs at least
122 lambs each year to provide the income he needs in order to make the interest payments on the
loan. He has records of the number of lambs born every year in April, and of the total number born
each year. From this he calculates the number born in March. For certain years he finds that he had
a negative number of lambs born in March, which he excludes from the data.

a. Is it appropriate for him to exclude the negative numbers of births from the data? Why?

b. He finds that on average 72 lambs are born in March, and 51 in April. He decides to take out the
bank loan. Is this a wise decision? What is missing from his description of the data?

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Suggested Answer:

a. No, it is not appropriate. It is important to eliminate clearly nonsensical values when we have
some explanation for them, but in this case the negative numbers could be due to lambs dying
or being stolen. Excluding these values will incorrectly exaggerate the number of lambs.

b. No, it is not a wise decision. His description of the data does not include the standard errors. If
there is a large variation in the number of lambs born every year, then he risks having too few to
provide the income he needs.

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10.7 Laboratory Session
The time allocation for the Laboratory Sessions for this topic is 2 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide.

All students should be capable of, at the very least, using the spreadsheet to calculate the mean and
standard error, and plotting a simple chart, during this session. However, some students may have a
considerable difficulty performing tasks with the spreadsheet. You should talk them through the
procedures slowly, and preferably individually, in order to assist them in completing the tasks
independently.

Activity 1:

a. Open a new sheet using your spreadsheet software. Look around you at the other students in
the room. In the first column of your spreadsheet, in each cell enter your best guess, in metres,
of the distance between you and each of the other students in the class, starting with the closest
ones and continuing with increasingly further ones. (If there are more than 20 students then only
do this for the nearest 20). Make a guess of the uncertainty (error) in these estimated distances.

b. Use the spreadsheet to calculate the mean (average) distance from you to the other students.

c. Use the spreadsheet to calculate the standard error (also known as standard deviation,
sometimes abbreviated sdev or stdev) in the distances between you and the other students. If
you are unsure what the function is called in the spreadsheet, use the online help and
remember that it might be referred to as standard deviation. You will notice that the standard
error in the distances between you and the other students is larger than the error in your
estimate of each distance, which you estimated earlier. Think about why this is so.

d. Separate the distances into four ranges (for example 0 to 1 metre, 1 to 2 metres, 2 to 3 metres,
more than 3 metres.) In the second column of the spreadsheet, in the top four cells, enter the
number of values which fall into each of these four ranges. Make a chart to show this histogram.

e. What does this histogram tell you about the distances of other students from you? If one of the
students suddenly decides to stand up, then according to your histogram will that student be
close to you or distant?

f. In the third column of the spreadsheet enter a series of increasing values, starting with the top
cell, which represent the number of seconds since you started on that column. Continue until
you have as many values as the first column, using the second hand on your watch, or on the
computer, or else just by guessing. You don't have to enter these values regularly, you can
pause between values, so that they will be increasing in random steps. Make a scatter plot
pairing the values from the first and the third columns. Do the values appear to be correlated?
Why? Is there any real connection between them?

Suggested Answer:

a. The estimated uncertainty should be expressed as a distance in metres.

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c. This happens because the first error describes the spread between very different values
(distances to different students) whereas the second error describes the spread that you would
see if you made repeated estimates of the distance between yourself and another student, but
the same student each time.

e. It so happens that for geometrical reasons the histogram will generally show more students at
larger distances. In that case a student chosen at random is more likely to be further away.

f. Although both quantities have random variations, they are both increasing because they were
entered – and then paired – in order of increasing size. Thus they will show a correlation, being
clustered together along a curve or straight line. However, there is of course no real connection
between them.

