University of Toronto – Faculty of Arts & Science

MAT133: Calculus and Linear Algebra for Commerce

Project #2: Measuring Inequality
Instructions Booklet

Introduction
This project is based on the learning goals from in Weeks 9 - 10. There are four main pieces to the project: the
individual problems, the pod project, the presentation, and the reflective questions. We strongly recommend that
all students finish the individual problems before starting the pod project. This document outlines the instructions
for accessing and submitting each part.

Each part of the project is to be submitted on gradescope.ca. Note that you may re-submit as many times as
you like before the submission deadline. If you resubmit the pod project, you’ll need to re-add your pod members
to your submission each time you resubmit.

• The individual part is due on Tuesday, November 28, at 10pm.

• The first draft of your pod project report will be due on Tuesday, December 5, at 10pm.
• The pod project report is due on Tuesday, January 9, at 10pm.
• Your presentation slides will need to be uploaded to Gradescope by Tuesday, January 9, at 10pm.
• Your presentation will be during your tutorial on January 11-12.
• The reflection questions are to be included with your regular weekly reflections, to be released on Friday,
January 12 and due on Tuesday, January 16, at 10pm.

Caution: Please be sure to always use gradescope.ca for this class and not gradescope.com. If you type
“gradescope” into Google, the first result will be gradescope.com and not gradescope.ca.

Contents
1 Academic Integrity 2
1.1 The Code and the OK List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Your Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Individual Submission 4

3 Pod Project: Measuring Inequality 5

3.1 Description of Project Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2 Report Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3 Collaborating with your Pod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.4 First Draft Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.5 Citations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4 Presentation 8

5 Reflection Questions 10

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1 Academic Integrity
1.1 The Code and the OK List
UofT upholds high standards of academic integrity. It is your responsibility to read and understand the Code of
Behaviour on Academic Matters and to adhere to the list of “OK” resources below.

The OK List
This OK list is a closed list of allowed resources, not just a list of examples. If you are unsure of what you are
allowed to use, do not hesitate to ask on Piazza.

OK: Collaboration with other members of your pod and hive – this is encouraged for all parts of this project
and required for the Pod Project portion.
OK: Anything that can be found on the MAT133 Quercus page
OK: Your own and your hive member’s previous MAT133 work, including any projects, tests, or homework

OK: Your own and your hive members’ notes from this course and your other courses
OK: Any other textbook (online or physical) you have access to
OK: Online learning videos (e.g. Khan Academy)
OK: Data sources including, but not limited to, those listed in Appendix A

OK: General advice on the MAT133 Piazza page (e.g. “Can someone please help me understand RREF?”)
OK: wolframalpha.com, desmos.com, any calculator
OK: Anything else declared as OK in a written announcement by the course coordinator

Examples of Not OK Things

Here are some examples of things that are not OK. These are just examples. Unless something is on the OK
list, it is not OK.
NO: Communicating about the project with anyone not in your hive. This means, for example, that you must
not use group chats to share project content if these group chats involve anyone who is not in your hive.
NO: Asking for answers on Piazza (e.g. “how do you solve Question 2...”)

NO: Accessing or posting on so-called “tutoring websites” like chegg.com or Easy 4.0
NO: Using online forums like stackexchange
NO: Entering the question text into a search engine

An important note on group chats: If you have administration privileges for any online chat that involves
anyone not on your team and in which assignment content is shared, you must delete any non-authorized content
from that group chat as soon as you see it (if this is technologically possible on that platform). Otherwise, you are
considered to have helped someone cheat and therefore committed an academic offence.

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1.2 Your Statement
As part of your individual project submission, you’ll include an abbreviated statement to Gradescope that implies
the following.

In submitting this assessment ... In short

... I confirm that my conduct on this project adheres to the Code I know the Code.
of Behaviour on Academic Matters.
... I confirm that I have not acted in such a way that would consti- I didn’t cheat.
tute cheating, misrepresentation, or unfairness, including but not
limited to, using unauthorized aids and assistance, impersonating
another person, and committing plagiarism.
... I confirm that the work I am submitting in my name is my This is my work.
own work. The work submitted for the pod project is the work of
myself and my pod.
... I confirm that I have only used the aids marked as approved I only used “OK” aids.
in the “OK List”.

