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According to <u>The Components of Numeracy</u>(1),
"<font face="Trebuchet MS">adult-focused frameworks use three
different approaches as to how they position context: <br>
-- context as the primary organizing principle; <br>
-- math skills as the organizing principle, while paying attention
to context throughout; and <br>
-- math skills as the organizing principle, yet paying little
explicit attention to context."<br><br>
It seems that much of the numeracy in adult education focuses more on a
skill-centered numeracy in the last two approaches (footnote 2)</font>
than on a context-centered numeracy in the first approach (footnote
3). <br><br>
<font face="Trebuchet MS">Thesis: A numeracy based on mathematical skills
as the organizing principle will be closer to school mathematics (e.g.,
algebra) and further from a context-centered numeracy that focuses on the
numbers (rates and percentages in tables and graphs) that adults
encounter regularly in everyday life and on how these numbers are
defined, counted, measured and presented (See Lies, Damned Lies and
Statistics by Joel Best). <br><br>
Support for a context-centered numeracy is evidenced in the quotes below
by Lynn Steen (4)</font>, Peter Holmes (5), Bernie Madison (6), William
Briggs (7) and<font face="Trebuchet MS"> Iddo Gal (8). [Emphasis
added]<br><br>
Comments on this thesis would be appreciated. <br>
Milo Schield<br>
Director of the W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project<br>
Augsburg College.
<a href="http://www.statlit.org/" eudora="autourl">www.StatLit.org<br>
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(1) </font>The Components of Numeracy NCSALL Occasional Paper Dec., 2006.
At
<a href="http://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/research/op_numeracy.pdf" eudora="autourl">
<font face="Trebuchet MS">
www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/research/op_numeracy.pdf<br><br>
</a></font>(2) <font face="Trebuchet MS">"</font>We are a community
dedicated to quality mathematics instruction at the adult level.
<font face="Trebuchet MS">A high quality mathematics curriculum for adult
learners should:</font> include the concepts of number, data, geometry,
and algebra at all levels of learning so that students can develop and
connect mathematical ideas" from the home page of the Adult Numeracy
Network at
<a href="http://literacynet.org/ann/" eudora="autourl">
http://literacynet.org/ann/</a> <br><br>
(3) "Research should ... ask questions about both <b>the numeracy
demands of society</b><i> </i>and the ways in which adults can develop
numerate thinking to meet those demands" in The Inclusion of
Numeracy in Adult Basic Education Vol 3, Ch 5 by Dave Tout and Mary Jane
Schmitt at
<a href="http://www.ncsall.net/?id=573" eudora="autourl">
www.ncsall.net/?id=573</a> <br><br>
<font face="Trebuchet MS">(4) "</font>Numeracy lies at the
intersection of statistics, mathematics and democracy. Like
statistics, numeracy is centered on interpretation of data; like
mathematics, numeracy builds on arithmetic and logic. But the
unique niche filled by numeracy is <b>to support citizens in making
decisions informed by evidence</b><i>"</i> in <i>Quantitative
Literacy: Why Numeracy Matters for Schools and Colleges</i>. Edited by
Bernard L. Madison and Lynn Arthur Steen (2003) MAA or Amazon <br><br>
(5) The word numeracy when it was first introduced was in the context of
<b>the ability to use numbers in practice</b>. So it was particularly in
the context of statistics that you might have to read and interpret. In
fact in that first use of it in 1959, it was in terms of reading
tables.<br>
in <i>Statistical Literacy, Numeracy and the Future</i> by Peter Holmes
at
<a href="http://www.statlit.org/PDF/2003HolmesAugsburg.pdf" eudora="autourl">
www.statlit.org/PDF/2003HolmesAugsburg.pdf<br><br>
</a>(6) "to make Americans more able to deal with <b>the multitude
of quantitative issues that confront them in their daily lives as
citizens, consumers, and workers</b>" in Building Bridges for QL
Education: National Numeracy Network and SIGMAA QL (2005) MAA at
<a href="http://www.maa.org/news/0505ql.html%A0%A0%A0" eudora="autourl">
www.maa.org/news/0505ql.html </a> Note: Bernie Madison is a
founder and first president of the National Numeracy Network. See
<a href="http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~nnn" eudora="autourl">www.</a><b>
math.dartmouth.edu</b>
/~<a href="http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~nnn" eudora="autourl"><b>nnn</a>
</b> <br><br>
(7) <font face="Trebuchet MS">In his article, "What Mathematics
Should All College Students Know?", William Briggs </font>argues
that we should "<i>avoid doing algebra when there is no ulterior
purpose and <b>let the applications determine the necessary
mathematics</i></b>" in<font face="Trebuchet MS">
</font><i>Current Practices in Quantitative Literacy</i>, edited by Rick
Gillman (MAA 2006). <br><br>
(8) "numeracy describes the aggregate of skills, knowledge, beliefs,
dispositions, and habits of mind-as well as the general communicative and
problem-solving skills-that people need in order to effectively handle
real-world situations or interpretative tasks with embedded mathematical
or quantifiable elements." <i>Big Picture: What does
'Numeracy" Mean?</i> September/October 1995 issue of GED Items
(ISSN 0896-0518; Volume 12, No. 4/5), published by the Educational
Testing Service At
http://mathforum.org/teachers/adult.ed/articles/gal.html </body>
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