3E Institute’s Quantitative Literacy – Thinking Outside the Math Box
Lisa Marano was not sure if she would like what she was getting into:
“I had never taught teachers before. I’m a mathematician. I have teacher friends who are not happy about in-service training obligations, so I was prepared to meet with some resistance from those enrolled in this course…. and I knew this had better be interesting!”
Indeed, the new course puzzled some people who signed up, including one who said she first though it was a literature course, because of the word “literacy” in the title. Upon reflection members of the class said it was good entering the course not knowing what to expect and having the course unfold with something new added every day.
Not to be daunted, Dr. Marano, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at West Chester University and instructor of 3E Institute’s first Quantitative Literacy course led the class of practicing K-12 teachers course through lively conversations, discoveries and synergies. At the end of the week there were amazing results! As Lisa commented, “I was blown away by the lesson plans these teachers produced during the course!”
The 18 teachers enrolled in Quantitative Literacy took advantage of a great week of thinking outside the math box. They applied math skills to everyday life and explored making decisions based on data and math, such as at what point it’s cheaper to pay a certain price per gallon for gasoline than to consume extra gas driving around looking for a cheaper price. They examined the issue of whether the U.S. minimum wage is high enough, graphing the CPE to wages and forecasting 10 years into the future.
The course had business guests from State Farm and Verizon who helped the teachers consider the applications of using data sets and how to analyze them, to get beyond the numbers to what they really mean.
On the last day of class each teacher taking the course pitched their project idea to a succession of business volunteers and peers. One high school political science teacher did a project on the Electoral College and voting theory, exploring alternate election methods. Another did an exploration of global warming issues, a sort of “literacy à la Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.” Yet another studied the ecology of predator and prey, using the lynx and hare populations and the theory of supply and demand. Then there was a study of land use and the ecology of the Brandywine River, measuring indicators of the health of the river. At the elementary level there was a project on map skills and one on comparative costs of domestic and wild animal care.
In their individual projects - a course requirement - the participants were challenged to use data and content to make a math situation exciting and interesting, like a puzzle. It gave them an opportunity to investigate a problem, using the research power of the Internet and tweaking things to change the outcomes.
All this is creating a model for students of how math doesn’t stop when they leave the math class room. It helps to ease math anxiety and underscore the value of math and “Why we have to learn it.” Dr. Marano added.
“It’s exciting how people, regardless of their discipline, level, or subject take away something ready to implement. This course works beautifully for a real mix of backgrounds.”
One of the participating teachers vowed,
“I will implement this within 72 hours. I can do this! In fact, my two best lessons for this year will be from this course.”
Quantitative Literacy is one of the 3E Institute’s core of five innovative professional development courses for practicing teachers. For more information about the 3E Institute and its cutting edge professional development courses and program, visit the rest of our website, or call 610.738.0582.