Abbreviated Academic Integrity Statement

On the front page of your individual submission, you’ll be asked to handwrite and sign the abbreviated academic
integrity statement, as follows:
“I have read the project instructions. I know the Code. I didn’t cheat. This is my work. I only used “OK” aids. I
pledge upon my honour that I have not violated the Code during this assessment.”
Include your student ID number, the date, and your signature at the bottom. Here is an example:

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2 Individual Submission
The individual problems are to be completed by each student individually. The deadline for the individual problems
will be on Tuesday, November 28 at 10pm. Please complete the individual problems before starting the pod
project. You are allowed and encouraged to discuss these problems with other members of your hive, but you must
write your own solution for submission.

Please note the following general policies for the individual problems:

• Write directly onto the template, either by using a digital tablet or by printing, writing on paper, and
scanning.
– If you use a digital tablet, please be sure that your app does not modify the template in any way or add
extra margins. Do not use Microsoft OneNote, because it adds extra margins and removes page breaks.
The following apps work well: PDF Expert, Notability, GoodNotes.
– If you print the template and write onto it in pen or pencil, then you may use the Gradescope Mobile
App to scan and upload to Gradescope.
• Once your file is submitted to Gradescope, please review your submission to make sure that it’s readable,
the pages are in the correct order, and that the answer boxes for each question line up with the template in
Gradescope (approximately), by clicking on each question.

• If we have difficulty reading your submission, please note that (a) we cannot provide credit if we are unable
to read your work and (b) penalties of up to 20% of the point total may be applied if the graders needs to
take extra effort to mark your paper due to submission issues (such as unordered pages). In the latter case,
you may need to submit regrade requests for each question before the regrade deadline, in order to request
for us to find your answers in an improperly formatted submission.

• Explain all your steps. Your solution should be easy to read and understand by any other student in the class.
• Always state your final answer in the form of a sentence, including units wherever applicable.
• Write clearly and concisely in a linear fashion. Do not submit messy scrapwork.

The individual problems will be accessed and submitted on gradescope.ca.

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3 Pod Project: Measuring Inequality
Collaboration Instructions: This part of the project is to be completed in your pods. You should collaborate
as a group on all parts of this project and you may organize the work however you’d like. However, for the first
three parts we recommend everyone work through the calculations together, then designating one person (as usual)
to be primarily responsible for the write-up on each part.
• If your pod has 3 members, then you may assign one member to write up each of parts (a), (b) and (c).

• If your pod has 4 members, then we recommend that two pod members work as a pair on writing up (a),
while one person writes up (b) and another writes up (c).
• In either case, all pod members should be involved in part (d). Please work together and split up the writing
as you see fit.
Important: Please be sure to also add all contributing pod members’ names to your Gradescope submission.

3.1 Description of Project Tasks

(a) Computing Gini Coefficients for a Country: Your pod will need to choose a country to study. Each pod
must choose one country that is different from the countries chosen by other pods in their hive. You should
start your report with a brief paragraph describing the country and explaining why your pod chose it to study.
In the Quercus page for Project 2, you’ll find income distribution data for each of the above countries. This
data is taken from the World Inequality Database. The data set represents the Lorenz curve for your country
by year. For each percentage x, the data set shows what fraction of the total country’s income is earned by
the lowest-earning x% of the population.
Your pod’s first task (a) is to estimate the Gini coefficient for your pod’s chosen country for four years: 1992,
2002, 2012 and 2022. (Hint: Use the definition that you found in the individual part of the project. Your
definition should involve an integral. You should be calculating a Riemann sum to approximate this integral,
in Excel. Ask for help if you’re not sure about your definition of the Gini coefficient.) Each person in the pod
should do a calculation for 1 year.
After your pod has finished their calculations, you should include a “snippet” of the first 10 rows and last
10 rows of your spreadsheet in your report to show your calculations. You should include any new calculated
columns used in the calculation. Explain your calculations by showing in full detail how you calculated the
Gini coefficient in at least one year. Include a figure to supplement your explanation.
To summarize:
• Download the data set from Quercus.
• Each pod should choose a country to study and write a brief paragraph describing the country and
explaining why your pod chose it to study.
• In the “Country info” tab in the data set, find the two-letter country code for your country.
• In the “Pivot” tab in the data set, enter your two-letter country code into cell B2. (If successful, the
name of your country should appear in C2.)
• Copy the data for each year that you’re calculating the Gini coefficient into a new spreadsheet.
• In your report, include a snippet of your spreadsheet (first and last 10 rows) and a brief explanation your
calculations in plain English so that the reader can understand how you calculated your Gini coefficients.
Include a figure to supplement your explanation.

