Welcome to MAT135: Topics in Contemporary Math!

Welcome to the class! This website will serve as your central hub for all course materials. As we discussed, notes and assignments for each class will post automatically at midnight on the day of the class. This allows you to review the lesson before arriving or preview the assignment so you can bring specific questions to class if there are concepts you don't understand.

Part 1: Course Overview & Syllabus

To get started, please review the Class Syllabus attached below. Here are a few key takeaways to ensure your success this semester:

  • Instructor: Tony Baker (Office Hours: Mon/Wed 5:00pm - 6:00pm by appointment)
  • Textbook: Quantitative Literacy: Thinking Between the Lines (Crauder, 2012)
  • Grading Breakdown:
    • Participation and Attendance: 30%
    • Section Quizzes (25 Assignments): 50%
    • Final Exam (Real-Life Application Project): 20%

Part 2: Section 1-1 – Public Policy and Simpson's Paradox

Today's lesson focuses on Critical Thinking. We are asking the question: Is "average" always average?

We examined a phenomenon known as Simpson's Paradox. This occurs when a trend appears in different groups of data but disappears or reverses when these groups are combined (aggregated). This is a crucial concept for understanding public policy, as aggregated data can often mask underlying patterns and lead to incorrect conclusions.

For example, we looked at the famous Berkeley gender discrimination case where the overall acceptance rate seemed to favor men, but when the data was separated by department, the trend reversed. This counterintuitive result highlights the importance of analyzing data carefully.

Key Math Concept: Calculating Percentages

To solve these problems, you must be comfortable calculating percentages to compare groups. Remember the formula from our review:

$$ \text{Percentage} = \frac{\text{Part}}{\text{Whole}} \times 100\% $$

Assignment

For your first assignment, you will analyze hiring data for the "XYZ Corporation." You will look at hiring rates for Engineering vs. Secretarial divisions to determine if gender discrimination is occurring. You will need to calculate the percentages for the subgroups versus the total group.

Downloads:

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email or leave a comment on this post so your classmates can help as well. Let's have a great semester!