Activity 2:

a. A remote island has all of its goods delivered from the mainland by boat. A typical delivery
consists of fresh water (68%), food (24%) and other goods (8%). Show this with an appropriate
chart.

b. The time at which the boat arrives is affected by many factors, including the weather, whether
the boat has engine trouble, and how much time it takes to load the deliveries. Describe the
approximate shape that you would expect for the arrival times.

c. The islanders strongly disagree about how many boats make deliveries. Most of them think that
there is only one boat, which arrives at unpredictable times of the day or night. However, some
of them think that sometimes a second or even a third boat makes deliveries. The data below
shows the boat arrival times over 36 days. In a new column of the spreadsheet, based on all the
data, in the first cell enter the total number of arrivals between 0:00 and 0:59, and so on until the
24th cell for arrivals between 23:00 and 23:59. Use a (column) bar chart to represent your
results. What is this type of bar chart called?

14:30 16:19 06:23 20:51 07:36 15:42 05:47 15:18 04:24

17:23 15:56 16:14 06:05 12:33 16:47 16:43 13:48 06:03
05:52 14:34 03:06 14:08 17:16 19:25 15:38 18:37 14:56
04:03 19:11 17:44 15:46 05:49 16:13 08:12 13:23 18:57

d. Based on the chart, how many boats appear to sometimes make deliveries?

Suggested Answer:

a. A plot of a pie chart

b. A normal distribution or similar bell-shaped curve

c. A histogram

d. Two

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Activity 3:

Load the worksheet ’StudentdataSFCtopic11’ into your spreadsheet.

A medical research institute has collected data in a wide region on the number of incidences per
month of thyroid cancer, spread over nearly 17 years. The first column in your spreadsheet shows
this data.

a. Plot the values using a smoothed curve, with no points, by using the graphing options. Is there a
trend in the values? (A “trend” refers to all of the values, not the small-scale changes between
successive values. It is behaviour over a large scale, for example: staying the same, or
decreasing. Sometimes there appears to be a trend in data which is in fact only a coincidence.
The random errors in the values seem to follow a trend but new data does not confirm this
trend.)

b. In the second column of the spreadsheet, use the first cell to calculate the standard error in the
data. In the next four cells of this column, calculate the standard error in each quarter of the
data (the standard error of values 1 to 50, 51 to 100, 101 to 150, and 151 to 200.) Are the
values for each quarter of the data very roughly the same? Do they correspond to the standard
error of the dataset as a whole? What does this tell us about the possible trend?

Suggested Answer:

a. There does appear to be a trend, but it is unclear whether this is just an artefact of the noise in
the data.

b. They are roughly the same, but are somewhat different from the standard error of the whole
dataset, which is noticeably larger. This suggests that there is indeed a trend, as the larger
variation in the dataset as a whole is due to the large scale change in the values, in addition to
the random errors. The standard error for the dataset is 24.1, and for the quarters is 21.5, 22.3,
19.7, 20.0.

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 Topic 11

Topic 11: Regression Analysis

11.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of the presentation of statistical results. On completion of the topic,
students will be able to:

• Understand a straight line fit to bivariate data;

• Calculate and interpret Pearson’s correlation coefficient;
• Calculate and interpret Spearman’s correlation coefficient.

11.2 Pedagogic Approach

The essential concepts will be transmitted to the students during the lecture. They will then practise
the skills during the laboratory sessions.

11.3 Timings
Lectures: 2 hour

Tutorials: 3 hours

Private Study: 7.5 hours

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11.4 Lecture Notes
The following is an outline of the material to be covered during the lecture time. Please also refer to
the slides.

The structure of this topic is as follows:

• The motivation for prediction from one variable to another

• The idea of straight line fits to data and the associated sum of square errors
• Calculating the linear regression line, and asking how well does the line represent the data?
• Interpolation and extrapolation
• Rank correlation

11.4.1 Guidance on the Use of the Slides

Slide 2: This lecture will introduce simple linear regression and the ideas of correlation, how
two variables move together.

Slide 3: This slide presents the learning outcomes.

