02/07/10

StatLit News Authors Statistical Literacy Numeracy Statistical Reasoning

"Statistical literacy is the ability to read and interpret summary statistics in the everyday media: in graphs, tables, statements, surveys and studies.   Statistical literacy is needed by data consumers."  Assessing Statistical Literacy: Take CARE in Assessment Methods in Statistical Education, pp. 133-152.  Wiley 2010

 

NEWS and UPCOMING EVENTS

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2010

STATLIT NEWS

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2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003


  

Highlights of grants, new books, conference papers (ICOTS, JSM, JMM), and miscellaneous information involving statistical and quantitative literacy.

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FEATURED AUTHORS

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RECOMMENDED INTRO BOOKS

TOPICS

Numeracy

Articles

S/L Books

Q/L Books

Courses

Q/L Texts

QR/QL/StATLIT TEXTBOOKS Amazon Sales Rankings

Rank   Author and Title  (Amazon Sales Ranking as of 8/13/09)
1,244   Bennet & Briggs: Using & Understanding Mathematics: A QR Approach
4,528   COMAP: For All Practical Purposes: Math Literacy in Today’s World
6,148   Burger and Starbird: Heart of Mathematics: Invitation to effective thinking
8,497   Utts: Seeing Through Statistics
27,549   Moore: Concepts and Controversies     
40,996   Pierce and Wright: Mathematics for Life: A Foundation Course for QL
96,236   Sevilla and Somers: QR Tools for Today's Citizen  
163,858   Andersen and Swanson: Understanding our Quantitative World
Rank   Author and Title  (Amazon Sales Ranking as of 8/13/09)
267,500   Bennet, Briggs and Triola: Statistical Reasoning For Everyday Life
272,723   Aufmann: Mathematical Thinking and Quantitative Reasoning)
855,570   Richman et al: Mathematics for Liberal Arts
883,473   Sons, Nicholls and Stephen: Mathematical Thinking & Q/R
1,227,440   Abramson & Isom: Literacy & Mathematics: Contemp. Approach to QL
2,180,080   Langkamp & Hull: QR and Environment: Mathematical Modeling
3,435,423   Greenleaf: Q/R: Understanding the Mathematical Patterns of Nature
3,750,127   Burkhart: Quantitative and Qualitative Reasoning Skills

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

INTRO OVERVIEW ARTICLES

W. M. Keck Stat Lit Project

Ten articles presenting a general background or overview: Ten articles related to the W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project:

Click Here >> 2009 STAT-LIT HIGHLIGHTS << Click Here

StatLit.org site: During 2009: Over 180,000 downloads (up 50%); over 100,000 visits (up 20%)
StatLit News, Year-end 2009: over 160 news articles, 144 new files, 43 new images.
  • What college got a $370K grant to "Infuse Quantitative Literacy throughout the Social Science Curriculum"?

 Who said this?

  • If QL is not taught in Mathematics, it will not happen.

  •  Mathematicians are least-well prepared to deal with ... quantitative literacy.

  •  Statistical literacy demands rethinking the teaching of statistics.

  •  The teaching of fractions must be...improved before an increase in ... achievement in algebra can be expected.

  •  QR is less about the manipulation of numbers than it is about the evaluation and construction of arguments.

  •  Quantitative literacy must encompass more than matters of calculation.

  •  Widespread statistical illiteracy ... is cause for immediate concern.

  •  'Massachusetts' is not necessarily as likely as any other 13 character combinations of letters.

  •  The quest for statistical significance ... is a deeply flawed substitute for thoughtful analysis.

  •  When the difference between two candidates is not statistically significant, this is NOT a statistical tie.  

PAST EVENTS IN 2009

  • Nov. 12-15, 2009. AMATYC 35th Conference, Las Vegas, NV. Amer. Mathematical Assoc. of Two-Year Colleges
    Schield proposes "Statistical Literacy: A New On-Line Gen Ed Course for Math Teachers."
    Developing Q/L by Beaudrie and Boshmans (S79).    QL: Reaching and Teaching today's Students by Amick and Marshall (S93).
    The Calendars of the Mayas by Cetepillan and Szymanski (S57).   Mathematical Heresy by Frank Weidenfeller (S63)
    Top Ten Things Students Have Trouble with in Statistics, Averbeck & Rumsey (W22).  Lessons from History of Mathematics, D. Bressoud (S78).
    Structuring e-Portfolios in QR course, Suzanne Topp (S142).  Using Model-Elicting Activities to Teach Statistics, Robert delMas (W28).
    Structuring the Out-of-Class Experience in Introductory Statistics by Roxy Peck (S145 and S122)

