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Workshop on Quantitative Literacy
Quantitative Reasoning Initiatives
January 30-February 1, 2004
At Macalester College

Schedule

Deadline is December 31, 2003

What is quantitative literacy? How do you teach it? How do you measure it? How can you develop a program that will ensure that all of your students have it by the time they graduate? Many of our colleges are wrestling with these questions. They realize that quantitative reasoning is a cross curriculum skill that is no more the unique responsibility of the Mathematics department than writing is the unique responsibility of the English department.

This workshop will be an opportunity to share experiences and to learn about quantitative reasoning initiatives that are already underway at other comparable institutions. The two central presentations will be from

• Macalester College, now piloting a FIPSE-sponsored program, Quantitative Methods for Public Policy, that embeds the study of quantitative reasoning within a multi-departmental study of issues of public concern. For 2003-04, the focus is on "Policies Affecting the Immigrant Experience in Minnesota."

• Hollins University of Roanoke, VA, which has created an NSF-sponsored program in Quantitative Reasoning across the Curriculum, a truly interdisciplinary approach to quantitative reasoning.

In addition, we expect presentations from teams from Carleton College and Lawrence University, and have left ample time for other colleges to talk about their own projects or experiences.

Because quantitative literacy should be an issue of concern to all disciplines, not just science and mathematics, this workshop will support participation by interested faculty from any department.

The workshop will begin with dinner on Friday evening, January 30, followed by a keynote address from Lynn Steen of St. Olaf College, editor of Mathematics and Democracy: The Case for Quantitative Literacy, published by the National Council on Education and the Disciplines in 2001. It will end at noon on Sunday, February 1. We will leave time to visit the ice palace at the St. Paul Winter Carnival on Saturday evening.

To arrange to give a presentation, contact David Bressoud: bressoud@macalester.edu, or 651-696-6559. The registration deadline is Wednesday, December 31, 2003.

Schedule

Friday, January 30

6:00-7:00 pm, Registration

7:00 Dinner

7:45 Welcome; Keynote address by Lynn Steen

8:50 bus returns people to Holiday Inn

Saturday, January 31

7:30-8:30 am breakfast at Holiday Inn

8:30 bus picks up people at Holiday Inn

9:00-10:00Hollins University's program in Quantitative Reasoning across the Curriculum, Caren Diefenderfer and Tina Salowey, Hollins University

10:10-10:40 A simple class plan for integrating microbiology and mathematics through computational modeling, Janet Huie, Carthage College

BREAK

11:00-11:20 How Can We Quantitate Quantitative Reasoning Gains?: Pre and Post Testing Problems and Potentials, Nate Bower, Colorado College

11:20-noon Toward Group Projects Across the Mathematics Curriculum, Mike Siddoway, Colorado College

Noon Lunch

1:30-2:30 Macalester's Quantitative Topics in Public Policy, David Bressoud and Danny Kaplan, Macalester College

2:40-3:10 TBA, Minna Mahlab, Grinnell College

3:15-3:45 Illustrative Instance of Inappropriately Inaccurate Information on the Internet, Sam Rebelsky, Grinnell College

BREAK

4:15-5:10 A Decade of Quantitative Reasoning at Kalamazoo, John Fink, Eric Nordmoe, Michele Intermont, Kalamazoo College

5:15 bus returns people to Holiday Inn

6:15 bus picks up people at Holiday Inn for dinner at Sidney's

The evening is free. Bus transportation will be provided to and from the St. Paul Winter Carnival and downtown Minneapolis.

Sunday, February 1

7:30-8:30 am breakfast at Holiday Inn

8:30 bus picks up people at Holiday Inn

9:00-10:00 Quantitative Reasoning at Lawrence University: Creation, Implementation, and Possible Assessment, Joy Jordan, Beth Haines, Lawrence University

10:10-10:40 Assessing Quantitative Literacy, Jack Bookman, Duke University

BREAK

11:00-noon Wrap-up: what have we learned, where do we go from here?

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Last updated September 7, 2006