4.5 Histograms 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 hard to see patterns in data, for example when there are only a few variables, or the actual amounts are spread over a wide range. For example, suppose you manufactured biscuits; it is important to manufacture closely to a given size, as there are regulations governing the sales of biscuit
4.3 Pie charts, bar charts, histograms and line graphs 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. Below, we have given a brief definition and some ideas of how each can be used, along with a corresponding activity. We suggest that you look out for similar examples in everyday life, and question the information that you see.
4.1 Reading data from tables 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 also probably the most common way of presenting data in educational courses. Tables have always been compiled by someone. In doing so, the compiler may have selected data and they will have chosen a particular format, either of which may influence the reader. You need to be aware of the co
3 Reading articles for mathematical information 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 in a structured way, as it is very easy to be uncritical of the information that we see. Newspapers and magazines frequently place mathematical information in the form of graphs and diagrams. All too often, we tend to assume that the information is correct, without questioning possible bias or i
7.1 Introduction If you want to improve your computing skills or knowledge, there are plenty of resources available to help you. This section aims to get your search started by providing you with some useful websites.
2.5 Find out how computers work The BBC offers an Absolute Beginners' Guide to Using Your Computer (accessed 8 November 2006). This guide is ideal for anyone really new to computers. If you're interested in the more technical aspects of how computers work and how they've developed over time, have a look at the BBC/Open University Information Communication Technology portal (accessed 8 November 2006).
3.1.1 Option 1: Don't use the diagram at all It is quite possible to write a good answer to the question without using the diagram. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of not using the diagram? 2.2.2 Reading graphs and charts: manipulating numbers Text is just one way of communicating information. Numbers are another way, but whether presented singly, in groups or even as tables , numbers often require a lot of work from the reader to uncover the message. A much more immediate and powerful way to present numerical information is to use graphs and charts. When you use single numbers or tables, the reader has to visualise the meaning of the numbers. Graphs and charts allow the reader to do this at a glance. To show how powerful these rep 2.2.1 Reading diagrams: questioning what they say With each of these diagrams, and with others you are trying to read, there are several questions you can ask. What is the purpose of the diagram, that is, what is it aiming to tell us? How is the information imparted? What assumptions does it make about our ability to understand it? What are we expected to remember?
How successful is it in doing all Acknowledgements The material below is part of an extract (chapter 4 pages pp. 101–142 and pp. 265–268) adapted for OpenLearn and contained in The Arts Good Study Guide, by Ellie Chambers and Andrew Northedge from The Open University. Copyright © The Open University, 2005. The Arts Study Guide forms part of the study material for The Open University course A103 An Introduction to the Humanities and has been designed to be used with other Open University courses. Except for third party mater 5.1.11 Religious Studies
Hinnells, J. R. (ed.) (1995) A New Dictionary of Religions, Oxford, Blackwell. 5.1.10 Philosophy
Flew, A. (ed.) (1979) A Dictionary of Philosophy, London, Pan Books.
Bunnin, N., and Tsui-James, E.P.> (eds) (1996) The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy, Oxford, Blackwell. 5.1.9 Music
Blom, E., revised by Cumings, D. (eds) (1991) The New Everyman Dictionary of Music, London, Dent.
Isaacs, A., and Martin, E. (eds) (1982) Dictionary of Music, London, Sphere. 2.5.6 Essay presentation Both Philip and Hansa presented their essays neatly, with no crossings out or obvious slips of the pen or type. And they make very few spelling mistakes. Philip puts ‘wifes’ for wives, ‘citys’ for cities and ‘carreer’ for career, and Hansa ‘sparcity’ for sparsity. People of 1.3.3 Stage 1: Preparation The task here is very different from our task when faced with numbers, where we need to deal with a high level of abstraction. Writing is often dense and multi-layered, and usually gives us, if anything, too much surface information about our subject. We need to make a mental effort this time in selecting and abstracting information ourselves. In order to do this effectively we need to be aware of the context of the writing. We need to check if we can, for instance, the political and s 2.1 How do we use maps? Reading about maps, I have been struck by the number of times that the idea of ‘maps as part of our everyday experience’ has been mentioned. In fact, I was thinking about it recently, when I was preparing to travel from Belfast to London. I left home with a mental map of my journey to the airport – but on the way I found that the road was blocked by a burst water main. ‘Plan B’ was to consult my local road map for the quickest alternative and, in doing so, I wondered i References 8.5 Constructing bibliographies At the end of your assignments you need to include a bibliography or list of references. This is an alphabetical list of all the sources that you have used – each chapter, book and article that you refer to in the main body of your discussion. Bibliographies take a particular form and usually involve listing the: author's name, date of publication, title of the piece, and details of the publisher. 8.3 Acknowledging the sources of ideas Even when you have used your own words it is essential that you acknowledge the source of the ideas you re-present. This entails making a note of the author and date of publication of the material from which you extract key concepts and points. So at the end of our summary of the Croall extract above, we would need to acknowledge that we got our information from that source by putting (Croall, 1998) at the end of the relevant paragraph. If you use more than one author's work in a paragraph th 1.2 How do you read? A good way of getting started on developing your reading and note-taking skills is to think about how you read now. The short extract reproduced below is taken from The Scotsman and is a journalistic piece of wr
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