Exploring Data: Mean, Median, Mode, and Comparison

Exploring Data: Mean, Median, Mode, and Comparison

Learning Objective

Understand how to calculate the mean, median, and mode of data sets and compare two sets of data using different measures of central tendency.

What do you already know about calculating averages from data sets?

Mean of Data

The mean is the average of a set of numbers, calculated by adding all the numbers and dividing by the count of numbers.

Median of Data

The median is the middle number in a sorted list of numbers. If there is an even count, the median is the average of the two middle numbers.

Mode of Data

The mode is the number that appears most frequently in a data set. A set of data may have one mode, more than one mode, or no mode at all.

Comparing Data Sets

When comparing two data sets, we can use the mean, median, and mode to understand their central tendencies and make comparisons.

Mean vs. Median vs. Mode

Each average serves a different purpose: mean is sensitive to extreme values, median is robust to outliers, and mode indicates the most frequent value.

Interactive Activity: Comparing Data

Present two sets of data and ask students to calculate the mean, median, and mode for each set. Then discuss which measure provides the most insight into the data.

Conclusion

Today, we learned how to calculate the mean, median, and mode of data sets and understand their uses in comparing data.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.