Copyright (c) 2008 All rights reserved. http://services.bepress.com/numeracy Recent documents in Numeracy en-us Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:45:56 PDT 3600 http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art8 http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art8 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:39:24 PDT This introductory column argues the need to study our system of education with the same care we would give any complex system, pointing out some ways in which the educational system functions differently from other managed systems, and concluding that a careful study of the forces shaping education will lead to insight into what makes educational change successful. Dorothy Wallace Policy http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art7 http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art7 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:39:21 PDT Alicia Sevilla and Kay Somers, Quantitative Reasoning: Tools for Today's Informed Citizen. (Emeryville CA: Key College Publishing, 2007). 626 pp. Softcover with Student CD. $79.95 (USA) ISBN 1-931914-90-1. http://www.keycollege.com/catalog/titles/quantitative_reasoning.htmlFrom charts and graphs (Topic 1) to decision making (Topic 21), Quantitative Reasoning offers a good selection of topics that students in a general education mathematics course and other individuals in our society should understand. Organizing the 21 chapters (topics) under the headings of numerical reasoning, logical reasoning, and statistical reasoning, Sevilla and Somers focus their chapters on examples and devote the last 224 pages to 21 Excel activities. Parallel graphic-calculator activities are on the Student CD, together with the data bank for the Excel activities. The strong orientation toward exercises and activities will assist instructors in making their course an engaging numeracy experience for their students; however, it also likely means that some instructors will find that some explanations are not as fully developed as they would like. With the selection, structure, exercises and activities provided by Sevilla and Somers, instructors can easily add supplemental material according to their own interests and priorities. Aaron G. Montgomery Mathematics Educational resource http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art6 http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art6 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:39:19 PDT Even though Quantitative Literacy (QL) programs are currently being developed and implemented in several colleges and universities, most schools still depend on traditional mathematics courses to reach their quantitative literacy goals. This note is a case study of how a traditional mathematics course sequence intended for students majoring in social and life sciences may be modified and adapted to at least partially fulfill the need in the absence of a stand-alone QL program. In particular, we focus on a freshman-level mathematics course sequence that serves various client departments. This sequence covers the traditional content of a first-year calculus sequence along with a clear and intentional emphasis on word problems. The kinds of word problems used are not necessarily limited to those that require or make substantial use of a calculus background. However in this perspective we propose that various levels of word problems may be used successfully to satisfy QL goals. Descriptions of QL mainly focus on going from the mathematical data and presentations to an understanding of the real world. In this note we surmise that word problems go in the opposite direction and, in some sense, close the loop in QL. Gizem Karaali Mathematics Classroom practice http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art5 http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art5 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:39:17 PDT An extended study of accuracy in medical screening is presented as a useful application to increase students' quantitative reasoning skills. Two detailed examples are presented. The first explores the frequency of obtaining false positive results from a medical screening tool while the second examines the issue of referral bias and its effect on the apparent sensitivity and specificity of the screening tool. Results from student assessments indicate that the activity increases one's ability to define terms such as "false positive" and "false negative" and increases one's ability to read and compute with information obtained from a two-way table. Teacher assessment results indicate that the activity is challenging and could be used in existing high school or college classrooms. Additionally, links to a student activity, instructor notes, and Excel calculation tool are provided. Stuart Boersma Computation Medicine, Public health, Nursing QL/QR centers Classroom practice Educational resource http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art4 http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art4 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:39:14 PDT In this article we consider the application of local data as a means of advancing quantitative literacy. We illustrate the use of three different sources of local data: institutional data, Census data, and the National College Health Assessment survey. Our learning modules are applied in courses in sociology and communication, but the strategy of using local data can be integrated beyond these disciplinary boundaries. We demonstrate how these data can be used to stimulate student interests in class discussion, advance analytic skills, as well as develop capacities in written and verbal communication. We conclude by considering concerns that may influence the types of local data used and the challenges of integrating these data in a course in which quantitative analysis is not typically part of the curriculum. Stephen Sweet Social science http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art3 http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art3 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:39:11 PDT We describe a quantitative literacy (QL) program at Colby-Sawyer College, a small, residential, liberal arts college in New Hampshire. This program has grown rapidly from a traditional math curriculum to a college-wide understanding of quantitative literacy and voluntary participation by many faculty members in all departments. More than 80% of the faculty agreed that it would be useful for students to be able to use quantitative skills in their courses, but only 24 % thought students were capable of doing very well in mathematics. Twenty-three faculty members attended a summer workshop, funded by NSF, DUE # 0633133, in which they created QL modules for their courses. These participants represented five departments and 13 different disciplines. Modules were created in Biology, Business, Chemistry, Education, English, Environmental Studies, History, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Writing. In addition to assessment of individual modules, a college-wide assessment tool will be administered to first-year students and seniors by participating faculty members. We believe that the rapid growth and success of our program is perhaps due to a combination of characteristics of our institution and our approach. These characteristics include: Involving as many people as possible from many different disciplines from the beginning; a culture of collaboration and innovation at Colby-Sawyer; a supportive administration; the support of NSF that allows concentrated and focused time for faculty with heavy teaching loads; and a faculty focus on the scholarship of teaching. Benjamin Steele Faculty development Assessment Educational resource http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art2 http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art2 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:39:08 PDT Prior to deciding to propose in 2006 that the National Numeracy Network (NNN) publish a new journal for quantitative literacy with their support, the University of South Florida Libraries investigated the publication environment of the field on the Web of ScienceŽ. Reproducing part of that study in this paper, we present findings from topic searches (March 2008) for "numeracy," "quantitative literacy," and "statistical literacy." These updated results include a combined bibliography of 338 peer-reviewed articles amongst 210 different journals, by 748 authors from 321 institutions in 25 countries, in a total of 87 subjects (34% of the subject classes in Web of Science). Publication dates indicate exponential growth since 1974, with a doubling time of 4.8 years. Citation patterns argue that the field would benefit from the development of a hub journal. With the exception of citation-connected papers in medicine, health science and public health (21% of the collection), the papers of the bibliography are either completely isolated (54%) on a citation graph or in relatively small, weakly connected clusters. Very few are cited in prominent edited volumes associated with the NNN. In keeping with the concept that this journal will become a hub journal for the field as envisioned by the proposal from the USF Libraries, this paper presents the bibliography as well as a link and guide to an online version of the HistciteŽ citation graph where readers can browse the abstracts. H L. Vacher Educational resource http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art1 http://services.bepress.com/numeracy/vol1/iss2/art1 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:39:07 PDT H L. Vacher