(b) Graphing the Gini Coefficient as a Function of Time: Extend the work your pod started in part (a)
by calculating the Gini coefficient for more years. Try to choose a range of years with a consistent spacing
between them, as long you have such data available. (If you are unable to do this, please explain why.) Use
your extended data set to create a graph of your country’s Gini coefficient as a function of time. Be sure that
your graph is well-labelled. Write a paragraph to interpret and discuss your results.

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(c) Comparing Lorenz curves: While the Gini coefficient provides a useful summary of how inequality has
changed in your country over time, it does not show the complete picture. Use your data from (a) to graph
your country’s Lorenz curves for each of the four years. Please plot all four Lorenz curves on the same axes
for easier comparison and be sure to label them carefully. Write a short paragraph comparing the four graphs
and interpreting your results.
(d) Explore Inequality Further: The Gini coefficient is a common measure of inequality, used around the
world. In your pod, discuss with each other what countries and/or times you might be interested in finding
the Gini coefficient for and why. (For example, are you interested in seeing whether the Gini coefficient has
been increasing or decreasing in a certain country? Are you interested about comparing the Gini coefficients
among certain countries? Why?) Then search the internet to see if you can find some interesting data, graphs
or other data visualizations involving the Gini coefficient. (You may consider checking the OECD or World
Bank websites as a start, but you are not limited to these sources.) If you find raw data only, please create
your own visualisation. Choose or create at least one graph or data visualization(s) that you find interesting.
In the report, include the following for Part (d):
• Screenshot(s) of the graph(s) or other data visualization(s) involving Gini coefficients that you found
interesting;
• Cite the source(s), including authors, titles, date of publication, and links where applicable;
• Paragraphs explaining the following:
– the reason(s) why you are interested in the graph/visualization(s);
– what you learned from the graph/visualization(s);
– one aspect of the graph/visualisation(s) that helps to effectively communicate its results graphically;
– at least one further question that you’d like to investigate further after looking at this graph/visualization.
Your writing should use language from MAT133 and should be easy to read and understand by any other
student in the course.

3.2 Report Instructions

• Please include a cover page that lists the names, student IDs and UofT email addresses of all pod members
who contributed to the project.
• Please also include all contributing pod members on your submission in Gradescope. The list of collaborators
in Gradescope should match the names on the cover page.
• On the other hand, do not include the names of any pod members who didn’t contribute to your project work.
• As usual, your submission must be in the form of a single pdf.
• You will be asked to select which pages correspond to which section. It is very important that you select these
pages; otherwise your report is very difficult for us to grade. You will lose points if you skip this step.

• IMPORTANT: Please make sure to pay special attention to your pod’s writing to ensure its quality
and clarity on this report. Your report should be a stand-alone document. A reader proficient with the
learning goals of MAT133 should be able to read, enjoy, and understand your report, without having read
this instructions booklet. In particular:
– Include appropriate headers on each section. Do not simply copy/paste the project instructions.
– Integrate mathematics in your paragraphs. For example, please don’t include a wall of calculations
without any context, then add a paragraph below. The calculations should flow with your writing so
that the reader always understands what you’re doing and why. For tips on incorporating mathematical
formulas into your reports and presentations, please view the guide on this topic written by Head TA
Luke Volk, in the Projects module.
– Integrate figures in your paragraphs and label them appropriately. As for equations, figures
should not be placed into your report without any written context provided. Please integrate your figures
with your writing. Always make sure that your figures are properly labeled; if including a graph, be sure
to label all axes appropriately, including units.

