Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Reducing Math Anxiety: Findings From Incorporating Service Learning Into A Quantitative Reasoning Course At Seattle University, Allison Henrich, Kristi Lee

Numeracy

How might one teach mathematics to math-anxious students and at the same time reduce their math anxiety? This paper describes what we found when we incorporated a service learning component into a quantitative reasoning course at Seattle University in Fall 2010 (20 students) and Spring 2011 (28 students). The course is taken primarily by humanities majors, many of whom would not take a course in math if they didn’t need to satisfy the university’s core requirement. For the service learning component, each student met with and tutored children at local schools for 1-2 hours per week (total about 15 service …

Quantitative Reasoning In The Contemporary World, 3: Assessing Student Learning, Stuart Boersma, Caren Diefenderfer, Shannon W. Dingman, Bernard L. Madison

Numeracy

In this third paper in a series describing the Quantitative Reasoning in the Contemporary World course, the authors provide an adaptation of the Association of American Colleges and Universities quantitative literacy VALUE rubric. Describing achievement levels in six core competencies (interpretation, representation, calculation, analysis/synthesis, and communication), the resulting Quantitative Literacy Assessment Rubric (QLAR) is applicable to grading student work and has exhibited a high degree of reliability in two separate scoring tests (97% and 88% respectively). The distribution of the six core competencies across the 24 case studies in the authors’ quantitative reasoning casebook shows that interpretation, calculation, and analysis/synthesis …

Constructivist And Behaviorist Approaches: Development And Initial Evaluation Of A Teaching Practice Scale For Introductory Statistics At The College Level, Rossi A. Hassad

Numeracy

This study examined the teaching practices of 227 college instructors of introductory statistics from the health and behavioral sciences. Using primarily multidimensional scaling (MDS) techniques, a two-dimensional, 10-item teaching-practice scale, TISS (Teaching of Introductory Statistics Scale), was developed. The two dimensions (subscales) are characterized as constructivist and behaviorist; they are orthogonal. Criterion validity of the TISS was established in relation to instructors’ attitude toward teaching, and acceptable levels of reliability were obtained. A significantly higher level of behaviorist practice (less reform-oriented) was reported by instructors from the U.S., as well as instructors with academic degrees in mathematics and engineering, whereas …

Quantitative Literacy At Michigan State University, 2: Connection To Financial Literacy, Dennis Gilliland, Vince Melfi, Alla Sikorskii, Edward Corcoran, Eleanor Melfi

Numeracy

The lack of capability of making financial decisions has been recently described for the adult United States population. A concerted effort to increase awareness of this crisis, to improve education in quantitative and financial literacy, and to simplify financial decision-making processes is critical to the solution. This paper describes a study that was undertaken to explore the relationship between quantitative literacy and financial literacy for entering college freshmen. In summer 2010, incoming freshmen to Michigan State University were assessed. Well-tested financial literacy items and validated quantitative literacy assessment instruments were administered to 531 subjects. Logistic regression models were used to …

Quantitative Literacy At Michigan State University, 1: Development And Initial Evaluation Of The Assessment, Alla Sikorskii, Vince Melfi, Dennis Gilliland, Jennifer Kaplan, Suzie Ahn

Numeracy

Development, psychometric testing, and the results of the administration of a quantitative literacy (QL) assessment to undergraduate students are described. Three forms were developed covering a wide range of skills, contexts, and quantitative information presentation formats. Following item generation and revision based on preliminary testing and cognitive interviewing, a total of 3,701 consented undergraduate students at Michigan State University completed one of the three forms. Two of the forms contained 14 multiple-choice items, and one form contained 17 multiple-choice items. All forms were completed by students in less than 30 minutes. Evidence of validity and reliability were obtained for the …

Development Of An Assessment Of Quantitative Literacy For Miami University, Rose Marie Ward, Monica C. Schneider, James D. Kiper

Numeracy

Quantitative Literacy is a competence as important as general literacy; yet, while writing requirements are seemingly ubiquitous across the college curriculum, quantitative literacy requirements are not. The current project provides preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of a quantitative literacy measure suitable for delivery online. A sample of 188 undergraduate students from Miami University, a midsize university in the midwestern U.S., participated in the current study. Scores on the measure, were inversely related to statistical/mathematical anxiety measures, directly related to subjective assessment of numeracy, and did not differ across gender or year in school. The resulting measure provides a …

Communicating Quantitative Literacy: An Examination Of Open-Ended Assessment Items In Timss, Nals, Ials, And Pisa, Karl W. Kosko, Jesse L. M. Wilkins

