IsSarahsMathClassFair?WriteUp ThefirstthingmygroupandIdidwhenwegottheproblemsheetwastofillinthedatatablewith thetotals.

Thisisshownbelow: A Girls Boys Total 15 18 33 B 3 5 8 C 3 3 6 D 1 1 2 F 0 0 0 Total 22 27 49

Afterfillingthisout,wedecideditwasbesttofindouttheprobabilityofgettinganAgiventhat youreagirl(P(A|girl))andtheprobabilityofgettinganAgiventhatyoureaguy(P(A|guy)).Our calculationsareshownbelow: P(A|girl)=15/22=.682=68.2% P(A|guy)=18/27=.666=66.7% Wecomparedourresultstoeachother(68.2%to66.7%)andnoticedthattherewasntahuge differencebetweenthem(lessthan2%).Ourgroupthought:Thisclassseemsfair.The chancesofgettinganAifyouareagirlisnotthatfarfromthechancesofgettinganAifyouare aguy.Wewereverysurprisedbyhoweasyitseemedso,justtomakesureourthoughtswere correct,wedecidedwedfigureouttheprobabilityofgettinganAatallandcomparetheother probabilitiestoit.Thisstepisshownbelow: P(A)=33/49=.673=67.3% Asweguessed,theoverallprobabilityofgettinganA(whetheryoureaguyorgirl)isveryclose totheothertwoprobabilities.Infact,itispracticallyrightsmackinthemiddle! Afterdoingallthesecalculations,wefinallycametoourfinalconclusion.Theclassisveryfair. TheprobabilitiesofgettinganAforeachgenderareveryclose.Wedidntcompletelyignorethe <2%differencebutwedecidedthatitprobablymeantthattheparticulargirlsinourclasswere harderworkingormoreontime.Definitelynotthattheteacherwasgradingorteachingunfairly. Afterwefinishedtheproblem,IstillhadafewquestionsthatIwishedtoknowtheanswersto. Thesearebelow Whatwouldmaketheclassunfairotherthanbiasedgrading? Wouldourresultschangeifweincludedothergrades(B,C,D,F..)thatthegirlsandboyshave received? Ifwegetdatafromotherclasses,wouldtheyhavethesameresults?

Whilewewereworkingthoughthisproblem,IfeellikeIusedtwoHabitsofaMathematician. Thosetwoare 1.Collaborateswithothers 2.Looksforpatternstomakeproblemsolvingeasier Asyoucantellthroughmydescriptionoftheprocess,Ibasicallydidthewholeproblemwithmy tablepartners(JustinR.,QuintinP.).Wehelpedeachotherwithsmallcalculationmistakes, understandingtheproblem,andfiguringoutoursteps.Iamveryhappywithhowitturnedout. Tosolvetheproblem,alotofpatternfindingwasnecessary.Weneededtocompareand contrastthedifferentprobabilitieswegotandwhywegotthem.Thisisanapproachtomath problemsthatIlearnedlastyearandwhichIrealizedwasveryveryhelpfulwithanswering simpleproblems.Inowdoitallthetimewithouteventhinking.