Slide 4: Business decision takers often seek relationships between variables. There are
many uses for this; balancing investment portfolios, understanding how a
production system works, and making predictions. In the latter case causality is not
required, only a relationship between the movement of variables. (Ice cream sales
and street crime may be correlated in seasonal countries away from the equator;
both are high at the same time, both are low at the same time, but one doesn’t
cause the other. Students can be asked to give other examples, particularly
economic indicators.)

Slide 5: Two points are shown on a graph. At high levels of income we might expect higher
levels of saving. Click 1: Straight line through the two points. Click 2: What do we
do if we have collected more than two data points, but wish to summarise the model
between this data? Click 3: We might calculate the mean for both variables x and y,
for example the mean income and the mean savings. But both variables seem to
approximately change together. Click 4: Perhaps we could put a straight line
through the means? Click 5 and Click 6: Which straight line? Click 7: For now let us
assume that we are dealing with at least interval data.

Slide 6: Introducing the least sum of square errors condition. Clicks 1&2: The data points
are each an error from a straight line. Clicks 3&4: The least squared line gives an
approach to choosing the best straight line to represent the data. Click 5: This line
then gives a predicted value for y, called y-hat, for each value of x. For example this
could be the predicted savings for a given income. Is there a formula for the line
that minimises the sum of square errors?

Slide 7: This slide quotes the formula for the gradient m and the intercept c. Note the
numerator for the expression for m can change sign such that the gradient can be
positive or negative. We can also see that m approximately looks like changes in y
from the mean compare with changes with x from the mean. (These formulae are
left as a tutorial exercise).

Slide 8: Click 1: An equivalent but easier to calculate formula for m is given.

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Slide 9: This slide introduces an example. Suppose a company has been running
experiments on one of its web pages. The company changes the vertical position of
a button on its page; it may be at the bottom of the page, some way up the page, or
at the top of the page. The percentage of people visiting the page that click through
has been found to vary with the position of the button.

Slide 10: This slide takes the web page experiment example and calculates the straight line.
Click 1: The result is shown. (It is very worthwhile clearly pointing out the two terms
in the denominator and where these are in the table. Some students do confuse
summing squares, and squaring sums).

Slide 11: Shows the calculated straight line and the experimental data. Note in this case the
model straight line seems to be a good approximation to the experimental data.

Slide 12: This slide is an exercise for students to complete. It is the same situation as the
previous experiment, but with different data.

Slide 13: The answer to the student exercise. The data is different, but observant students
will note that the calculation results in the same straight line. Why is the straight line
the same, but the data different?

Slide 14: This slide presents the two sets of fitted data. Not only are managers interested in
the best model, they are interested to know how good the model is. Can decisions
be informed by the model?

Slide 15: For a given value of x there is a predicted value of y (i.e. y-hat). Essentially how far
x has moved from the mean predicts how far y-hat has moved from the mean. The
change in x explains the change in y-hat, but this does not explain all the change in
y, since there is also an error term. Clicks 1&2: The total variation can be divided
into two parts (proof is left as tutorial exercise). The total variation is made up of
unexplained variation (SSE) and explained variation. Clicks 3&4. A measure of how
well the line represents the data is given by the ratio of explained variation to total
variation. This is called the coefficient of determination and is written as r-squared.
(Convention is mixed about whether to use a large or small r.)

Slide 16: The coefficient of determination takes values from 0 to 1 inclusive. If all variation is
explained the value is 1, if all variation is unexplained (error) then the coefficient of
determination is 0. The square root of the coefficient of determination is called the
Pearson (product moment) correlation. A negative value or r indicates a negative
sloping line, a positive value of r indicates a positive sloping line. A convenient
rearrangement for the Pearson correlation is shown.

Slide 17: Click 1: The original data set is shown. Click 2: One more set of calculations is
required to calculate how well the line fits. Students can calculate the Pearson
correlation coefficient and then square it to get the coefficient of determination.
Click 3: The coefficient of determination.

Slide 18: For the first set of data the variation in x, the position of the button on the web page,
explains most of the variation in y, the percentage click through. In the second case
the variation in x explains about a third of the variation in y.

