Education Commons^™

Parts Of The Whole: Observing The State Of The System, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

This column draws on the approach of statistician J. Edwards Deming to analyze sources and consequences of variation in an education system. Educational systems are not immune from the effects of poor statistical control, which makes it difficult for teachers to teach effectively and for managers such as principals to improve on school performance. It is also argued that the need for statistical control in these areas is in tension, if not outright conflict, with our goals for educating students.

College Algebra In Context: A Project Incorporating Social Issues, Michael T. Catalano

Numeracy

This paper discusses the development of an innovative college algebra text designed for use in a data-driven, activity-oriented college algebra course, incorporating realistic problem situations emphasizing social and economic issues, including hunger and poverty, energy, and the environment. The course incorporates quantitative literacy themes, is informed by existing college algebra texts within the college algebra reform movement, and implements a collaborative pedagogical approach intended to provide future K-12 teachers an alternative model for the teaching of mathematics. The paper contains a short history of the project development phase, supported by an NSF grant (DUE #0442979), as well as the perceived …

Review Of Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide To Identifying Dubious Data By Joel Best, Joe Swingle

Numeracy

Best, Joel. Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide to Identifying Dubious Data. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008) 144 pp. $19.95. ISBN 1-978-0-520-25746-7.

Stat-Spotting is a practical, do-it-yourself manual for detecting questionable claims reported in the media. Using examples drawn mostly from mass media sources, Stat-Spotting provides readers with a number of useful tips for identifying potentially problematic statistics. The author’s skillful analyses and explanations presented in clear and concise prose make Stat-Spotting an ideal guide for anyone who reads a newspaper, watches television, or surfs the Web. In short, everyone.

Review Of Calculation Vs. Context: Quantitative Literacy And Its Implications For Teacher Education By Bernard L. Madison And Lynn Arthur Steen (Editors), Maura B. Mast

Numeracy

Madison, Bernard L. and Steen, Lynn Arthur (Eds.). Calculation vs. Context: Quantitative Literacy and Its Implications for Teacher Education. (Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America, 2009). 197 pp. Softcover. ISBN 978-0-88385-908-7. Available free on the MAA website at http://www.maa.org/ql/calcvscontext.html

The papers in Calculation vs. Context discuss the role of quantitative literacy in the K-12 curriculum and in teacher education. The papers present a varied set of perspectives and address three themes: the changing environment of education in American society; the challenges, and the necessity, of preparing teachers to teach quantitative literacy and of including quantitative literacy in the K-12 education; …

Engaging Math-Avoidant College Students, M. Paul Latiolais, Wendi Laurence

Numeracy

This paper is an informal, personal account of how we, as two college teachers, became interested in math anxiety, decided to explore it amongst students at our institution in order to inform our teaching, and became convinced that the massive problem is math avoidance. We tried discussion groups, but few students attended, although those that did made useful suggestions. Thus informed, we designed an innovative course, Confronting College Mathematics as a Humanities course with the possibility of credit toward the math requirement, but it was undersubscribed in its first offering and had to be canceled. How can we get college …

Integration With Writing Programs: A Strategy For Quantitative Reasoning Program Development, Nathan D. Grawe, Carol A. Rutz

Numeracy

As an inherently interdisciplinary endeavor, quantitative reasoning (QR) risks falling through the cracks between the traditional “silos” of higher education. This article describes one strategy for developing a truly cross-campus QR initiative: leverage the existing structures of campus writing programs by placing QR in the context of argument. We first describe the integration of Carleton College’s Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge initiative with the Writing Program. Based on our experience, we argue that such an approach leads to four benefits: it reflects important aspects of QR often overlooked by other approaches; it defuses the commonly raised objection that QR is …

Review Of The Chicago Guide To Writing About Numbers By Jane E. Miller, Neil Lutsky

Numeracy

Miller, J. E. 2004. The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 304 pp. Cloth $45 ISBN: 9780226526300, Softcover $17. ISBN: 9780226526317.

The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers is a reference work suitable for anyone interested in understanding, using, or promoting quantitative thinking. Its primary aim is to identify and illustrate ways in which information associated with numbers can be conveyed most effectively given a particular communication purpose and context. The book is directed at writers who incorporate numbers in verbal or visual displays in documents, in oral presentations, or on the Web. The …

Quantitative Literacy On The Web Of Science, 2 – Mining The Health Numeracy Literature For Assessment Items, H L. Vacher, Todd Chavez

Numeracy

A topic search of the Web of Science (WoS) database using the term “numeracy” produced a bibliography of 293 articles, reviews and editorial commentaries (Oct 2008). The citation graph of the bibliography clearly identifies five benchmark papers (1995-2001), four of which developed numeracy assessment instruments. Starting with the 80 papers that cite these benchmarks, we identified a set of 25 papers (1995-2008) in which the medical research community reports the development and/or application of health-numeracy assessments. In all we found 10 assessment instruments from which we have compiled a total of 48 assessment items. There are both general and context-specific …

The Case For Infusing Quantitative Literacy Into Introductory Geoscience Courses, Jennifer M. Wenner, Eric M. Baer, Cathryn A. Manduca, R. Heather Macdonald, Samuel Patterson, Mary Savina

Numeracy

We present the case for introductory geoscience courses as model venues for increasing the quantitative literacy (QL) of large numbers of the college-educated population. The geosciences provide meaningful context for a number of fundamental mathematical concepts that are revisited several times in a single course. Using some best practices from the mathematics education community surrounding problem solving, calculus reform, pre-college mathematics and five geoscience/math workshops, geoscience and mathematics faculty have identified five pedagogical ideas to increase the QL of the students who populate introductory geoscience courses. These five ideas include techniques such as: place mathematical concepts in context, use multiple …