Achieving a Quantitatively Literate Citizenry: Resources and Community to Support National Change

Autor/in	Grawe, Nathan D.
Titel	Achieving a Quantitatively Literate Citizenry: Resources and Community to Support National Change
Quelle	In: Liberal Education, 98 (2012) 2, S.30-35 (6 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0024-1822
Schlagwörter	Colleges; Numeracy; Educational Change; Democracy; Citizenship; Mathematics; Mathematics Skills; Higher Education; College Students; Mathematics Curriculum + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? College; Hochschule; Fachhochschule; Rechenkompetenz; Bildungsreform; Demokratie; Staatsbürgerschaft; Mathematik; Mathmatics achievement; Mathematics ability; Mathematische Kompetenz; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Collegestudent
Abstract	In the National Council on Education and the Disciplines' (NCED) 2001 Mathematics and Democracy, Lynn Steen vividly declares, "The world of the twenty-first century is a world awash in numbers". In that volume, Steen and his collaborators articulate a clear call for broad reforms to prepare students for the ubiquitous need for quantitative literacy (QL)--in citizenship, education, professional life, personal finance and health, and even culture. While built on a foundation of mathematical skill, the QL needed by the students is distinct from traditional mathematics in several key dimensions. Where mathematics is intentionally abstract, QL drives toward the specific context of problems. At the end of 2001, the NCED, along with the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and the Mathematical Sciences Education Board, hosted a forum on QL that arrived at the following stark findings: (1) Most higher education students graduated without sufficient QL training; (2) faculty in all disciplines needed professional development support to enhance QL in their courses; (3) QL was not part of assessment activity; and (4) education policy leaders were insufficiently aware of the increasing need for QL. Fortunately, over the last decade, groups like the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), the MAA's Special Interest Group on QL (SIGMAA-QL), and the National Numeracy Network (NNN) have worked diligently to address these gaps. This article presents a brief description of the newly developed resources such as the materials that can support curricular development in all divisions of the academy, assessment tools that match a range of definitions of quantitative literacy, and a robust community to come alongside institutions that are taking action. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Association of American Colleges and Universities. 1818 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009. Tel: 800-297-3775; Tel: 202-387-3760; Fax: 202-265-9532; e-mail: pub_desk@aacu.org; Web site: http://www.aacu.org/publications/index.cfm
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10