Slide 19: This slide summarises the language of correlation.

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Slide 20: Students are asked to guess r? Clicks 1 to 6 show calculated values for the data
(equal scales for each axis).

Slide 21: This slide defines interpolation and extrapolation. Click 1: Diagram of interpolation.
Click 2: Warning about extrapolation, the user has no data in the area of
extrapolation. Even if interpolation is fine, it does not mean extrapolation is reliable.
Clicks 3 & 4: Sometimes even interpolation may be erroneous. Business decision
takers rarely have perfect information and must interpolate and even extrapolate;
nevertheless there will always be risk in doing this.

Slide 22: Summary of simple linear regression.

Slide 23: Introduction to rank correlation. Would two sets of ordered data put a set of items in
a similar order? (E.g. if some school children were asked to line up in order of
school year, and then to line up in order of shoe size, would the ordering be the
same?) The standard expression for Spearman’s rank correlation is given. This
expression is easy to calculate and applies if there are no tied ranks,

Slide 24: Companies may divide 1st round interviews between staff, second round interviews
being carried out by panels. A company may wish to test that its interviewers would
similarly order 1st round candidates. This slide provides a simple example of such
an investigation.

Slide 25: Click 1: Convert data to ranks. Note that there are no ties, and so differences
between ranks and the Spearman formula can be used. Click 2: The calculated
value. (Discuss the conclusion with the students. How low a value would be of
concern?)

Slide 26: If there are tied ranks then there are two important differences in the calculation.
First when there are ties a mean rank should be used. Secondly if there are ties,
once the ranks have been calculated then the Pearson formula should be used on
these ranks not the Spearman formula (NB some text books do not do this). Look at
the ratings given by Interviewer 2. Elisa would be ranked 1, Nouman would be
ranked 2, Hidayat, Bernie and Li Ren would be ranked 4 (i.e. the mean of 3, 4 and
5), finally Ahere is ranked 6. Click 1: Shows the ranking with ties. This data would
then be used with the Pearson formula.

Slide 27: Recap

Slide 28: Bibliography

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11.5 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1:

Review the lecture material for this topic and discuss any confusion you have with other students.
List the points for which you remain uncertain and raise these in the tutorial. [You must still attempt
the other exercises below and take your answers to the tutorials.]

Exercise 2:

Investigate the Excel function ‘TREND’.

Investigate the Excel options for adding trend lines to scatter graphs. (First produce a scatter graph).
Excel 2010: Single click on scatter graph. Drop down menu from Chart tools / Layout / Trendline.
Excel 2003: Single click on scatter graph. Chart / Add Trendline.)

Exercise 3:

Study the following pages at http://stattrek.com

http://stattrek.com/AP-Statistics-1/Correlation.aspx (accessed 9th April 2011)

http://stattrek.com/AP-Statistics-1/Regression.aspx (accessed 9th April 2011)

Exercise 4:

A hand car wash service has been monitoring its daily demand as it has changed price. Calculate
the simple linear regression line and the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Price per Wash Number Cars

£5.00 105
£5.50 113
£6.00 99
£6.50 94
£7.00 87

Suggested Answer:
2 2
x y xy x y
5 105 525 25 11025
5.5 113 621.5 30.25 12769
6 99 594 36 9801

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 6.5 94 611 42.25 8836
7 87 609 49 7569
total 30 498 2960.5 182.5 50000
mean 6 99.6

𝑛 ∑ 𝑥𝑖 𝑦𝑖 − ∑ 𝑥𝑖 ∑ 𝑦𝑖 275
𝑅 = 𝑟 = = = −0.8705
10√998
��𝑛 ∑ 𝑥𝑖2 − (∑ 𝑥𝑖 )2 ��𝑛 ∑ 𝑦𝑖2 − (∑ 𝑦𝑖 )2 �

n ∑ 𝑥𝑦 − ∑ 𝑥 ∑ 𝑦
m = = −11
n ∑ 𝑥 2 − (∑ 𝑥)2

c = 𝑦� − m𝑥̅ = 165.6

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11.6 Tutorial Notes
The time allowance for tutorials in this topic is 2 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the tutorial activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided in their
guide.

