Stage 2 General Mathematics

Assessment Type 2: Mathematical Investigation

Modelling with Matrices

Using data from a sporting context to rank teams

Dominance matrices can be useful in round robin sporting competitions. The dominance model can be
used to make predictions based on current season performances about which team might win a
competition. You will choose a sport or competition played in a ‘round robin’ format where results can
be easily obtained for a completed season so the final ranking of the teams is known.
(Note: the word ‘round’ can be used in many senses in sports, however in this task the term ‘round’ is
taken to mean that each team has played every other team once.)

1. Choose the sport for which you will be using dominance matrices to make predictions about the
outcomes of the season. Some suggestions of sports leagues you could consider are: SANFL,
NBA, Australian Netball League or Hyundai A-League soccer. (Note: Competitions in which there
are large numbers of teams will mean very large matrices. If a competition that has a smaller
number of participating teams cannot be found or you wish to investigate a larger competition,
you should select a subset of the teams from which to collect data – e.g. from all of the AFL
competition you could collect data for eight of the teams.)

2. Gather results for your chosen sport for the first complete round of games. Some websites
which provide data for specific sports are given below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_SANFL_season
http://www.scorespro.com/basketball/australia/nbl/2014-2015/results/
http://www.a-league.com.au/results/214/2015/2319/1

3. Select three games at random to be removed from the data (i.e. assume these games are yet to
be played). Create a dominance matrix from the rest of the results. Explain how you have
represented win/loss (and draws if necessary) in your dominance matrix.

4. Use your dominance matrix to rank the teams on the results so far and make predictions about
the outcomes of the three games yet to be played. Discuss the usefulness and limitations of
using the dominance matrix alone for making these predictions and make a comparison with
what actually happened.

5. Discuss second and third order influences and their significance. Choose a supremacy model to
use with your data and compare its predictions to those made for the three games yet to be
played in part 4.

6. Use your supremacy model to make a prediction of the final ladder placings of all the teams in
your sample. Compare your result with the actual ranking at the end of the season and discuss
the result.

7. Investigate ways of refining your dominance model which might improve the predictions made.
You could consider:

o different supremacy models

o adding further game outcomes to the dominance matrix
o some way of incorporating winning margins

Page 1 of 3 Stage 2 General Mathematics - AT2 - Topic 2 - Modelling with Matrices

Ref: A522663 (March 2016)
© SACE Board of South Australia 2016
 8. Using your results from above, summarise your findings. Comment on how accurately your
models relate to the real situation. Discuss and limitations of the models, and the
reasonableness of the solutions found.
The investigation report should be a maximum of 12 single-sided A4 pages if written, or the
equivalent in multimodal form.

Report Format
The report may take a variety of forms, but would usually include the following:
 an outline of the problem and context
 the method required to find a solution, in terms of the mathematical model or strategy used
 the application of the mathematical model or strategy, including
– relevant data and/or information
– mathematical calculations and results using appropriate representations
– discussion and interpretation of results, including consideration of the reasonableness and
limitations of the results
 the results and conclusions in the context of the problem.

A bibliography and appendices, as appropriate, may be used.

The format of an investigation report may be written or multimodal.

Page 2 of 3 Stage 2 General Mathematics - AT2 - Topic 2 - Modelling with Matrices

Ref: A522663 (March 2016)
© SACE Board of South Australia 2016
 Performance Standards for Stage 2 General Mathematics

- Concepts and Techniques Reasoning and Communication

A Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of concepts Comprehensive interpretation of mathematical results in the
and relationships. context of the problem.
Highly effective selection and application of mathematical Drawing logical conclusions from mathematical results, with a
techniques and algorithms to find efficient and accurate comprehensive understanding of their reasonableness and
solutions to routine and complex problems in a variety of limitations.
contexts.
Proficient and accurate use of appropriate mathematical
Successful development and application of mathematical notation, representations, and terminology.
models to find concise and accurate solutions.
Highly effective communication of mathematical ideas and
Appropriate and effective use of electronic technology to find reasoning to develop logical and concise arguments.
accurate solutions to routine and complex problems.
Formation and testing of appropriate predictions, using sound
mathematical evidence.

B Some depth of knowledge and understanding of concepts Mostly appropriate interpretation of mathematical results in
and relationships. the context of the problem.
Mostly effective selection and application of mathematical Drawing mostly logical conclusions from mathematical
techniques and algorithms to find mostly accurate solutions results, with some depth of understanding of their
to routine and some complex problems in a variety of reasonableness and limitations.
contexts.
Mostly accurate use of appropriate mathematical notation,
Attempted development and successful application of representations, and terminology.
mathematical models to find mostly accurate solutions.
Mostly effective communication of mathematical ideas and
Mostly appropriate and effective use of electronic technology reasoning to develop mostly logical arguments.
to find mostly accurate solutions to routine and some
complex problems. Formation and testing of mostly appropriate predictions,
using some mathematical evidence.

C Generally competent knowledge and understanding of Generally appropriate interpretation of mathematical results
concepts and relationships. in the context of the problem.
Generally effective selection and application of mathematical Drawing some logical conclusions from mathematical results,
techniques and algorithms to find mostly accurate solutions with some understanding of their reasonableness and
to routine problems in different contexts. limitations.
Application of mathematical models to find generally accurate Generally appropriate use of mathematical notation,
solutions. representations, and terminology, with reasonable accuracy.
Generally appropriate and effective use of electronic Generally effective communication of mathematical ideas and
technology to find mostly accurate solutions to routine reasoning to develop some logical arguments.
problems.
Formation of an appropriate prediction and some attempt to
test it using mathematical evidence.

D Basic knowledge and some understanding of concepts and Some interpretation of mathematical results.
relationships.
Drawing some conclusions from mathematical results, with
Some selection and application of mathematical techniques some awareness of their reasonableness.
and algorithms to find some accurate solutions to routine
problems in context. Some appropriate use of mathematical notation,
representations, and terminology, with some accuracy.
Some application of mathematical models to find some
accurate or partially accurate solutions. Some communication of mathematical ideas, with attempted
reasoning and/or arguments.
Some appropriate use of electronic technology to find some
accurate solutions to routine problems. Attempted formation of a prediction with limited attempt to
test it using mathematical evidence.

E Limited knowledge or understanding of concepts and Limited interpretation of mathematical results.

relationships.
Limited understanding of the meaning of mathematical
Attempted selection and limited application of mathematical results, their reasonableness or limitations.
techniques or algorithms, with limited accuracy in solving
routine problems. Limited use of appropriate mathematical notation,
representations, or terminology, with limited accuracy.
Attempted application of mathematical models, with limited
accuracy. Attempted communication of mathematical ideas, with limited
reasoning.
Attempted use of electronic technology, with limited accuracy
in solving routine problems. Limited attempt to form or test a prediction.

Page 3 of 3 Stage 2 General Mathematics - AT2 - Topic 2 - Modelling with Matrices

Ref: A522663 (March 2016)
© SACE Board of South Australia 2016