“Data is a tool for enhancing intuition.” –Hilary Mason, Data Scientist Learning to interpret data effectively was one of my first lessons as a teacher. I came into an established classroom in December when the existing teacher took a new role. As such, I inherited a gradebook already filled with scores for the 120 studentsContinue reading “You Can’t Have One Without the Other: The Importance of Considering Both Quantitative and Qualitative Data”
Author Archives: stilllearning2b
From the Math Classroom to the Boardroom: Keys to Presenting Technical Information Effectively
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.“ Albert Einstein Break Down the Goal In my first year teaching, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry at the entirely vague state standard of “Use linear functions.” I ended up doing neither and instead spent several hours brainstorming all of theContinue reading “From the Math Classroom to the Boardroom: Keys to Presenting Technical Information Effectively”
The Data Don’t Always Say What You Want to Hear: The Role of Cognitive Bias in Data Analysis
“If there’s something you really want to believe, that’s what you should question the most.” Penn Jillette It was 6th grade. I was sitting in the back of a (boring) language arts class when the boy seated next to me – a boy that I’d had a crush on for the entire semester – turnedContinue reading “The Data Don’t Always Say What You Want to Hear: The Role of Cognitive Bias in Data Analysis”
Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Using A/B Testing to Assess Proposed Change
“If you never try, you’ll never know.” The Situation The developer of a phone-based game is concerned about the retention rate of customers who download the game after they saw this graphic in a company presentation. The developer was especially concerned about the customers that churned after the first day. This indicated that they wereContinue reading “Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Using A/B Testing to Assess Proposed Change”
What a Difference a Year Can Make
“If you want to experience significant progress toward your goal, you need to be intentional about the work you’re doing every day.” Anonymous I keep a daily 5-year spiral journal, where each day I am able to see my entries on that same day for the past few years. After a frustrating afternoon a few weeksContinue reading “What a Difference a Year Can Make”
Who Buys the Wine? Using Clustering for Market Segmentation
“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. “ Michael LeBoeuf In order for retailers to maximize customer satisfaction, they first have to understand those customers. Since companies may have thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of customers, that often comes down to dividing customers into related groups and then working toContinue reading “Who Buys the Wine? Using Clustering for Market Segmentation”
Not So Mellow Mushrooms: A Classification Task
On my way home, I noticed a few mushrooms that had sprung up after the rain. They were perfect and intact because everyone knew they were poisonous. — Paulo Coelho With all of the rain lately, I’ve noticed quite a few mushrooms on my daily walks. Some are tall , balancing caps on top of slenderContinue reading “Not So Mellow Mushrooms: A Classification Task”
A Love Letter to Functions
“Programming isn’t about what you know; it’s about what you can figure out.” – Chris Pine It wasn’t love at first sight. When I was first introduced to functions, they seemed perfectly fine, but a little bland. Sort of like that person that your grandmother would be happy for you to bring home – steady, predictableContinue reading “A Love Letter to Functions”
The Problem With Teaching to the Test
“Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. Whether you’re working with students in a classroom or a machine learning algorithm housed on a computer, teaching to the test can haveContinue reading “The Problem With Teaching to the Test”
Do Cloudy Countries Produce More Heavy Metal Music?
Practice With Web Scraping and Data Manipulation Using Python, Pandas and BeautifulSoup “Your curiosity is your growth point. Always.” — Danielle LaPorte It’s been raining quite a bit in Atlanta these past few weeks and I’ve noticed that as the skies become more overcast, my playlist veers heavier and heavier. Which led me to wonder –Continue reading “Do Cloudy Countries Produce More Heavy Metal Music?”
From Teaching to Tech 