or this assignment, you will complete three elements that will be discussed in the next workshop after which you will incorporate them into your final assignment. Before starting this work read the assignment description and elements, think about the audience, and be sure you are clear on the purpose.

Element 1: Develop an introduction

Before you start working on developing your assignment, it is important that you have a clear idea of what you are going to accomplish with this document. A good way to become clear on this is to develop your thesis statement and the introduction into which it will go.

The introduction must accomplish the following:

• Introduces the audience to the topic and its importance. Given the audience you are writing to, first-person is appropriate, as it is your experience as a more advanced student that makes you a credible author. Remember as you develop your introduction that USF students are very diverse in age, life/professional experience, cultural background, and many other ways. You must speak to all of them, not just to the ones that are like you.
• Includes a thesis statement (Links to an external site.) that makes the primary claim you will argue in this handout.
• States how you will use the document to support your argument.
• Present this in a concise, clear paragraph that makes the reader want to read your handout.

Resources to assist you in doing this well can be found on Review professional and general writing resources competencies. Review them to assist you in determining which ones are competencies you will improve with the work in this course.

Work to Submit: An introductory paragraph.

Element 2: The Use of Statistics In [Your Field] * you should start to have an idea of the way that probability and statistics can be used in the fields of our college, including your major. Select several applications that are relevant to your field to research in more detail. To write this well you will need additional sources. These sources should provide you with information that will allow you to provide 2-3 clearly presented examples of how probability and statistics are used in your field. These descriptions can focus on a specific application or provide examples from an organization or company that describes the use of probability and/or statistics. You may NOT use quotations in this work, as this is not considered appropriate in professional work in our fields.

You must use** a minimum of 2 additional sources***, beyond Probability and Statistics in Engineering and Computer Science, for this section. This means you will have a minimum of 6 sources for the entire assignment, 4 of which are provided in this assignment. Extra credit can be earned on IDL 1 Final for the use of sources beyond the minimum required. A The Role of Probability and Statistics in Engineering and Computer Science page with additional sources is included and may be used for the extra credit IF they are well integrated into your work. You may also refer to the page Engineers and Computer Scientists using Probability and Statistics for videos and articles that discuss using probability and statistics in professional work.

*The Use of brackets indicates that you will replace the words inside with ones that are appropriate to you and your work.

**Using a source means that you are synthesizing the ideas from the work of another into the foundations of your work. You will have at least one in-text citation and reference list item using APA formatting.

Work to Submit. For this part of the assignment, you will complete the following for each source you use, including the assigned reading provided.

• An APA formatted reference list item*
• An in-text citation, formatted in APA format*
• For the A brief explanation of
  1. How the article informs the argument you will be making.
  2. How you will use the ideas from the article to support your argument.

*The USF Video you were assigned references several resources as guidance on the formatting of your in-text citations and reference list.

Element 3: Probability and Statistics Literacy will Enhance Your Employability.

For this section of your document you will read, interpret, and use descriptive statistics to make an argument that proficiency with probability and statistics will help students get a job when they graduate using the sources provided, these are:

The Four Career Competencies Employers Value Most (Links to an external site.) by NACE Staff

Are College Graduates "Career Ready"? (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) by NACE Staff

You will find definitions for the competencies in the tables on the webpage What is Career Readiness? (Links to an external site.) By NACE Staff.

Work to Submit: For this part of the assignment, you will complete the following for each source you use, including the four provided.

• An APA formatted reference list item
• An in-text citation formatted in APA format
• For the A brief explanation of
  1. What data from each document you will use to support your argument. You must use numerical data from both documents. The data must be presented in a way that a reader will understand what it means without referencing the two web pages you are using. Do not use any statistical data that is not relevant to your argument. For the source you use for the definition of the competencies list the competency or competencies you believe you will enhance in the probability and statistics course.
  2. How you will use the numerical data to support your argument. For the source you use for the definition of the competencies you will describe the way you will incorporate an understanding of the competency into your final document.

Element 4: Reference List

Create an APA formatted reference list. It is important that your reference listings have the correct information, in the correct order, and that the items and list are formatted correctly. For the reference section, make sure the listings are alphabetized so they can be easily found.