Numeracy

Quantitative Literacy (QL) has been described as the skill set an individual uses when interacting with the world in a quantitative manner. A necessary component of this interaction is communication. To this end, assessments of QL have included open-ended items as a means of including communicative aspects of QL. The present study sought to examine whether such open-ended items typically measured aspects of quantitative communication, as compared to mathematical communication, or mathematical skills. We focused on public-released items and rubrics from four of the most widely referenced assessments: the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS-95): the National Adult Literacy …

A Quantitative Literacy View Of Natural Disasters And Nuclear Facilities, C. B. Connor

Numeracy

The March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Tohoku, Japan, highlights the need to improve quantitative literacy (QL) in natural hazard assessment. A critical understanding of natural hazard assessments requires a sophisticated perspective on the mathematical and statistical tools used to estimate the odds of disaster, and the roles of data quality, model development, and subjective probability in estimation of uncertainty. Thus, improved QL is a basic requirement for improved decision-making about the safety of critical infrastructure, such as nuclear facilities.

A Leap Forward For Quantitative Literacy, H. L. Vacher

Numeracy

The Association of American College and Universities’ Learning Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative has identified quantitative literacy (QL) as one of its Essential Learning Outcomes and classified it amongst five other Intellectual and Practical Skills such as inquiry and analysis, critical and creative thinking, and written and oral communication. This brings to mind a spreadsheet in which these transdisciplinary intellectual and practical skills are rows and academic disciplines are columns. With the view that the learning outcome QL is a row crossing mathematics and other disciplinary columns, this editorial considers how the papers in this and previous issues of …

Parts Of The Whole : Cognition, Schemas, And Quantitative Reasoning, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

Based loosely on ideas of Jean Piaget and Richard Skemp, this Parts of the Whole column considers the construction of knowledge in mathematics and quantitative reasoning. Examples are chosen that illustrate an important cognitive difference between quantitative numeracy and classical mathematics, and which illuminate the particular choices instructors must make in order to teach either or both of these.

Four Popular Books On Consumer Debt: A Context For Quantitative Literacy, Andrew J. Miller

Numeracy

The topics of credit cards, mortgages, subprime lending, and fringe banking are rich sources of problems and discussions for classes focused on quantitative literacy. In this theme book review, we look at four recent books on the consumer debt industry: Credit Card Nation, by Robert Manning; Maxed Out, by James Scurlock; Collateral Damaged, by Charles Geisst; and Broke, USA, by Gary Rivlin. Credit Card Nation takes a scholarly look at the history of credit in America with a focus on the genesis and growth of the credit card industry up to the turn of the 20th century. Maxed Out also …

Personal And Professional Numeracy: A Unit For Pre-Service Teachers At The University Of Tasmania, Jane M. Watson

Numeracy

This paper addresses issues associated with the development of a unit preparing pre-service teachers to be quantitatively literate in three respects. These issues surround (i) the need to be aware of numeracy demands across the curriculum, (ii) the need to model numerate behavior in all interactions of teachers, and (iii) the need to be able to interpret and use system data provided from local and national testing programs. The context for the unit described is Australia, where a national testing program for literacy and numeracy requires teachers to analyze extensive data on their students, a national curriculum requires teachers of …

Go Figure: Calculus Students' Use Of Figures And Graphs In Technical Report Writing, Thomas J. Pfaff, Michael Rogers, Ali Erkan, Jason G. Hamilton

Numeracy

Understanding how to read and use graphs to communicate scientific and mathematical information is critical for STEM majors, as well as an important part of quantitative literacy. Our study suggests that first-semester calculus students do not know how to use graphs in a technical report without explicit instruction. Although not a surprising result, it leaves us wondering about when such skills are developed, and if calculus I is a place to start. Our work is now exploring the potential benefit on students' use of graphs by having them formally evaluate other students' reports.

Review Of Sex, Drugs And Body Counts: The Politics Of Numbers In Global Crime And Conflict, Edited By Peter Andreas And Kelly M. Greenhill, Aaron G. Montgomery

Numeracy

Andreas, Peter, and Greenhill, Kelly M. (Eds.). Sex, Drugs, and Body Counts: The Politics of Numbers in Global Crime and Conflict, (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010). 287 pp. ISBN 978-0-8014-4861-4 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-8014-7618-1 (pbk).

