In this issue:
	Welcome! News: Joint Statistics Meeting: QL paper session Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum MAC3 SIGMAA QL at MathFest U. Washington Bothell Interview

Welcome to the third issue of the Newsletter of the National Numeracy Network (NNN). Starting a national organization offers rare opportunities filled with multiple new and different possibilities for actions. Being interdisciplinary increases both variety and number. It can be dizzying! Nonetheless, NNN moves ahead with signs of recognition of the importance of our mission sprouting like the snowdrops and daffodils signaling the coming spring.

One recent recognition of the importance of NNN’s mission is in Derek Bok’s new book, Our Underachieving Colleges: A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More, from Princeton University Press. Interestingly and, in my view, correctly, Bok includes the section on quantitative reasoning in his chapter on learning to think, and references writing in Mathematics and Democracy and Quantitative Literacy: Why Numeracy Matters of Schools and Colleges. Both these publications were by the National Council on Education and the Disciplines, the parent organization of NNN as a network of QL centers, prior to its organization for individual members in 2004.

Placing QL as a part of critical thinking, as Bok does, aligns the work of NNN more with The Nationa l Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking than with the disciplinary societies that are more commonly associated with QL and numeracy, so our field of potential partners widens. Much of what Bok writes about is relevant to the work of NNN, especially his observations on the status of interdisciplinary activities in colleges.

But although our work is interdisciplinary, our disciplinary partners are critical friends, and we continue to build connections and forge partnerships. NNN Board Member Len Vacher (Geology, University of South Florida) continues his efforts to expand the visibility of NNN within the geosciences and is pursuing partnerships, including one with the National Park Service. New NNN Board Members Richard Scheaffer (Statistics, University of Florida), William Frey (Sociology, University of Michigan), Corrine Taylor (Economics, Wellesley College), and Beth Haines (Psychology, Lawrence University) create critical connections to disciplines with strong stakes in QL. We are exploiting those connections in scheduling meetings of our Board of Directors and national meetings of NNN.

Our first national meeting was held at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, in June 18-19, 2005, in conjunction with a workshop on QL sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Several NNN members, including three Board members convened over dinner at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Antonio, TX, in January 2006, and the NNN Board will meet in conjunction with the Joint Statistical Meetings in Seattle, August 6-10, 2006, where NNN will be prominent in a paper session. See the box on this session.

The 2007 national meeting of NNN will be held in conjunction with two sectional meetings of the American Sociological Association in Chicago in April 2007. This meeting will be in cooperation with the MAA’s special interest group on QL, called QL SIGMAA. The National Science Foundation has awarded $25,000 through MAA to support this meeting.

These connections and multiple others that will be forthcoming certainly validate using network in our name. Focusing our efforts along with those from the myriad of organizations with stakes in QL is necessary, in my view, to change the underachieving adjective in Bok’s title, especially as it applies to quantitative reasoning.

Enjoy this third issue of NNN’s newsletter and use what you learn to recruit new members for NNN, institutional or individual.

2006 Joint Statistical Meetings - August 6-10, 2006 - Seattle, Washington

Paper Session: Statistical & Quantitative Literacy 2006
Organizers: Milo Schield and Bernard Madison

Speakers:
Bernard Madison, University of Arkansas & National Numeracy Network
Pedagogical Challenges of Quantitative Literacy

Rebecca Hartzler, Seattle Central Community College & National Numeracy Network
Increasing Quantitative Literacy Through the Mathematics Across the Community College Curriculum Project

Neil Lutsky & Scott Bierman, Carleton College & FIPSE Quantitative Literacy Project
Quirks of Rhetoric: A Quantitative Analysis of Quantitative Reasoning in Student Writing

Marc Isaacson, Augsburg College & Capella Course Designer
Common Misconceptions in Statistical Literacy

Milo Schield, Augsburg College & Director of the W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project
Statistical Literacy and Multivariate Thinking

In this National Science Foundation funded project (0442629), faculty will develop and use spreadsheet modules to enhance students’ quantitative literacy skills in a range of disciplinary contexts. The modules will be developed collaboratively by faculty from community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and universities at summer institutes and then piloted in classrooms. The modules will be revised based on formative assessments, and in consultation with context experts. The finished modules will be published on the Washington Center website (www.evergreen.edu/washcenter).

The modules feature spreadsheets designed specifically so that students will use mathematics to solve problems. The spreadsheets will not be “black boxes” in which students plug in data. Rather, students need to figure out the cell equations to get the answers appearing in the slides. Thus, the modules present the students with problems within problems: the modules start with an in-context problem requiring a calculation; the calculation must be performed with a spreadsheet; the student needs to build the spreadsheet, which requires figuring out the math including the equations. Then the student “what-ifs” the spreadsheet to consider variations or a related question.

