I’ve started a new Scimatics, partner, project called Correlation vs Causation. Throughout this project me and my partner, Nolan, were tasked to make a presentation that showed an answer to the driving question, “How are Correlation and Causation different?”. Within this project we created surveys, data charts, and a presentation. I will be going in-depth on each of these matters throughout this post. I also found the answer to the driving question, which was created throughout the many milestones I completed. 

The first milestone I came in contact with was “Project Start Mind Map”. To complete this milestone everyone around the room was given QFT boards and wrote down informative questions on them. I then went around the classroom to look at other’s QFT board to see what question I could include in my Mind Map. To start off a Mind Map we’re supposed to ask questions that we should be able to answer throughout the project. I feel I asked formative questions that made me curious about what will happen throughout the project and made them connect to different ideas. Then at the end of this project I added another section to answer most of the questions I had.

The second milestone I moved onto was “Correlation Numbers Template”. This milestone was about inserting data into a chart that would calculate a correlation. To receive this data I went around the room and measured everyone’s height and hand size. These were then the two subjects that were calculated and inserted in to a graph. This was an important milestone because I understood the format that I would be using to calculate the results of our survey questions. Overall the correlation I found within this data was a strong positive correlation.

Thirdly, I moved onto milestone three, “Survey Plan”. Within this milestone Nolan and I created a plan of our survey. This plan contained predictive statements as well as questions that would be included in our survey. We sorted them into sections under correlation or causation.

 

This milestone best used the curricular competency “Applying and Innovating”. This competency was used throughout this milestone because I contributed to care for others through collaborative approaches. More specifically, I did this by following good survey ethics by asking questions that would help me find answers to more in-dept questions. I could have improved my use of this curricular competency by having a bigger personal connection to learning. 

We then created and displayed our survey to our specific audience. Once we felt we collected enough data we moved onto the next milestone, “Correlation Graphs”. This milestone was about collecting and displaying our correlation data we found. To display this data we referred back to the survey results and inserted individual results under each question. By doing this we were able to find correlations between certain questions. Nolan and I found many correlations (some weaker than others).

The curricular competency “Communicating and representing” was present throughout this milestone. The way I incorporated this competency into my learning was by using mathematical vocabulary and language to contribute that result in mathematical discussion. I did this by placing results into a graph, which helped me identify types of correlation. I could have improved on this competency by reflecting on more causations present throughout the collective data. Overall I complete this competency with places to grow. 

We then placed all of our survey data, questions and basically the whole process into a presentation. To create an interesting presentation, we used Keynote and used Magic Move. In my opinion that was a great way to enhance the information that was inserted into it. After we presented it to the class we turned it into a YouTube video.

In addition, this milestone best represented my use of the curricular competency “Planing and conducting”. The way I showed a selective use digital equipment to record data was throughout my presentation. The reason I think this is because I collect the data from the survey and incorporated into a detailed keynote presentation. The way I could have improved on this milestone is by incorporating more data based graphs, to so the different correlations that were very weak. Overall I approached this competency with extending opportunities in mind.  

To conclude this project I learnt a lot about correlation and causation. I feel I also demonstrated a sufficient understanding of the curricular competencies for this project. This then lead me to answer the driving question, “How are correlation and causation different”. From the data we’ve collected we came to the conclusion that the difference between correlation and causation is quite clear. For instance, causation directly causes/affects something else. Then correlation is the connection/relation between two variables. The big difference is that correlation is only the connection between data, while causation is when one data point directly affects the other data point.

Thanks for reading!

Alicia 😀