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National Numeracy Network (NNN)

Len Vacher

NUMERACY

Len Vacher (pictured above) is the founder and co-editor of Numeracy — the new peer-reviewed publication of the National Numeracy Network.

NUMERACY (NNN) JOURNAL

Numeracy NNN logo Numeracy: E-Journal

Numeracy is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal launched in 2008. Numeracy aims to support education at all levels that integrates quantitative skills across disciplines. The journal seeks evidence-based articles. See Vacher's NECQL and PKAL presentations.

Len Vacher Dorothy Wallace Numeracy Editors

Len Vacher (left) and Dorothy Wallace (right) are editors of Numeracy: Advancing Education in Quantitative Literacy. Numeracy is published by the National Numeracy Network, supported by the U. of S. Florida Libraries and hosted by the Berkeley Electronic Press™.

2010 Volume 3: Issue 1

2009 Volume 2: Issue 2

  • Assessing Quantitative Reasoning by Corrine Taylor, NNN President. [On Dartmouth's attitude assessment] “I hope that more institutions will also adopt this excellent (and carefully tested) instrument [for assessing students’ changes in attitudes after having taken QR coursework. For assessing students’ QL skills, I am impressed with the variety of instruments that have been developed and are being tested—each for different specific purposes. Here I briefly describe three...” “JMU’s QR Test is narrow and deep.” “The AAC&U’s QL rubric, in contrast to the JMU test, is much broader in scope.” [No evaluation of Carleton's rubric for assessing QR.]
  • Integration with Writing Programs: A Strategy for Quantitative Reasoning Program Development by Nathan D. Grawe and Carol A. Rutz. “One of the most common and frustrating objections to QR programs in higher education is that the subject matter is entirely remedial...” “The interdisciplinary nature of QR represents one of the greatest challenges to effective programming.” “Framed as a necessary rhetorical tool, QR became immediately relevant to the entire campus.” “Finally, collaboration with the Writing Program has helped us surmount institutional inertia.” “No matter how beneficial the cooperative approach may be for a QR initiative, writing programs must be convinced that integration serves their goals as well.” “Readers should think seriously about the tradeoff between across-the-curriculum participation and the importance of a strong methods emphasis when considering adoption of QuIRK’s model of programming.” “Our experience has convinced us that engaging faculty directly in the assessment of student work provides the impetus for curricular change. The examination of QR in student work also offers us the chance to show colleagues in traditionally nonquantitative disciplines how QR may be relevant to their courses.” “;Designing an effective QR program is inherently challenging due to the interdisciplinary nature of the subject.”
  • Quantitative Literacy Assessments: An Introduction to Testing Tests by Dorothy Wallace, Kim Rheinlander, Steven Woloshin, and Lisa Schwartz. “To formally assess content validity of the MDIT, Woloshin and Schwartz asked 20 Dartmouth Medical School faculty who teach evidence-based medicine (but were not involved in the study) to complete the data interpretation test and then formally rate its content validity using criteria derived from Feinstein’s Index of Sensibility (Feinstein, 1987). Specifically, they were asked to rate the clarity of the test items, how well the data interpretation test covers the important concepts in the domain of critical reading skills, and whether a person scoring poorly on the test would have very limited ability to interpret medical data.”
  • Measuring Resource Inequality: The Gini Coefficient by Michael T. Catalano, Tanya L. Leise, and Thomas J. Pfaff
  • Engaging Math-Avoidant College Students by M. Paul Latiolais and Wendi Laurence
  • Book Review of Calculation vs. Context: Quantitative Literacy and Its Implications for Teacher Education by Bernard L. Madison and Lynn Arthur Steen (Editors). Reviewed by Maura B. Mast. In reviewing Schield's paper: Schield recommends “the establishment of alternatives (in the form of QL or Statistical Literacy) to Algebra II at the high school level. This is an excellent suggestion and is perhaps the most practical way to bring QL into the pre-college curriculum. Such a course is ideal for students in their fourth year of high school who are not planning to go into a quantitative-based major in college (or perhaps who are not even planning to go to college).” In reviewing the papers by Taylor, Lutsky and Best: “One interesting aspect of these three essays is the set of opinions about who should teach QL and what that means. Best clearly wants to bring it out of the mathematicians’ hands and position it (as its relates to critical thinking) across the curriculum; Lutsky agrees, with his own perspective that QL is central to building and evaluating arguments, and also sees a natural place for this in many different disciplines. In contrast, Taylor views the responsibility for developing QL skills as resting primarily on the mathematics teachers, but calls for reinforcement and support from teachers in quantitative disciplines and in English.”
  • Book Review of Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide to Identifying Dubious Data by Joel Best. Reviewed by Joe Swingle. “Stat-Spotting is a practical, do-it-yourself manual for detecting questionable claims reported in the media. Using examples drawn mostly from mass media sources, Stat-Spotting provides readers with a number of useful tips for identifying potentially problematic statistics. The author’s skillful analyses and explanations presented in clear and concise prose make Stat-Spotting an ideal guide for anyone who reads a newspaper, watches television, or surfs the Web. In short, everyone.”

2009 Volume 2: Issue 1

2008 Volume 1: Issue 2

2008 Volume 1: Issue 1

In 2011, Bernie Madison gave the opening talk at the NNN meeting in Ashville NC. Here is a video of this talk.  Videos: WMV 56kbps  FLV