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 – Formatting your citations: Please use the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style
described in Section 3.5.
– Ensure cohesion: It is important that the different sections of your report are cohesive with one
another, even if the primary author for each section was different. You are all responsible for the full
report, so it is important to give each other feedback

3.3 Collaborating with your Pod

Start working on the project at least a week before the first draft deadline.

When your pod first starts working on the project together, have a conversation about your plan going forward.
Discuss and reach a consensus on each of the following:

• Internal deadlines, so that you can share feedback and make improvements to your project based on this
feedback well in advance of the course deadline. For example, you might set a first deadline for pod members
to give feedback on what they’ve done so far on the first draft, a second deadline for making improvements
according to feedback, and a third deadline for everyone to review the final submission and make any last
suggestions or edits before the report deadline.
• Consequences for not meeting internal deadlines.

• Meeting times outside of class.

• Methods of communication.
• Delegation of tasks and responsibilities for all pod members.

Make sure that you submit a first draft of your full report, so that you can receive helpful feedback from a TA, as
described below.

Inform us within one day of the first draft deadline if you are experiencing communication issues with your pod, as
outlined below.

3.4 First Draft Instructions

The same instructions for the report apply to the first draft. Your pod will be given credit for submitting a complete
first draft (including ALL sections), even if it may not be fully polished. This will allow us to give you some feedback
on what you have so far, to help you improve before submitting your actual report. In particular, please be sure
that you include an explanation of your calculations and a figure to support your explanation.

On the cover page of your first draft, you are welcome to include one specific question or request for
feedback from the TA who will look at your first draft. The feedback will be provided within four days so
that you will be able to use it to improve your final draft.

We believe that all students will be supportive and communicative pod collaborators! However, if a student
in your pod doesn’t communicate with their pod and/or doesn’t contribute to the project before the first draft
deadline, then the pod may need to move forward with the project without that student, after emailing us at
admin133@math.toronto.edu to inform us of the situation. Only students who contribute to the project should be
included on the title page and on the Gradescope submission. If you have questions about a challenging situation in
your pod, please reach out to us at admin133@math.toronto.edu no later than the day after the first draft deadline
of December 5.

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3.5 Citations
When you cite sources in your report, we ask you to please use the American Psychological Association (APA)
citation style. Here is a brief guide on using the APA citation style, which has been adapted from https://
libguides.csudh.edu/citation/apa-7 by Withorn and Caffrey.

• For in-text citations, the basic format is to write (Author’s Last Name(s) or Organization, Year).
For example,

According to Shavers (2007), limitations of studying socioeconomic status in research on health disparities
include...

• For a direct quotation, introduce the quote with the above method and also include a page number. For
example,

Shavers and Tulson (2010) found that ”Among the limitations to studying how socioeconomic status
impacts research on disparities in healthcare outcomes are...” (p. 1021).

Direct quotes should be used only sparingly!

• For the References section at the end of your paper, organize the items by the author’s last name in alphabetic
(A-Z) order and use a hanging indent to separate each list item. The basic format should be: LastName,
FirstInitial, & LastName, FirstInitial (Date). Title of the work. Source where you can retrieve the work.
URL or DOI if available.
For example,

Ashing-Giwa, K. T., Padilla, G., Tejero, J., Kraemer, J., Wright, K., Coscarelli, A., Clayton, S., Williams,
I., & Hills, D. (2004). Understanding the breast cancer experience of women: A qualitative study
of African American, Asian American, Latina and Caucasian cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology,
13(6), 408-428. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.750

Rogers, O. (2021, July 9). Why naming race is necessary to undo racism. Psychology Today. https://www.
psychologytoday.com/us/blog/who-am-i-who-are-we/202107/why-naming-race-is-necessary-undo-
racism

Schmidt, N. A., & Brown, J. M. (2017). Evidence-based practice for nurses: Appraisal and application
of research (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.

4 Presentation
NEW! All instructions for the presentation are the same as for Project 1, except for one change: this time,
we’ll ask you to please write down your questions for each pod during or shortly after their presentation.
Rather than rushing the discussions, we’ll instead provide you with some time at the end of the tutorial or
during the following tutorial to discuss your presentations. Marks will be provided for bringing your questions
and engaging in the discussion.