The primary disciplines we are working with include biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and marine science. However, modules developed last year include “Creating A Household Budget,” for use in a high-intermediate English as a Second Language class; “Major League Baseball Salaries,” for an Advanced Placement high school statistics class; “Archimedes and Pi,” for use in a mathematics for elementary teachers class; and “Energy Flow Through Agroecosystems” for use in an interdisciplinary coordinated studies program entitled “Ecological Agriculture.”

The focus of the institute in 2005 was on adapting modules, and faculty left with modules ready to be piloted in courses. The institute in 2006 will focus on sharing results of the piloted modules and developing additional modules to address QL concepts.

Participants who are accepted will have their costs paid at the institute (travel not included). Participants are also eligible for a $1,000 honorarium once their module has been approved by the content/design team and an assessment plan has been submitted. Institute faculty will be on hand to help participants design and develop modules, and also to develop assessment plans.

Click here for application!

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Len Vacher, Project Lead, University of South Florida
vacher@chuma1.cas.usf.edu

Emily Lardner, Project Evaluator, The Washington Center
lardnere@evergreen.edu

Jack Bookman, Project Evaluator, Duke University
bookman@math.duke.edu

Dena Jaskar, Project Support, The Washington Center
jaskard@evergreen.edu

In May 2005, the American Mathematical Association for Two Year Colleges (AMATYC) received a grant from the National Science Foundation to support the Mathematics Across the Community College Curriculum (MAC³) project. This national dissemination project encourages faculty of all disciplines to integrate mathematics and quantitative reasoning into their courses. MAC³ builds upon the successful four-year NSF funded Mathematics Across the Curriculum Project from Edmonds CC in Washington State led by Deann Leoni and Rebecca Hartzler. AMATYC is a partner on this grant with Edmonds CC, Seattle Central CC, and Miami Dade College. Most of the project activities for 2005 have been funded by a one-year Department of Education grant through Edmonds CC. All future activities will be funded by the NSF grant.

MAC³ supports and expands AMATYC’s existing commitment to quantitative literacy and creates a national dialogue on integrating mathematics into all disciplines at two-yar colleges. The core of the MAC³ project is curriculum development institutes, where faculty work in interdisciplinary teams to create classroom-ready materials. Faculty from any two-year college, any discipline, and any program - liberal arts, college-prep, and vocational/technical - are encouraged to participate.

After the first three years AMATYC will sustain the project through a strand of Traveling Workshops aimed at continuing the work of supporting faculty and schools in integrating mathematics across the curriculum.

This past August marked the first MAC³ Summer Institute. Forty-six participants attended from Washington, Florida, Mississippi, Delaware, Minnesota, Tennessee and Iowa.

The next MAC³ institute is set for August 1-4, 2006 in Washington State. See the MAC³ website for resources and details about upcoming events: http://www.mac3.amatyc.org or contact the project manager at mac3@amatyc.org.

A panel discussion involving SIGMAA QL, NNN and MAC3 will be held at Mathfest 2006 in Knoxville, TN.

There is a growing interest in Quantitative Literacy (QL) and Quantitative Reasoning (QR) at many levels of undergraduate education. Some institutions have opted to include QL/QR requirements in their general education requirements, others have embedded QL/QR requirements in major requirements and many others are trying to decide how to address the QL/QR needs of undergraduate students. Three different professional groups have been working with these ideas over the past 20 years. This panel will compare how summer PREP programs, the QL SIGMAA, the National Numeracy Network (NNN) and NSF funded Mathematics Across the Curriculum (MAC) projects have each addressed QL/QR in the undergraduate program. The panel will be moderated by Caren Diefenderfer (SIGMAA QL) and the panelists will be David Bressoud of Macalester College (NNN), Rebecca Hartzler of Seattle Central Community College (MAC^3), and Maura Mast of University of Massachusetts at Boston (SIGMAA QL).

Contact: Caren Diefenderfer
cdiefenderfer@hollins.edu

In each issue of the NNNNews, we will highlight a QL program or center through an interview with the director. Our second interview is with Cinnamon Hillyard at the University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, WA

The mission of the Quantitative Skills Center (QSC) is to support students, faculty and staff in any area that requires quantitative reasoning. Our QSC was created in order to facilitate the UWB mission to develop critical and analytical thinking as well as problem solving skills. Our primary goals are...

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