The ten scholarly papers in Sex, Drugs and Body Counts explore the generation and propagation of numbers that drive policy decisions in the U.S. government regarding human trafficking, drug trade, and armed conflict (including the war on terror). Each of these papers, written by different authors, provides an illuminating insight into how some of the numbers we hear or read in the news are derived. …

Reflections On The Tenth Anniversary Of Mathematics And Democracy, Lynn Arthur Steen, Bernard L. Madison

Numeracy

Two independent reflections by early proponents of quantitative literacy connect today's numeracy initiative with its origin in concern about school tests, its impact on students today, and the challenges of democracy. Even as interest in QL grows in many places, evidence of need also grows. Moreover, well-meaning programs with other goals—especially at the K-12 level—often channel education in directions that fail to advance numeracy. Examples show that both students and teachers are enthusiastic when offered QL opportunities, but that individual beliefs and public decisions often belie the goals of QL.

Calculus, Biology And Medicine: A Case Study In Quantitative Literacy For Science Students, Kim Rheinlander, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

This paper describes a course designed to enhance the numeracy of biology and pre-medical students. The course introduces students with the background of one semester of calculus to systems of nonlinear ordinary differential equations as they appear in the mathematical biology literature. Evaluation of the course showed increased enjoyment and confidence in doing mathematics, and an increased appreciation of the utility of mathematics to science. Students who complete this course are better able to read the research literature in mathematical biology and carry out research problems of their own.

Spreadsheets Across The Curriculum, 2: Assessing Our Success With Students At Eckerd College, Laura Reiser Wetzel

Numeracy

The Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum (SSAC) library consists of activities to reinforce or teach quantitative literacy or mathematical concepts and skills in context. Each SSAC “module” consists of a PowerPoint presentation with embedded Excel spreadsheets. Each student works through a presentation, thinks about the in-context problem, figures out how to solve it mathematically, and builds spreadsheets to calculate and examine answers.

To assess the effectiveness of SSAC modules, I surveyed Eckerd College undergraduates in two separate studies. Two undergraduate research assistants and I generated pre- and post-tests for 10 SSAC modules. We hired 21 undergraduates who conducted 62 individual module …

Spreadsheets Across The Curriculum, 3: Finding A List Of Mathematical Skills For Quantitative Literacy Empirically, H L. Vacher, Emily Lardner

Numeracy

What mathematical topics do educators committed to teaching mathematics in context choose for their students when given the opportunity to develop an educational resource explicitly to teach mathematics in context? This paper examines the choices made for the 55 modules by 40 authors in the General Collection of the Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum (SSAC) library. About half of the modules were made by authors from natural science, and about 60% of the other modules were by authors from mathematics. The modules are tagged with terms of a search vocabulary developed for the browse page of the collection. The four terms …

Parts Of The Whole: Thinking About Variance: Standards, Targets, Tracking, And Other Thoughts, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

Variation is a natural result of any process, including education. Understanding how variation propagates and increases is necessary for designing educational interventions that work for the intended population. We show how common strategies such as setting standards and tracking can accidentally produce unintended and undesirable results due to the way variation moves through a system.

Creating A Masters In Numeracy Program, Eric Gaze

Numeracy

The Master of Science in Numeracy program at Alfred University received full approval from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) in May of 2007. This first-of-its-kind program seeks to provide teachers at all levels, from across the curriculum, the skills, and more importantly the confidence, to introduce relevant quantitative concepts in their own disciplines. Created to be a complement of the MS Ed. in Literacy, the 30-hour MS in Numeracy program consists of four required core courses (Teaching Numeracy, Teaching with Data, Assessment and Learning Theories in Numeracy, and Doing Science and Numeracy), five electives from a list of …

Reorganizing School Mathematics For Quantitative Literacy, Rick Gillman

Numeracy

This paper offers an alternative curriculum for high school mathematics. It proposes replacing the Algebra-Geometry-Algebra rush to calculus model with one which focuses on improving student problem-solving skills and general quantitative literacy skills while reinforcing basic manipulative skills. Most of these goals are gained by expanding the current single-year algebra-one course into two years. The model proposes moving “learning to write proofs” from the traditional geometry course into a separate discrete mathematics course. It requires statistics for every student, and requires a senior-level modeling course for every college-going student. In addition, the proposed model creates opportunities for students to move …

Spreadsheets Across The Curriculum, 1: The Idea And The Resource, H L Vacher, Emily Lardner

Numeracy

This paper introduces Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum, a workshop-based educational materials development project to build a resource to facilitate connecting mathematics and context in undergraduate college courses where mathematical problem solving is relevant. The central idea is “spreadsheet modules,” which, in essence, are elaborate word problems in the form of short PowerPoint presentations with embedded Excel spreadsheets. Students work through the presentations on their own, making and/or completing the spreadsheets displayed on the slides in order to perform calculations or draw graphs that address the issue (context) posed in the word problem. The end result of the project is the …

Quantitative Reasoning In The Contemporary World, 2: Focus Questions For The Numeracy Community, Bernard L. Madison, Shannon W. Dingman

