Tables and Graphs

Roger Williams Girls Basketball Statistics
Year	Wins	Loses	Total Games Played
2009-10	9	17	26
2008-09	7	18	25
2007-08	12	14	26
2006-07	12	14	26
2005-06	8	18	26
2004-05	15	11	26

#1 Bar Graph



#2 Column Graph

 #3 Line Graph

#4 Revised Column Graph

Roger Williams Mens Basketball Statistics
Year	Wins	Loses	Total Games Played
2009-10	12	13	25
2008-09	12	14	26
2007-08	17	11	28
2006-07	15	11	26
2005-06	12	14	26
2004-05	15	12	27

#1 Column Graph

#2 Column Graph Revised

#3 Line Graph

Total Percent of Games Won: Men vs. Women

Year	Men	Women
2009-10	48	34.6
2008-09	46.1	28
2007-08	60.7	46.1
2006-07	57.6	46.1
2005-06	46.1	30.7
2004-05	55.5	57.6
total	52.5	40.6

Percent of Games Won Between 2004-2010

 Percent of Games Won Between 2004-2010

Total Percent Games Won Between 2004-2010

	Men	Women
Total Percent Won	52.5	40.6

For my graphs I first decided to show the stats for the Girls Basketball team at RWU.  This is shown in the graphs for the Girls.  The graphs that I did for the girls were best seen in a column graph.  After deciding the column graph was best, I thought that there was something wrong with the graph.  I decided that I did not need the total games played in the column graph because the information was useless.  Though I thought that the column graph was the lightest on the cognitive load, I thought the line graph was very interesting.  The graph appeared symmetrical and clearly showed where there were more wins, there were less losses.  I thought the colors that were used, blue and red, were also very clear for the brain to interpret.  Wins were represented as blue, and red were losses.  Red usually represents something bad, and a loss is considered bad most of the time.  I did the same graphs for the stats of the mens team. 

After I decided to graph the stats for both the men and the womens team, I decided that I wanted to compare the two. At first I made a chart to compare the data over the years.  I did the total percentage of games each the men and the women won between the years of 2004-2010.  I thought that both the column graph and the line graph were interesting ways to show the date.  I like the column graph because it clearly showed a comparison between the percentage of games won.  I thought the line graph was interesting because it shows the coorelation of the two teams during the same years.  It shows that each the men and the womens teams seemed to have a high or low amount of wins during the same years, which I found ironic.  As for the colors, I decided to continue with the red and the blue.  The blue was used to represent the men, and the red the women, typical colors of those genders.

The final chart I did represents the total percentage of games won between 2004-2010 as a whole, not showing the years.  It shows in total that the men won more games than the women during that chunk of time and concludes that the RWU men's basketball team is the better of the two teams.

If I had to choose a graph that best represents all of my data, I would probably choose the line graph that compares the men and the women.  It is a good representation because we are also able to see how well the two teams did during the same year, and the curve of how well they did or didn't do.  A line graph is also used to show a coorelation over time.

Watch Me

Toasting A Pop-Tart (Comedian-Brian Reagan)

Flowchart

Try #1, Ebay Flowchart

For my flow chart I first decided to draw the steps to buy a product on Ebay. With this particular chart I found that when I was drawing out the steps, I was making them too simple.  But logging on to a website such as Ebay is supposed to be simple and user friendly, right?  Anyways, after I decided to ditch that chart in the bag, I moved on and decided to do a flow chart on how to search for a book on Amazon.  It seemed to be a little more easier to do, and somewhat less complex with the steps, not that Ebay was really hard, just ambiguos. 

Tre\y #2, Amazon Flowchart

When drawing my new map I was sure to use the right symbols and tried to carefully choose my steps in which to order the process.  I found that the easy way to figure out the steps was to log on to the Amazon website and actually do it myself.  When I did this I wrote down the steps then proceeded to draw my flow chart.  I tried not to leave out any important steps, but I also tried not to state the overly obvious.  Though the flow chart is very long, there are many steps in ordering a book off of a webpage, especially Amazon when they give you more than one selection in many areas (the book you are searching, whether you want it new or used, if you are a member of the site, where you want things shipped and how you want them shipped, etc, etc.). 

