Projects

Three major projects guide your learning throughout the semester. Each project builds on the previous one, connecting mathematical concepts to real-world data analysis.

Project Instructions

Example Project

Practice project to familiarize yourself with the workflow, tools, and specs before starting Project 1.

Project 1: LED Bulb Lifetime

Weeks 1-6 • Model LED bulb degradation using exponential and polynomial functions. Visual fitting, uniroot, and function evaluation.

Project 2: Maximum Likelihood

Weeks 7-10 • Fit models using calculus-based optimization. Derivatives, partial derivatives, and maximum likelihood estimation.

Project 3: Probability Distributions

Weeks 11-13 • Analyze continuous probability distributions. Integration, expected value, variance, and percentiles.

Grading: Specifications (Specs)

Your work must meet all five specs to earn “Complete”:

  1. Project is ready for review — follows submission guidelines, files render correctly
  2. Cohesive analysis provided — narrative connects ideas, proper introductions to code/plots
  3. Work is reproducible — code runs without errors, seed set correctly
  4. Calculations and plots are correct — or have only minor errors
  5. Mathematical notation and terminology used correctly — or with only minor errors

If your work doesn’t meet one or more specs, it will be marked “Revision Needed” and you can revise and resubmit. See Specs Details for examples and clarifications.

Getting Help

TipResources for Success

Probability Reference

For Project 3, you may find this helpful: