Here is a photo from a previous class session, showing what I wrote on the board regarding the least-squares principle. In the illustration below, we're using SAT scores (x-axis) to predict students' first-year college grades (y-axis). The Wikipedia's entries on least-squares and residuals may also be helpful.
I continue to find websites that offer useful explanations of these concepts:
- This one provides a cute, interactive look at the least-squares criterion.
- This one gives a nice overview of residuals.