The presentation is based on your pod project. Your pod will present your project to the rest of your hive. Each
member of your pod will briefly discuss the part of the project that they are responsible for.

Your pod’s presentation will consist of two pieces: your slide presentation and the hive discussion. In order to
present, you or your TA will be sharing to one of the screens via HDMI. If you have an HDMI adapter for connect-
ing your laptop or tablet to the screen, please bring it.

Your slide presentation will be 8 minutes long. That means each member of your pod should speak for 2 minutes.
The 8 minute limit will be enforced, so that all pods have sufficient time to present. Make sure to practice before-
hand so you don’t overrun.

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Hive discussion: Please write down your questions for each pod. You will be given an opportunity at
the end of the tutorial or during the following following tutorial to ask your questions and engage in
thoughtful discussion. To get the conversation started on your own presentation, your pod should also prepare
at least 1-2 guiding discussion questions.

Your pod will need to prepare a slideshow to run alongside your presentation. This should include any visual
representations you created in your project. You will submit this to Gradescope by Tuesday, January 9, at 10pm,
along with your project report. Your slides must be submitted in the form of a PDF document. If you
only provide a link to access your slides (e.g. in Google Drive or OneDrive), they will not be graded.

Tips:

• Practice beforehand! Set up a meeting with your pod and practice the entire presentation. Make sure
that everyone is comfortable with their part and that the presentation doesn’t take more than 8 minutes.

• Don’t speak too quickly. If you speak too quickly, your hive will find it difficult to understand you. It is
better to focus on the key points from your project than try to discuss every detail.
• Choose one person to share slides from their device. Make sure to practice so the person sharing
slides knows when to go to the next slide!

Grading (out of 10 in total)

Individual Performance (out of 5):

• Presence (1): Arrive on time and don’t leave early. Give your full attention to the presentation at hand; put
your phone and any other devices away, so as not to be distracted.
• Discussion (1): Engage in hive discussion after each pod’s presentation. Ask questions! Give feedback.
• Mathematics (1): Discuss any relevant concepts from the course, using accurate mathematical language.

• Coherence (1): Your pod’s presentation must be coherent. Your segment of the presentation should connect
with the rest of your pod’s presentation.
• Accessibility to Audience (1): The rest of your hive should be able to understand your presentation. Avoid
using unnecessary jargon.

Pod Performance and Slides (5):

• Mathematics (2): You must relate your pod’s project to relevant concepts from the course and use precise
mathematical language.
• Content (1): Your slideshow should summarise the work your pod did in your project and how this answers
the questions in the project instructions.

• Style (2): Your slides should not be overly packed with information. They should show clear graphs or other
visuals where possible. Text should consist of concise bullet points, rather than paragraphs.
Your individual performance marks will be posted to Quercus, whereas your pod performance will be provided on
your slides in Gradescope.

Here are some additional tips from past students:

• Do not pack your slides with lots of text or equations! The most effective slides are concise. They may include
a visualization and/or a few brief bullet points, but not a full paragraph.
• When you include graphs, be sure that they are well-labelled, including axis labels and units.

• Do not read from your notes or your phone.

• Make eye contact with your audience.

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Are you ready for your pod presentation? Use the checklist below to be sure.

□ Slides - submitted as a PDF to Gradescope by 22:00 on Tuesday

□ Discussion questions for your hive

□ Practice, on your own and with your pod
□ A pod member designated to share the slides
□ If you have an HDMI adapter, you brought it with you to the presentation

5 Reflection Questions
Reflection is key to learning from experiences. As usual, you will complete a weekly reflection in Quercus. The
questions posted on the Friday after presentations will be based on your experiences with this project.

Your grade on the reflection questions will be based on your efforts to thoughtfully reflect on each question, accord-
ing to the instructions provided. While we do ask that you write in full English sentences, we will not judge your
grammar or syntax. Please don’t worry too much about writing perfectly! Think of it as being like a journal entry.

The estimated time to complete these questions is approximately 30 minutes.

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