In general, the distributions described in this module are not normalised. Optionally, normalisation
could be discussed. The first exercise is intended to demonstrate a practical, real-life application of
the techniques that the students have been learning. The second exercise is intended to broaden
their understanding of distributions by demonstrating other examples. Although the uniform and
exponential distributions occur in practice, the students do not need to familiarise themselves with
these distributions.

Exercise 1: Review of Private Study Exercises

Note: It is recommended in this topic to review private study exercises before proceeding, to ensure
that the students have fully understood these tasks. You should specifically focus on Exercise 4
from the Private Study section.

Exercise 2:

Work in groups. Calculate the simple regression line and the coefficient of determination for each of
the following four data sets (Anscombe, 1973). Discuss your findings.

Set A Set B Set C Set D

x y x y x y x y
10 8.04 10 9.14 10 7.46 8 6.58
8 6.95 8 8.14 8 6.77 8 5.76
13 7.58 13 8.74 13 12.74 8 7.71
9 8.81 9 8.77 9 7.11 8 8.84
11 8.33 11 9.26 11 7.81 8 8.47
14 9.96 14 8.1 14 8.84 8 7.04
6 7.24 6 6.13 6 6.08 8 5.25
4 4.26 4 3.1 4 5.39 19 12.5
12 10.84 12 9.13 12 8.15 8 5.56
7 4.82 7 7.26 7 6.42 8 7.91
5 5.68 5 4.74 5 5.73 8 6.89

Reference:

Anscombe, FJ. (1973). ‘Graphs in Statistical Analysis’ The American Statistician 27(1),17-21.

Suggested Answer:

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As noted in the question these data are the famous Anscombe’s quartet. Students should find
similar regression results for all four data sets, but should also have realised the need to plot the
data. Discussion should recognise the issues of appropriateness of linear assumption and the role of
outliers in least SSE criterion. Until recently visualisation with simple graphs could help the manager
or analyst avoid reading too much into a statistical process. Now however large organisations
analyse massive data sets with very many variables, and how to visualise the apparent patterns in
these data sets can be an issue.

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Exercise 3:

a. An advertising company decides which adverts to place in particular magazines. To aid this
decision the company studies the response of subjects to adverts. One study examines the
relationship between subject age and response. For one advert design, the results of a very
small pilot study are below. Calculate the rank coefficient of correlation.

Person Age Band Attitude

Anastasia 15-29 very good
Beryl 25-34 neither good nor poor
Cheryl 35-44 good
Deborah 45-54 very poor
Elizabeth >54 poor

b. A separate study for another advert resulted in the following data. Calculate the rank
coefficient of correlation.

Person Age Band Attitude

Alan 15-29 very good
Bertie 25-34 neither good nor poor
Christopher 35-44 good
Dennie 25-34 good
Eric 45-54 poor
Frank >54 poor

Suggested Answer:

a. Convert data to rank and then calculate using either Spearman or Pearson formula.
2
Age Band Attitude d
1 1 0
2 3 1
3 2 1
4 5 1
5 4 1

Spearman correlation coefficient is 0.8

6 ∑ 𝑑2 6×4
1− 2
=1− = 0.8
𝑛(𝑛 − 1) 5(25 − 1)

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 b. Convert data to rank;

Person Age Band Attitude

Alan 15-29 1 very good 1
Bertie 25-34 2.5 neither good nor poor 6
Christopher 35-44 4 good 2.5
Dennie 25-34 2.5 good 2.5
Eric 45-54 5 poor 4.5
Frank >54 6 poor 4.5

Then calculate using Pearson formula;

