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Science and Mathematics Education

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Journal

2016

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Education

Innumeracy: The Product Of Misrepresentation, Elizabeth Cundiff Feb 2016

Innumeracy: The Product Of Misrepresentation, Elizabeth Cundiff

Missouri S&T’s Peer to Peer

Innumeracy refers to one’s inability to understand mathematics. Or, more simply, innumeracy is mathematical illiteracy. The main problem with innumeracy is the fact that most of society does not see it as a problem. In fact, many people boast about their innumeracy. Consider a table of five people at a restaurant: they split the check and attempt to calculate the tip. More often than not, at least one individual at the table will joke about the fact that they don’t know how to do make that simple calculation. This flippancy toward the prevalence of mathematics has become an accepted norm, …