When drawing my flow chart, I was unsure whether or not I wanted to use colors.  There are some charts that do use colors and others that do not.  In my flow chart I ended up deciding that I did not want to use colors.  I thought that it would confuse the reader more, especially because there are already enough steps for them to follow.

For my third flow chart, I decided to show how to search on Google Scholar.  This process was easier than that of the Amazon.  It could possibly have been easier to show because the way the website was set up.  The Google website seemed to have less steps and not as many options that needed many decisions.  I feel as though the Google site had many steps that were able to repeat, whereas on Amazon you find the book in typically one search and you proceed to checkout, etc, but on Google scholar you have to continuously search the products that the search retreives.  There are more repetitive steps in the process.

Visual Essay

Original

 

For my visual essay I chose to reconstruct the instructions of how to toast a pop-tart.  It took me forever to finally decide which image I was going to use to edit.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to simplify an idea or make a simple graphic more complex.  I chose to make a simple visual more complex.  With the instruction that are typically on the side of a pop-tart box, which is three or four simple steps, I turned it into a more visual, step-by-step graphic.  Instead of just showing the picture of the pop-tarts in the toaster, I showed more words and steps with more graphics of what the process should look like. 

With the old graphic I thought that it was very plain and simple and wouldn't be very easy for a child or person using the product who didn't know how to read.  When I made my new model, I used more color and representations of actual materials that one would find in their kitchen.  I also used the actual pop-tart label and pictures of pop-tarts so that a user would actually know what the pastry looked like.  The main reason I redid this particular graphic was because I wanted the graphics and the written instructions to correspond and relate.

In my first reiteration of the instructional diagram I originally drew it by hand.  Then I decided that maybe it would be better if it wasn't a cartoon because a user would more clearly recognize such materials.  It was also easier to incorporate the actual colors used in the products.

How to make spaghetti!

 

 For this assignment we were asked to draw or show how to make spaghetti without using words.  This task was very similar to that of the lawn care assignment.  When drawing out the process we had to make sure that there were no words used and that anyone would be able to understand the meaning of an action or a picture.  I found that it was easiest to write out the steps needed to make spaghetti.  Although the process of boiling water and using specific pans may seem easy to say or depict, there were also a bunch of little ideas that a person may need to understand.  I found that it was not as easy as I intended for it to be. 

In my pictures, I first started off by showing a table setting and the time of day in which spaghetti may be made, at 6pm, prime dinner time.  Though it was not specifically stated that spaghetti can only be made at 6 o'clock, it was just a suggestion. 

In the next few boxes I decided to separate the supplies needed.  I did this by using a box for food and a box for materials, such as pots, pans, and spoons.  I also showed what other appliances would be needed in the next boxes and what should be done with those appliances; such as turning on the stove and using the sink to fill the pot with water.

After I tried to show the process of boiling water, and continued to show what the boiling process looked like so one would know that boiling water consists of bubbling water.   Then I proceeded to show the specific brand of spaghetti common to most, Barilla, being poured into the pot.  I decided to show a timer to show the amount of time that it typically takes for a pot of spaghetti to cook.  I tried to show when the timer went off by using the common idea of music notes and the bright stars and jagged lines to show that something was happening in the picture--the idea that a loud noise was being made to alert someone.

When drawing my diagram I found that I used alot of the same concepts; the alarm, showing things being put places, and arrows for movement of objects.  It was all very simple and similar because when making something I found that one tends to use similar repetative movements.

I am unsure though if my diagrams split up into different pictures is more or less confusing ( I really just couldn't fit the whole process on one sheet of paper and found it easier to divide each into sections for the drawings of steps.)  I also do not know if it would have been easier for someone to understand if I were to have used arrows showing which direction the steps went in or not.