𝑛 ∑ 𝑥𝑖 𝑦𝑖 − ∑ 𝑥𝑖 ∑ 𝑦𝑖
𝑅 = 𝑟 =
��𝑛 ∑ 𝑥𝑖2 − (∑ 𝑥𝑖 )2 ��𝑛 ∑ 𝑦𝑖2 − (∑ 𝑦𝑖 )2 �

2 2
x y xy x y
1 1 1 1 1
2.5 6 15 6.25 36
4 2.5 10 16 6.25
2.5 2.5 6.25 6.25 6.25
5 4.5 22.5 25 20.25
6 4.5 27 36 20.25
21 21 81.75 90.5 90

The rank correlation coefficient is 0.493

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 Topic 12

Topic 12: Data Revision and Exam Preparation

12.1 Learning Objectives

This topic provides an overview of preparing for both examinations in general, and the Skills for
Computing examination in particular.

On completion of the topic, students will be able to:

• Create revision strategies;

• Prepare for an examination;
• Prepare for the Skills for Computing examination.

12.2 Pedagogic Approach

Information will be transmitted to the students during the lectures. They will then practise the skills
during the tutorial and seminar sessions.

12.3 Timings
Seminars: 3 hours

Private Study: 7.5 hours

Tutorials: 2 hours

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12.4 Seminar Notes
The time allocation for the seminars for this topic is 3 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the seminar activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not given in their
guide. It is advised that students should only be given copies of the sample exam on attendance at
this seminar, or at least that they are advised not to answer the questions on the sample paper in
advance.

Activity 1: Exam Walkthrough

Look at the sample exam paper. Read through the instructions on the cover sheet. Note how many
questions there are and how many you are required to answer.

Now take a few minutes on your own to consider how you would go about answering each question,
and make some notes on your copy (this is exactly what you should do at the start of an exam).

Now discuss each question – what it is asking for and how you would tackle it – with the rest of your
class. Your tutor will be able to advise you based on the marking scheme, but this will not be given
out yet.

Activity 2: Preparing for the Exam

Make a list of all the things, however small, you do to prepare for an exam. Divide them into the
following categories:

• The few days preceding an exam

• On the day and in the room

When you have made your own list, compare them with others in your class. What did you list in
common, and what did you list differently?

Suggested Answer:

• The few days preceding an exam

− Always check the time and venue carefully
− Check the details again a day or two before in case of last-minute changes
− Know exactly what you can and can’t take in, and prepare it in advance
− Try to avoid stressful situations building in your personal life during exam times
− Leave extra time for your journey to the venue
− Get enough sleep! This helps to prepare the brain for the mental effort of exams, which
are a high-stress situation
− Avoid pre-exam chatter with others taking the same paper; it can only lead to doubt and
uncertainty

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 − Make sure you have nothing incriminating on your person at all. If a page of notes falls
out of your pocket by accident, you can be deemed to be cheating even if you didn’t
mean to look at them.
− Think positive. Keep reminding yourself of what you can do well in a particular module or
paper.
• On the day and in the room
− Get comfortable and try to relax. Stretch out your arms and legs to relieve muscle
tension
− Check you have the right paper; in large venues there may be multiple exams taking
place at once
− Check the exam instructions – the “rubric” - on the front page. Do not simply assume
that it is what you were expecting – sometimes things change! Focus particularly on how
many questions you need to answer from each section
− Divide the time by marks available. Equal marks = equal time
− Allow time for;
− Editing and polishing
− Reading through questions at the beginning (choose your questions carefully)
− Underline key words on the question paper as you read through
− Take the odd minute off to clear your head. But make sure that it’s only a minute – don’t
relax and start daydreaming.
− Make the examiner’s job easy, and he or she will be more inclined to generosity. Be
neat, clear, and structure your answers well.
− Ignore the invigilators unless you need them.
− Put your name and candidate number on every sheet, in case one becomes detached.
− If you are out of time, use the last minutes to bring your answer to a close properly rather
than finishing mid-sentence.
− If you finish early, check, check and check again. Don’t be tempted to leave early; you
can’t gain any marks once you’re out of the room, but you never know what you might
think of right at the end.
− Make deletions clear
− Afterwards, remember; there’s nothing you can do that will make a difference! Avoid the
post-exam conversations at the end,

