Quantitative Literacy at Michigan State University, 3: Designing General Education Mathematics Courses

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We share our experiences comprehending social theory as it applies to numeracy scholarship. We build on existing arguments that social theory-explicitly acknowledging the presence and influence of histories, power, and purposes-offers something important to scholars who study and discuss numeracy. In this article, we translate the six propositions of one particular social theory of literacy into propositions about numeracy, then we explore the meaning of each proposition, its connections to existing scholarship, and its implications. This article emerges from two literature reviews: one on social theories (especially their application to and development in literacy) and one on numeracy. We bring these two reviews together through the decisions and connections we make during this translation. We hope this account of our experiences can help other numeracy scholars as they approach, adapt, and apply theory.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Six Propositions of a Social Theory of Numeracy: Interpreting an Influential Theory of Literacy

Craig¹,

Guzmán²

2018

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“…The purpose of this study is to examine alignment between course learning goals and assessment materials in a newly-developed quantitative literacy course (Math 101) at Michigan State University, a large, public, research-intensive university. More details about this course and its development are available in Tunstall et al (2016). We describe the logistics of the course itself below, but note here that the Math 101 course is centered around context-specific modules that are subject to change from semester to semester.…”

Section: Research Questions and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In coursework centered on quantitative literacy, attention to the alignment between learning goals and assessments is of particular importance, given that quantitative literacy is challenging to both operationalize and assess (Shavelson 2008;Boersma et al 2011). Notwithstanding this challenge, as courses in quantitative literacy grow in scale-both in the form of large course sizes (Tunstall et al 2016) and the distribution of uniform curricula (e.g., Quantway or Statway) 1 across institutions-there is a marked need for attention to the operationalization and assessment of learning objectives in such courses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this analysis, we examine how course assessment items are aligned with learning objectives in a quantitative literacy course at Michigan State University. Since its development (see Tunstall et al 2016), this course has aimed to develop student competence in interacting with mathematical and statistical representations in real-life contexts and communicating their understanding through oral and written formats. The context-based and process-oriented aspects of quantitative literacy instantiated in this course align with extant literature of numeracy, quantitative literacy, and quantitative reasoning discussions (Steen 2001;Madison 2003;Karaali et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alignment Between Learning Objectives and Assessments in a Quantitative Literacy Course

Bae¹,

Tunstall²,

Knowles³

et al. 2019

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In this analysis, we examine how course assessment items were aligned with learning objectives in a quantitative literacy course at Michigan State University. The alignment analysis consisted of mapping assessment items to a list of operationalized learning objectives from the course. Our analysis shows how often the learning objectives are represented in assessment items, how often they are paired with other learning objectives, and how influential they are in contributing to a student's course grade. In addition, through comparisons across four assessment types (e.g., exams and homework), we show how each learning objective was assessed differently within each assessment type. The most frequently represented learning objectives in the particular course we studied concern the creation and interpretation of graphical representations; these learning objectives were assessed relatively evenly across the assessment types. However, those learning objectives often co-occurred with other objectives in assessment items, and the point values per item associated with these objectives were less than those for other objectives. Our study shows how quantitative literacy learning objectives can vary with assessment type in a course, and also provides numeracy scholars with an analysis technique suitable for use at their respective institutions.

“…Innovations in mathematics education at MSU (and elsewhere), such as the enhanced course sections described in this paper, are one means of finding a route around, over, under, or through the low bridge. While the University has made efforts over the past decade (Tunstall et al 2016) to create meaningful alternatives to and supports for college algebra, work remains to be done to meet students where they are with respect to their mathematics preparation levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Embedded Remediation Is Not Necessarily a Pathway for Equitable Access to Quantitative Literacy and College Algebra: Results from a Pilot Study

Matz¹,

Tunstall²

2019

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Courses in developmental and introductory mathematics are changing. Because nearly all students need mathematics coursework to graduate from a postsecondary institution, yet institutions consistently struggle to ensure that students of all demographics succeed in credit-bearing mathematics courses, student success in such courses may be viewed as an issue of social justice. In particular, there is a need for institutions to provide pathways through college-level mathematics courses that meet the needs of students with a wide array of incoming mathematical knowledge and skills. In light of questions about pedagogy, pass rates, and effects on degree completion time, some institutions have moved away from requiring students to enroll in non-credit-bearing developmental mathematics courses. At Michigan State University, college-level courses in both Quantitative Literacy and College Algebra now directly enroll students who previously would have placed into Intermediate Algebra. Accompanying this shift in access are changes in course structure and content; during the 2017-2018 academic year, some course sections included an extra class meeting to help students bridge gaps in their requisite skills. While the corequisite model is an intuitive approach to supporting student learning, essentially increasing time on task and identifying needed requisite skills "just in time," these quantitative analyses show little evidence for these course sections improving students' course grades. In this context, the role and type of corequisite, supplemental instruction that best supports learning for a diverse group of students in introductory undergraduate mathematics courses remains in question. We discuss potential reasons for these results in light of existing reports on corequisite models and situate the results in the context of what social justice and equity might look like for corequisite models of introductory mathematics coursework.