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Time: 15 hours
Level: Introductory
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 Introduction Resource- Your course might not include any maths or technical content but, at some point during your course, it's likely that you'll come across information represented in charts, graphs and tables. You'll be expected...
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| | 1 Your worries and concerns with charts, graphs and tables
- 1 Your worries and concerns with charts, graphs and tables Resource
- Do you sometimes feel that you do not fully understand the way that numbers are presented in course materials, newspaper articles and other published material?
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| | 2 Reflection on mathematics
- 2.1 Reflecting on your mathematical history Resource
- One of the obstacles that we see to understanding and working with mathematics is that people feel the need to avoid it entirely, because they feel nervous about it. Others don't feel as nervous, but may...
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| | 3 Reading articles for mathematical information
- 3 Reading articles for mathematical information Resource
- We gain much of our mathematical information from our surroundings, including reading newspaper and magazine articles. A skill that will be useful to all of us in our studies is the ability to do this...
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- 4.1 Reading data from tables Resource
- Tables are used as a way of describing what you are talking about in a structured format. They tend to be used to present figures, either as a summary or as a starting point for discussion. Tables are...
- 4.2 Interpreting percentages Resource
- Many articles give information in the form of percentages. In such articles, tables and other numerical information are also often presented in terms of percentages. Percentages are used so often because...
- 4.3 Pie charts, bar charts, histograms and line graphs Resource
- These are all different ways of representing data and you are likely to be familiar with some, if not all of them. They usually provide a quick summary that gives you a visual image of the data being presented....
- 4.4 Bar charts Resource
- Bar charts show data in the form of bars that illustrate the relationship between the items of information in terms of size: the bars get larger (generally taller) as the amounts being shown increase.
- 4.5 Histograms Resource
- Histograms are a special form of bar chart in which the bars usually touch each other because histograms always show data collected into ‘groups’ along a continuous scale. They tend to be used when it's...
- 4.6 Line graphs Resource
- These are probably the graphs that you will be most used to seeing on an everyday basis. Line graphs are most suitable when you are just comparing one value as it changes with another value. They are less...
- 4.7 Proportion Resource
- We can use a number of different ways to indicate change – fractions, decimals, and percentages tend to be the ones with which many of us are familiar.
- 4.8 Mean, median and mode Resource
- Most of us are familiar with the word ‘average’. We regularly encounter statements like ‘the average temperature in May was 4 °C below normal’ or ‘underground water reserves are currently above average’....
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| | 5 Interpreting graphs and charts
- 5.1 Difficulties in interpretation Resource
- Graphs and charts are often used to illustrate information that is discussed in course materials or a newspaper article, so it is important to be able to interpret them correctly. Often, the authors of...
- 5.2 Summary Resource
- We have now looked at a number of different graphs and charts, all of which were potentially misleading. We hope that from now on if you have to work with a graph or a chart, you will always consider the...
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- 6 Technical glossary Resource
- This glossary is intended to provide a basic explanation of how a number of common mathematical terms are used. Definitions can be very slippery and confusing, and at worst can replace one difficult term...
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| | 7 Further reading and sources of help
- Further reading Resource
- *The Good Study Guide, by Andrew Northedge published by The Open University, 1990, ISBN 0 7492 00448.
- Sources of help Resource
- The local newspaper is a source of reference here, or your local library. Alternatively, most schools and colleges nowadays have evening or daytime courses that are open to adult learners. Many of them...
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| | References and Acknowledgements | |
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