Numeracy

Numerous questions about student learning of quantitative reasoning arose as we developed, taught and assessed the Quantitative Reasoning in the Contemporary World course described in the companion paper in this issue of Numeracy. In this paper, we present some of those questions and describe the context in which they arose. They fall into eight general problem areas: learning that is context-bound and does not easily transfer (i.e., situated learning); the need for a productive disposition regarding mathematics; the connection between QL and mathematical proficiency; the persistence of students, despite our efforts, for using the wrong base for percents; the inconsistent …

Quantitative Reasoning In The Contemporary World, 1: The Course And Its Challenges:, Shannon W. Dingman, Bernard L. Madison

Numeracy

The authors describe successes and challenges in developing a QL-friendly course at the University of Arkansas. This work is part of a three-year NSF project Quantitative Reasoning in the Contemporary World (QRCW) that supported the expansion of the course. The course, MATH 2183, began experimentally in Fall 2004 as a section of finite mathematics known informally as “News Math” for 26 students from arts and humanities disciplines. Over the past six years, the course has evolved and now MATH 2183 is approved to satisfy the College of Arts and Sciences mathematics requirement for the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 2009-2010, …

Quantitative Literacy: Does It Work? Evaluation Of Student Outcomes At Colby-Sawyer College, Benjamin Steele, Semra Kilic-Bahi

Numeracy

Colby-Sawyer College has adopted a mission for quantitative literacy (QL) to give students the “necessary skills to understand and use quantitative information in their personal and professional lives.” We have implemented an across-the-curriculum approach to develop these skills. As part of this QL program, we administer two assessment tests, one in basic mathematical skills and one that applies those skills, plus an attitude survey to both freshmen and seniors. Three years of data show that seniors score about 10 percentage points higher than freshmen on these tests. However, seniors still scored below 55 percent on both tests, and many cannot …

Advancing Assessment Of Quantitative And Scientific Reasoning, Donna L. Sundre, Amy D. Thelk

Numeracy

Advancing Assessment of Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning is a four-year NSF Project (DUE-0618599) in part designed to evaluate the generalizability of quantitative (QR) and scientific reasoning (SR) assessment instruments created at James Madison University to four other four-year institutions with very distinct missions and student demographics. This article describes the methods, results, and findings we obtained in our studies. More specifically, we describe how to conduct content-alignment exercises in which faculty members map each item from a prospective test to the student learning objectives taught at the institution. Our results indicated that 92-100% of the QR and SR items were …

Science Literacy: Hand In Glove With Numeracy, Gerry G. Meisels

Numeracy

Science Literacy requires numeracy as part of its foundation, and much of Numeracy draws on examples and applications from the sciences. They share the goal of creating a society that is mathematics numerate and science literate, and are interrelated. National priorities to strengthen both among all our students are driven by practical considerations of economic competitiveness that increasingly depend on technological innovation. It is also critical to each individual for long-term job opportunities and for informed citizenship. With up to 80% of 21st century jobs requiring mathematics and science skills, a large majority of the 2,900,000 students who graduate from …

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.

Two Popular Books For Quantitative Literacy: What The Numbers Say, And The Numbers Game, Robert G. Root

Numeracy

Niederman, Derrick, and Boyum, David. What the Numbers Say: A Field Guide to Mastering Our Numerical World. (New York: Broadway Books/Random House, 2003). 288 pp. Hardcover, ISBN 978-0-7679-0998-3. Paperback, 978-0-7679-0999-0. Available as an eBook.

Blastland, Michael, and Dilnot, Andrew. The Numbers Game: The Commonsense Guide to Understanding Numbers in the News, in Politics and in Life. (New York: Gotham Books/Penguin, 2009). 192 pp. Hardcover, ISBN 978-1-5924-0423-0. Paperback, ISBN 978-1-5924-0485-8. Available as an eBook.

Popular books on quantitative literacy need to be easy to read, reasonably comprehensive in scope, and include examples that are thought-provoking and memorable. In contrast …

Numeracy: Open-Access Publishing To Reduce The Cost Of Scholarly Journals, Todd A. Chavez

Numeracy

Each fiscal year, as academic librarians throughout the United States prepare materials budgets, a national “groan” ensues. Regardless of their format (i.e. print or digital), serial subscription costs are escalating, in the process impacting the role of the library in advancing scholarly communication . This paper examines some of the economic issues concerning open-access (OA) journal publishing. The importance of quantitative literacy is suggested for librarians and academics seeking a better understanding of alternatives to traditional journal subscription models and to anyone considering ventures into OA publishing. Quantitative literacy is essential for managing alternatives to the rising cost of scholarly …