Activity 3: Types of Questions

In groups of 2-4 people, make a list of key differences in how you would approach essay-type or
‘long answer’ questions, as opposed to calculations and arithmetical problems

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Suggested Answer:

Long Answer Questions Calculation Questions

Read and analyse the question carefully Make sure you know how to do it before
beginning a lengthy calculation
Plan Always show your workings
Structure carefully; don’t forget an introduction Make sure that graphs and diagrams are large
and conclusion enough to read, and are clearly labelled.
Keep sentences short and simple. Pay attention to significant digits in calculations

Activity 4: Using Your Time

Look at the sample examination paper for this module. Plan how you would spend your time in the
exam if you had to sit it.

Suggested Answer:

Since all the questions are equally weighted, the time should be divided equally. Students should
also allow time to read the questions, to decide what order to attempt them in and to check/edit their
answers at the end.

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12.5 Private Study
The time allocation for private study in this topic is expected to be 7.5 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the private study exercises in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided
in their guide.

Exercise 1: Revision Timetable

Having a clear revision timetable is of vital importance to exam success.

Draw out a timetable of all the days between now and your Skills for Computing Exam. Estimate
how many hours you have available for revising for this module on each day. If you are taking other
exams in the same cycle, make notes on your total revision time available, and then decide how to
split it between different modules. Based on the exam plan in Seminar Activity One, decide which
topic(s) you will be working on in each session. Add up the amount of time spent on each topic at
the end; is the balance right, and is there enough time overall? You may need to make revisions if
not.

Exercise 2:

Look at the sample exam paper again. Pick any 2 (TWO) questions (at least) and practice
answering them in the time available according to the exam time plan you developed in the Seminar.

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12.6 Tutorial Notes
The time allowance for tutorials in this topic is 2 hours.

Lecturers’ Notes:

Students have copies of the tutorial activities in the Student Guide. Answers are not provided in their
guide.

It is important that the students recognise how much revision time they will need in total; this will
vary greatly between individuals. If you feel that a student has not allocated enough revision time to
the module, it is best to tell them now. You should also feel free to advise students to weight their
revision in favour of their weaker topics and subject areas if appropriate.

If any time remains during this tutorial session, you are advised to assign the students practice
questions to do under exam conditions. A nominal time of between 10 and 15 minutes for a ten mark
question is suggested. It would then be worthwhile marking these questions for the students’ benefit.

12.6.1 Tutorial Exercises

Exercise 1: Marking Scheme

Your tutor will now give you the marking scheme for the sample exam.

How did the marking scheme differ from your ideas on how to answer the questions? What were the
examiners looking for which you had not identified? And for which questions did you accurately
predict what you would need to do to answer the question fully?

Exercise 2: Self-Assessment

Take the questions which you answered as practice in your private study time.

Mark one of them according to the marking scheme for the exam. Consider where you gained
marks, and where you lost them, and make some notes on this.

Now swap your other practice answer with someone else in your class, and mark each other’s’
answers according to the Marking Scheme. Did you agree with each other’s’ marks?

Hand your practice answers to your tutor, who will mark them and return them to you. How close
were you to your tutor’s mark? Consider also what you have learned about marking an exam from
this experience, and what that means when taking one.

Exercise 3: Revision Timetable

Discuss your revision timetable with other students in your group. Explain how you decided to
allocate your time.

Hand your revision timetable to your tutor, who will give you feedback on how you have apportioned
your revision time.

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References for Topic 12:

• Cottrell, S. (2008). The Study Skills Handbook (Palgrave Study Skills), 3rd edition – Chapter 14
• Race, P. (2003). How to Study: Practical Tips for Students 2nd edition – Part VII

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