    The AMATYC 2008 survey (793 respondents): Of those answering the question, 64% agreed (450) that AMATYC should offer course work through an accredited university over the Internet for faculty wanting to update their skills or refresh their knowledge in certain areas. Respondents requesting Internet courses through an accredited university (450) were asked:

    • which mathematical topics they wanted to learn more about.  teaching developmental mathematics (67%), history of mathematics (58%), mathematics for teachers (50%), statistics (40%), quantitative literacy (35%), number theory (30%) and other (21%).

    • which instructional techniques they wanted to learn more about.  active learning (77%), teaching in context (45%), using classroom assessment for research (47%), quantitative literacy (37%) and other (8%). 

    • what technology training they would be interested in.  teaching online coursework effectively (72%), mathematics software (68%), calculator usage (39%), statistical software (34%), Blackboard (30%) and other (8%).

  • Nov. 6-7, 2009. SENCER Quantitative Reasoning Symposium, Saint Paul, MN.   Schedule
    Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul, MN will be host to the Midwest SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) Center of Innovation Fall Symposium on Teaching Quantitative Reasoning through Civic Issues. 
    Evening plenary address by Professor Deborah Hughes Hallett:  What Can Statistics Tell Us?   
    Morning plenary address by Professor of Psychology Neil Lutsky from Carleton College in Northfield, MN.
    Talk by Milo Schield: Science Literacy Requires Statistical Literacy 6up slides.

  • August 16-22, 2009. 57th Session International Statistical Institute (ISI) Durban. IASE Chair: Helen MacGillivray Program
    IPM 37: The roles of statistical agencies in developing statistical literacy. Organized by Reija Helenius (Finland)  "Improving statistical literacy - Strategies and Experience of the Australian Bureau of Statistics" Siu-Ming Tam and Nicola Cross.  "The role of Statistics Portugal in developing statistical literacy" Pedro José Campos, J. Pinto Martins.
    IPM 38: Educating the public on how to use official statistics.  Tues, 9AM.  Peter Wingfield-Digby (UK)  organiser and chair.  "Making Statistics attractive through Partnerships with the Media" Ben Paul Mungyereza.  "Improving Use of Official Statistics - How Marketing and IT Help" Chun-Keung, Leo Yu.  "Making official data relevant to students: Statistics Canada’s Education Outreach Programme" Mary Townsend and Art Ridgeway. Discussants: Davaasuren Chultemjamts and Hilary Joffe.
    IPM41:  Exploiting the Progress in Statistical Graphics and Statistical Computing for the Benefit of Statistical Literacy.   15:30 Tuesday.  Organiser and chair: Juana Sanchez.  Using R and GGobi to Enhance the Learning of Multivariate Analysis and Data Mining, Dianne Cook.   Wikis, Dynamic Charts, Videos and other Innovative Tools to Transform Statistics into Knowledge, Enrico Giovannini.     How to Avoid Some Common Graphical Mistakes, Naomi Robbins
    IPM 43: Research on Informal Inferential Reasoning. Tues, 13:00 Tues. Organized by Katie Makar (Australia). Chair: John Harraway. Cognitive Development of Informal Inferential Reasoning, Chris Reading. Insights into Informal Inferential Reasoning in the Primary Classroom, Aisling Leavy. Informal Inferential Reasoning About Large Scientific Data Sets, James K L Hammerman. Discussant: Jim Ridgeway

  • August 14-15, 2009.  IASE Satellite Roundtable: "The Next Steps in Statistical Education"  Durban.  Program.
    Conference Committee: Patrick Murphy, Ireland (Chair and Joint Chief Editor, European Representative), Allan Rossman USA, Larry Weldon Canada (Joint Chief Editor and CD Writer), Richard Wilson Australia,  Enriqueta Reston Philippines, and M. Alejandro Sorto Latin America

  • August 6-8, 2009.  MathFest, Portland Oregon.
    Short Course: A Game Theory Path to Quantitative Literacy by David Housman (Goshen College) and Rick Gillman (Valparaiso University)

