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Are We At A Watershed Moment For The Quantitative Literacy Movement?: Review Of Shifting Context, Stable Core: Advancing Quantitative Literacy In Higher Education, By Luke Tunstall, Gizem Karaali, And Victor Piercey, Eds., Maura Mast

Numeracy

Luke Tunstall, Gizem Karaali, and Victor Piercey, eds. 2019. Shifting Concepts, Stable Core: Advancing Quantitative Literacy in Higher Education. Math Notes 88. (Mathematics Association of America, MAA Press). Print ISBN 978-0-88385-198-2. Electronic ISBN 978-1-61444-324-7.

The thematic approach of the edited MAA Notes volume Shifting Contexts, Stable Core: Advancing Quantitative Literacy in Higher Education is that the “construct” of quantitative literacy is now fairly stable, but the contexts in which quantitative literacy is taught (and practiced) continue to change. Several chapters give the reader much to consider regarding what constitutes the foundation of this stable core and, relatedly, how quantitative …

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 …

Finding Meaning In A Multivariable World: A Conceptual Approach To An Algebra-Based Second Course In Statistics, Karen Mcgaughey, Beth Chance, Nathan L. Tintle, Soma Roy, Todd Swanson, Jill Vander Stoep

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Although the teaching of the first course in statistics has improved dramatically in recent years, there has been less focus on a similarly conceptual-based second course aimed at non-majors. We present a curriculum for the second course, designed to expand statistical literacy across disciplines, which focuses on conceptual understanding of multivariable relationships through data visualization, study design, the role of confounding variables, reduction of unexplained variation, and simulation-based inference, rather than the mathematically-based discourse often used in the second course. Our curriculum uses a student-centered pedagogical approach, utilizing guided discovery activities based on real-world case studies, facilitated by student-focused technology …

Developmental Mathematics: A Quantitative Investigation Of Instructor Classification As Related To Student Success, Brittany A. Fish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine what type of predictive power exists between an instructor’s employment classification, student gender, student race, and first-generation status on a student’s academic success in developmental mathematics, as measured by final semester grades at a regionally comprehensive state university in Texas between fall 2013 and spring 2017. Data were collected from the institution under study and the sample population included 1932 unique student observations. The data collected in this study were analyzed through a binary logistic regression model to determine whether an instructor’s employment classification, student gender, student race, and first-generation status …

Mind The Gap: An Initial Analysis Of The Transition Of A Second Level Curriculum Reform To Higher Education, Michael Carr, Fiona Faulkner, Cormac Breen, Mark Prendergast

Articles

This article details an initial analysis of the transition of a second level curriculum reform to higher education in Ireland. The reform entitled ‘Project Maths’ involved changes to what second level students learn in mathematics, how they learn it, and how they are assessed. Changes were rolled out nationally on a phased basis in September 2010. Students who were taught and assessed through the new curriculum first entered third level education in September 2012. It is important that third level mathematics lecturers are aware of the changes to the curriculum since certain topics such as vectors and matrices are no …

Mat-Rix-Toe: Improving Writing Through A Game-Based Project In Linear Algebra, Adam Graham-Squire, Elin Farnell, Julianna Stockton

Elin R Farnell

The Mat-Rix-Toe project utilizes a matrix-based game to deepen students’ understanding of linear algebra concepts and strengthen students’ ability to express themselves mathematically. The project was administered in three classes using slightly different approaches, each of which included some editing component to encourage the improvement of the students’ mathematical thinking and writing. Differences in the implementation of the project illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of various methods of editing in the mathematics classroom and highlight recommendations for improvements in future implementations of the project.

Interview Of Margaret Mccoey, M.S., Margaret M. Mccoey, Matthew Riffe

All Oral Histories

Margaret “Peggy” McCoey is the Director of Graduate Programs in Computer Information Science, Information Technology, and Economic Crime Forensics at La Salle University. Born in the Oxford Circle section of Philadelphia in 1957, Peggy grew up in St. Martin of Tours parish attending their grade school before going to Little Flower High School. After graduation in 1975, Peggy entered La Salle University an undergraduate where she received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Peggy received a master’s degree from Villanova in 1984. Beginning in 1982, Peggy McCoey has taught at La Salle University in some capacity. Throughout the 1990’s, Peggy …

Quantitative Literacy Interventions At University Of Cape Town: Effects Of Separation From Academic Disciplines, Vera Frith

Numeracy

The aim of the Numeracy Centre at the University of Cape Town is to develop students’ quantitative literacy (QL) in a manner consistent with their programmes of study and intended roles in the community. Our theoretical perspective on the nature of QL is in line with that of the New Literacies Studies and sees academic QL as practices in different academic disciplinary contexts. This means that for us the ideal curriculum structure for developing QL would fully integrate it into the teaching of the disciplines. This is in practice not achievable in most cases, especially since many students do not …