The Math Studies Project for Internal Assessment

1
The Math Studies Project for Internal Assessment

• A good project should be able to be followed by a
  non-mathematician and be self explanatory all the
  way through.

2
Length

• The project does not have a word limit. It is
  the quality of the mathematics and the processes
  used and described that is important, rather than
  the number of words written.

3
Commitment

• The project is a substantial piece of work
  (counts for 20 of the final IB grade)
• The project should demonstrate a commitment of
  time and effort by the student

4
Choice of Topic

• The choice of topic must give students sufficient
  scope to demonstrate their mathematical ability.
• Statistical
• Chi-Squared test for Independence
• Correlation/Linear regression
• Student t test
• Spearmans rank order correlation

5
Choice of Topic

• Algebraic Modelling
• Quadratic
• Exponential
• Trigonometric
• Calculus
• i. Optimization Problems
• ii. Modelling

6
Choice of Topic

• Number and algebra
• i Sequences and series
• ii Linear programming
• Sets, Logic and Probability
• i Venn diagrams
• ii Probabilities
• Financial Mathematics

7
Title page

• The Project must have a clear title
• Candidates name
• Candidates number
• Date
• Subject
• Teachers Name

8
Table of contents

• Page numberring where each part of the project
  can be found

9
A Introduction

• Task What is the aim of the project?
• The task must focus on a distinct objective with
  a clear hypothesis or direction
• The task must be clearly stated
• Plan What must be done to achieve this aim?
• Include as much detail as is necessary to be
  clear
• Include a description of method of data
  collection including any sampling techniques,
  this will be useful for validity
• Include a description of the mathematical
  processes to be used and the reason for choosing
  these processes

10
B Information / Measurement

• The information/measurements collected may come
  from a survey, internet, calculation, etc
• The information/measurements must be sufficient
  in quantity
• When the information/measurements is to be split,
  as in the chi squared test, more than 50 pieces
  of data is necessary to avoid small expected
  values, rendering the test invalid.
• The information/measurements must be relevant
• The information/measurements must be organised
• The information/measurements should be
  reorganised each time, to suit calculations being
  done eg. Male, female categories
• If a questionnaire is used then include this in
  the project
• A questionnaire should be designed to collect
  multidimensional mathematical data
• Raw data must be included to determine the
  accuracy of calculations

11
C Mathematical Processes

• Always include some relevant simple math
  processes
• What is the mathematical process used?
  Explanation of mathematical technique
• Why is this particular procedure useful?
  Relevance/validity of mathematical technique
• Always state formulae used and do one calculation
  by hand. The GDC can be used to perform further
  similar calculations
• Always check the accuracy of your results
• Interpret results/draw conclusions from the
  results of the calculations
• (Standard deviation is often calculated but not
  used or commented on.)

12
C Mathematical Processes

• Apply relevant sophisticated processes as
  thoroughly as for simple process.
• Interpret results/draw conclusions from the
  results of the calculations
• Comment on validity of results
• Check the accuracy of the results
• For Chi-squared tests to be valid
• Frequencies must be used, not raw data or
  percentages
• No more than 20 of the expected cells should
  have a number less than 5
• No expected cells should have a number less than
  1
• For Linear correlation
• There is no point in finding the correlation
  coefficient or regression line if the scatter
  graph shows that there is no correlation

13
D Interpretation of results

• Always give a thorough and detailed analysis and
  discussion of results

14
E Validity

• Validity of mathematical processes used
• Validity of results obtained from these processes

15
F Structure and Communication

• The project should include the discussion in the
  body of the work
• Appropriate mathematical language should always
  be used
• The project should be presented correctly and in
  a systematic manner.
• All sources should be acknowledged
• Include website addresses in bibliography
• Include raw data in body of document or in
  appendix

16
Conclusion

• Did the data and calculations support your task?
• Discuss limitations in its applicability within
  the project.
• Scope for improvement /extension of the project

17
Bibliography

• State websites
• Footnotes as necessary
• Other sources of information

18
Appendices

• Raw data collected can be placed here