  • August 6-10, 2009.  Sencer 2009 Summer Institute, Chicago IL.
    "The National Center for Science and Civic Engagement invites applications to participate in the 2009 SENCER Summer Institute, planned for August 6-10th in Chicago and hosted by Harold Washington College. SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) is a National Science Foundation-supported faculty development and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education reform initiative. SENCER supports the development of courses and programs that connect course content to real world problems, and by so doing, extend the impact of learning across the curriculum to the broader community and society. This approach has been especially effective in engaging women, minority students, and students who major in non-STEM fields."  "The SENCER Summer Institute (SSI) 2009 is one component of SENCER's national dissemination program designed to improve undergraduate education and undergraduate science education, especially in the STEM disciplines, and to stimulate civic engagement through the design and development of courses and programs that teach "to" basic science "through" complex, capacious, and unsolved public issues."
    Milo Schield, VP of the National Numeracy Network, attended.

  • August 1-6, 2009American Statistical Association (ASA) Joint Statistical Meeting (JSM).   Washington DC.

    Monday Other:

    • Mari Palta (U. Wisc.): Challenges in Teaching Advanced Statistical Methods for Observational Studies in a Subject Matter Context

    • William S. Rayens (U. Ky): A Course Template for Statistical Inferential Reasoning

    • Roundtable:  S. Dienstfrey: Removing the Veil from Publicly Released Polls: What Is the Statistician's Role in the Fight to Improve Statistical Literacy?

    Tuesday 2 PM:

    • Leonhardt, Vedantam & Alpert (NY Times, Washington Post, Barron's): Mediating Statistics in the Media  Org: Xiao-Li Meng, Harvard

    • Bill Rybolt (Babbson College): Why We Should Teach Introductory Applied Statistics Courses Backwards

  • June 25-27, 2009.  USCOTS: US Conference on Teaching Statistics: "Letting Go to Grow" Columbus, OH
    Featured speakers include Dani Ben-Zvi (University of Haifa), George Cobb (Mount Holyoke College), Peter Ewell (Center for Higher Education Management Systems), Ronald Wasserstein (Executive Director, ASA) and Chris Wild (The University of Auckland).    Workshop: Teaching Statistical Modeling by Danny Kaplan and Victor Addono.

  • May 1, 2009  Quantitative Literacy across the CurriculumOhio Mathematics and Science Coalition.

  • April 30-May 2  National Numeracy Network (NNN) 2009 Annual Meeting. U. Washington, Bothell.

  • March 28   Northeast Consortium for Quantitative Literacy (NECQL-XIII) at Smith College.  
    Neil Lutsky of Carleton College will give a talk: Spreading Activation for Quantitative Reasoning in a College Community: Themes for Variations.
    Rick Gillman of Valparaiso University will give excerpts of his mini-course Game Theory as a Path for Quantitative Literacy. 
    Announcements by Corri Taylor for the National Numeracy Network (NNN) and Maura Mast for the MAA's Sigma QL.

  • Feb 13, 2009.  Emerging Needs for Quantitative Literacy Across the School Curriculum
    Ohio Math & Science Coalition.  Keynote speaker and workshop leader: Bernie Madison.

  • Feb 18-20, 2009.  Winter Institute on Statistical Literacy for Librarians Univ. of Alberta Libraries

  • Jan 5-8, 2009 MAA JMM: Washington, DC.  Current schedule
    Mon. 1/5 2:15-4:15. MAA Minicourse #7A. A Game Theory Path to Quantitative Literacy. David Housman and Richard Gillman
    Mon. 1/5 4:30  Statistical Significance of Ranking Paradoxes by Raymond N Greenwell, Hofstra Univ. General Contributed Papers III 6up

    Tues 1/6, 2 PM, PosterQ/R in the Contemporary World.  Bernie Madison, Caren Diefenderfer, Stuart Boersma & Shannon Dingman
    The project includes making the course transportable, adaptable, and more effective and creating assessments and scoring rubrics to both measure learning in the course and to compare that learning to the learning in two other courses, one somewhat similar and one traditional. The innovative course derives from a collection of newspaper and magazine articles and is organized by processes of QR and not by mathematical or statistical topics. The project has produced the first draft of case studies of QR-based media articles and an accompanying volume documenting the learning results, pedagogical strategies, and a guide for using the case studies in a QR course is in progress.
    Tues 1/6, 2 PM, Poster:  Mathematics Across the C/C Curriculum: A National Q/L Initiative. Jim Roznowski & Christie Gilliland 
    Tues 1/6, 5:45 -7:15 PM. SIGMAA on Quantitative Literacy:  Business Meeting


