Lab 2 · Section 8 of 8

Choose a summary for the decision

8A–8B

First · connect to the lecture

The lecture's question-first approach decides which summary to use: a typical student and total observed workload are different requests.

3.1 · The summary contract 3.2 · Mean, median and mode 3.10 · Lab 2 completion map

Week 2: typical use versus total workload, PDF p. 58

Your task

Write an approximately 150-word note for your assigned request and predict the effect of doubling the highest-use value.

Evidence to include

Include case code, population, valid n, units, centre/spread, two numbers, shape and a limitation. Also address the alternative request.

Notebook questions and code

Read here; run in your downloaded notebook. Start with its setup cells and run in order. Use your own ID and outputs where requested.

Download Lab 2 notebook

8 · Your recommendation (15 min)

The final case uses the same weekly-minute data. Your assigned request appears below. Choose your primary summary for that decision, then explain what you would report for the other decision.

Typical use: describe the experience of a typical student.
Total workload: estimate the recorded cohort's total platform workload for the week; distinguish an observed total from a forecast of a future week.

This is a decision exercise. There is no universally best average.

Python · cell 32 — read here, run in your notebook

print('YOUR REQUEST:',scenario)
x=students.weekly_minutes
print('Case:',case_code)
display(pd.Series({'valid n':x.count(),'mean':x.mean(),'median':x.median(),
    'sample SD':x.std(ddof=1),'Q1':x.quantile(.25),'Q3':x.quantile(.75),
    'IQR':x.quantile(.75)-x.quantile(.25),'total minutes':x.sum()}))

Your reasoning

8A. Final note — approximately 150 words: explain why you would not report the weekly-minute mean alone. Address your assigned request and include: case code; population and valid n; units; chosen centre and spread; two numerical pieces of evidence; shape; what your summary hides; what you would report for the other request; and one limitation. Do not claim a cause or treat this synthetic cohort as real university evidence.

8B. Transfer check: suppose the highest-use student's minutes doubled. Without rerunning, predict the direction of change in the mean and total, and whether the median would change. Explain which recommendation would be more affected.

Answer: Replace this text with your explanation.

What did the lab teach you about the lecture?

Saved only in this browser. This note doesn’t fill in the downloaded notebook; “reviewed” is a personal checklist, not a grade.