Sustainability and Mathematics-numeracy

Many mathematical skills and understandings are required to help us become informed about our world, to make important decisions which influence the future and to understand the data which politicians and others are using to make decisions which will impact in positive and negative ways on the future.  This includes the capacity to understand and be critical of the mathematics of others e.g. what is presented via the media in terms of data and data representations such as graphs, charts and tables.  This is highlighted in the examples provided by Watson in the Numeracy in the News website http://ink.news.com.au/mercury/mathguys/mercury.htm

These skills and understandings might best be described as quantitative literacy and many researchers and writers believe that quantitative literacy is as important if not more important than literacy for the future. H.G. Wells voiced the following prophecy at the end of the last century: 'Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write.'  (cited by Watson in http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s29.htm )

Lyn Arthur Steen who is recognised as a leading writer and researcher in the field notes that “the challenge is not just to help students learn to do mathematics when prompted, but to make evidence-based reasoning an ingrained habit of mind”

Quantitative literacy is more than a skill set; it is a crucial part of understanding and comprehension, an approach to reading, writing, and analysing information. Students should be learning to think critically and constructively as they read the daily newspaper, compare election candidates, respond to surveys, participate in a public protest, balance their budgets, or even eventually join the dot-com world (Sharpe, 2002, p.C3 cited in Skalicky, 2004)

Throughout the Tasmanian Mathematics-numeracy curriculum document  emphasis on the development of quantitative literacy skills is evident, this is most particularly noted in the chance and data strand where students are explicitly taught the skills of interpreting , collecting, analysing and representing data about questions which are important to them and their community.  In the early stages understandings such as ‘we can answer questions by collecting data’ are highlighted and student understandings of surveys and other data collection techniques are developed. Emphasis in Standards 3, 4 and 5 is also placed on questioning the data, the methods used to collect it and the possibilities of bias.  Explicit focus on the development of working mathematically is also evident throughout the document. This includes a focus on developing the capacity to think critically, to question, to investigate and inquire and to justify conclusions on the basis of evidence.

Particular mathematical skills will also be required if students are to investigate and understand issues of sustainability in given contexts for example if students are investigating water usage they will need to understand how to measure liquids, read scales and calculate, this may also involve the use of specific measuring tools and the use of ICTs to analyse and represent the data which has been collected.  Other inquiries may require specific mathematical understandings of for example percentage increase and decrease which is an explicit focus at standard 4 in the Mathematics numeracy syllabus.

References

Steen, L. personal website: http://www.stolaf.edu/people/steen/Professional/qlit.html

Skalicky, J. Quantitative Literacy in a Reform-based Curriculum and Implications for Assessment, University of Tasmania Paper presented at AARE Conference, 2004 http://www.aare.edu.au/04pap/ska04226.pdf

Watson, J. (1997) The Need For Statistical Literacy In Australia. Ockham’s Razor. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s29.htm

Watson, J. Numeracy in the news website: http://ink.news.com.au/mercury/mathguys/mercury.htm

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