    Wed January 7, 2009,
    8:00 a.m.-10:35 a.m. MAA Session on Quantitative Literacy Across the Curriculum
    Organizers: Kimberly M. Vincent, Washington State University, and Cinnamon Hillyard, University of Washington, Bothell.
    8:00 am. Making Quantitative Reasoning Central to a PreCalculus Course. Cinnamon Hillyard* and Nicole Hoover Slides 6up
    8:20 am. QL from a Service Division Perspective. Gary T Franchy, Davenport University Slides 6up
    8:40 am. Mathematics and Democracy. Kira Hamman, Pennsylvania State University, Mont Alto Slides 6up
    9:00 am. Using Media Article to Drive a Q/L Course. Stuart Boersma, Caren Diefenderfer, Shannon Dingman and Bernard L Madison 6up
    9:20 am. Medical Accuracy: Content for a Quantitative Literacy Course. Stuart Boersma & Teri Willard, Central Washington U.  Slides 6up
    9:40 am. Building mathematical & computational skills of science students. Kelly Matthews, Merrilyn Goos, Peter Adams, U.Queensland 6up
    10:00 am. Toward a Numerate Culture: A Quantitative Literacy Project. D. Scott Dillery, Lindsey Wilson College Slides 1up
    10:20 am. Incorporating Quantitative Literacy into the Research Writing Classroom. Kimberly M Vincent, Washington State University

    8:00 am.  Facing Up to the Realities of Quantitative Illiteracy.  Betsy Darken, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
    10:00 am. Achieving Statistical Literacy in Elementary School Using Current Popular Curricula.  Anna Bargagliotti, Univ. Memphis 6up
    2:15-4:15 pm. MAA Minicourse #7B: A Game Theory path to Q/L. David Housman, Goshen College, Richard Gillman, Valparaiso U.
    3:50 pm. Student difficulties negating mathematical statements and translating to symbolic form. Bonnie Gold, Monmouth U.
    4:40 pm. Numeracy: Assessing Basic Skills and Knowledge. Milo Schield, W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project. Slides 6up

NEWS IN 2009

12/2009:  New StatLit 2009:  All the news on statistical literacy for 2009.  Read about the new AACU rubric for assessing quantitative literacy.

10/2009:  New StatLit-Blog:  Fighting Statistical Illiteracy; promoting statistical literacy.  Blogs include "Average: 2.8 M sexual partners", "AP creates Bogus Crime Wave", "AP misreads Percentage Table", "Employers Rehiring… Really? and "SAT Scores Tell Us Zip!"

10/20: Gerald BraceyOutspoken public schools advocate Bracey dies at 69: Obituary by Greg Toppo, USA TodayDr. Gerald Bracey can rest in peace – the rest of us need to get busy: Generation YES BlogGerald W. Bracey, 69, one of the most erudite, prolific and acidic critics of national education policy, died unexpectedly early Oct. 20 at his home in Port Townsend, Wash.: Jay Mathews, Washington Post,

4/10:  StatLit News 2009Q1. The latest news on statistical literacy and numeracy.
A Simple Guide to Voodoo Statistics by Ian Schagen Chief Research Analyst New Zealand Ministry of Education

2/20: Quantitative Literacy in Washington Post. What is QL?    Test your Quantitative Literacy.

1/27: Quantitative Scholarship: Quality Enhancement Program at University of Texas San Antonio. Proposal

"The Quantitative QEP includes two components: (1) quantitative literacy encompassing basic analytical skills such as data interpretation and (2) quantitative mastery, which addresses ways to gather data, identify sources of error and conduct other advanced analyses. These critical thinking and problem solving skills are the same skills used by successful researchers. They also are tested on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE)." "... students must satisfy specific semester credit hours (SCH) requirements of the University Core Curriculum. These requirements includes courses in several domains: Natural Sciences: Level I (3 SCH), Natural Sciences: Level II (3 SCH), Political Science (6 SCH), Social and Behavioral Science (3 SCH), and Economics (3 SCH).   The Quantitative QEP would embed quantitatively-enriched materials in courses falling under all of these Domains."

QL = Q/L = Quantitative Literacy,   QR = Q/R = Quantitative Reasoning,    S/L = SL = Statistical Literacy,     S/R = SR = Statistical Reasoning

 

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This site was last updated 02/07/10