Education Commons^™

Numeracy Tasks: Inspiring Transfer Between Concrete And Abstract Thinking Spaces, Taras Gula, Miroslav Lovric

Numeracy

In our paper we build a case for conceptualizing numeracy tasks as distinct from mathematical tasks (or at least as a special type of mathematical task), and for abstraction and interpretation as a set of key activities necessary for designating a numeracy task as being high-quality. We start with an attempt to tame the fuzziness of numeracy and its family members (including quantitative reasoning, quantitative literacy, mathematical literacy, and the word problem cousins) by outlining six areas of consensus gleaned from literature. These provide the foundation for a core mandate of numeracy. We then build our case for the distinctness …

Exploring The Relationship Between Quantitative Reasoning Skills And News Habits, Bennett Attaway, John Voiklis, Jena Barchas-Lichtenstein, Eric Hochberg, Jim Hammerman, Uduak Grace Thomas, Nicole Lamarca, Laura Santhanam, Patti Parson

Numeracy

Because people are constantly confronted with numbers and mathematical concepts in the news, we have embarked on a project to create journalism that can support news users’ number skills. But doing so requires understanding (1) journalists’ ability to reason with numbers, (2) other adults’ ability to do so, and (3) the attributes and affordances of news. In this paper, we focus on the relationship between adults’ news habits and their quantitative reasoning skills. We collected data from a sample of 1,200 US adults, testing their ability to interpret statistical results and asking them to report their news habits. The assessment …

Surveying The Landscape Of Numbers In U.S. News, John Voiklis, Jena Barchas-Lichtenstein, Bennett Attaway, Uduak G. Thomas, Shivani Ishwar, Patti Parson, Laura Santhanam, Isabella Isaacs-Thomas

Numeracy

The news arguably serves to inform the quantitative reasoning (QR) of news audiences. Before one can contemplate how well the news serves this function, we first need to determine how much QR typical news stories require from readers. This paper assesses the amount of quantitative content present in a wide array of media sources, and the types of QR required for audiences to make sense of the information presented. We build a corpus of 230 US news reports across four topic areas (health, science, economy, and politics) in February 2020. After classifying reports for QR required at both the conceptual …

Measuring Numeracy: Validity And The Programme For The International Assessment Of Adult Competencies (Piaac), Samuel L. Tunstall

Numeracy

A tension raised in recent scholarship is that between numeracy as a social practice and numeracy as a functional skill set. Such frameworks for conceptualizing numeracy pose a challenge to assessment because what individuals do with numeracy is not the same as what individuals can do (or express) in an assessment setting. This study builds on work related to numeracy assessment through a validity examination of a portion of a well-known assessment: the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). In following a path set out by standards for assessment, I ask: What does the PIAAC numeracy …

Development And Assessment Of A Continuing Education Unit In Quantitative Literacy For High School Stem Teachers, Craig P. Mcclure

Numeracy

Influencing the teaching of quantitative literacy at all levels of education can be difficult due to the many demands placed on educators. In a continuing education course, public high school science teachers participated in a pilot study of a program on quantitative literacy, involving defining quantitative literacy, how it is beneficial to students, examples of quantitative literacy education, and how it may be supported in the science classroom. Surveys administered before and after the unit indicate an improvement in the teachers’ understanding of quantitative literacy, and a follow-up survey indicates that the unit impacted classroom practice. Results support the conclusion …

An Uncommon Textbook: Review Of Common Sense Mathematics By Ethan Bolker And Maura Mast, Bernard Madison

Numeracy

Ethan D. Bolker and Maura B. Mast. 2016. Common Sense Mathematics.(Washington DC.: Mathematics Association of America) ISBN-13: 978-1-93951-210-9.

Common Sense Mathematics is an integrative quantitative reasoning (QR) textbook that is built around scores of exercises derived from authentic circumstances from public media and other public sources. The exercises elicit responses from students requiring extensive communication and analyses and distinguish the book from ones typically encountered in a mathematics or science course. Responses to exercises often require one-half page or more of writing and can occupy considerable class time in discussion. The book has material for a one- or two-semester …

Quantitative Literacy: Now More Than Ever, Gail O. Mellow

Numeracy

This editorial highlights the eloquent words of Drs. Bernard Madison and Lynn Arthur Steen who, in the inaugural issue of Numeracy, note that quantitative literacy (QL) provides “tools for survival” in a highly competitive world. I discuss how QL is desperately needed at a precarious time for our nation’s democracy and how at LaGuardia Community College, and community colleges across the nation, important and creative work is being undertaken to build students’ math skills. The pivotal role of faculty is discussed and a call is made for colleges to support faculty as they undertake the challenging work of building QL …

Why I Believe People Need Painting By Numbers, Jason Makansi

Numeracy

Jason Makansi.2016. Painting By Numbers: How to Sharpen Your BS Detector and Smoke Out the Experts (Tucson AZ: Layla Dog Press). 196 pp. ISBN 978-0998425900.

This piece briefly introduces my Painting By Numbers, which aims to take the core messages of the QL/QR community from academic and professional circles to the rest of the citizenry. I describe the book in the context of the critical need for the most basic numeracy tools to help consumers of news, information, and analysis—delivered through traditional and contemporary social media outlets—determine where a reported numerical result lies on the scale from utter nonsense …