Information-Based Problems in Quantitative Literacy Courses: A Cross-Case Analysis

• In Event: 70.066 - Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: 70.066-2 - High School and University Students' Mathematical Thinking

Abstract

This paper reports on quantitative literacy courses at three different universities in which information-based problems, or problems that require students to seek out information outside of the classroom, were introduced through a collaboration between the instructors and the researcher. I use a cross-case analysis to look at the benefits and challenges of such problems with a particular focus on students’ assessment of the credibility of sources along with the ways in which their statistical literacy mediates this work. My analysis of the students’ in-class discussions and presentations suggests that they are capable of making sophisticated credibility judgments and that this can support the development of statistical literacy even as prior knowledge constrains their ability to make judgments.

Author

• Ander Willard Erickson, University of Michigan