More than Statistical Superlatives: Faculty and Student Perspectives on Effective and Engaging Numeracy Infusion

• In Event: 3523 - Teaching and Learning Symposium: Workshop on Using Data in the Sociology Classroom

Abstract

Many Bronx-based City University of New York (CUNY) students have been inundated with statistical superlatives about their borough and the Bronxites within it (e.g., the poorest borough or the highest rates of diabetes, etc.) by the time they take a sociology class. Locating, understanding, and analyzing numbers that have real world implications for students is part of a quantitative reasoning/ quantitative literacy initiative at three Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in the Bronx. This workshop will detail the professional development components of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored Numeracy Infusion for College Educators (NICE) Program. Principal Investigators, Wilder and Hoiland, will co-present with Bronx CUNY students and share 1) QR/QL learning goals, 2) QR/QL assignments, and 3) NICE assessment results. The motivating factor behind the NICE Project, aimed at professional development on three campuses (Lehman College, Hostos Community College, and Bronx Community College), is a larger social justice goal for students to become more numerate and have increased chances of upward social mobility. While this is difficult to quantify, students will share their experiences of working with a variety of data sets and challenging themselves throughout the process. The primary goal of this workshop will be to demonstrate approaches to infusing numeracy into sociology with examples drawn from upper division courses at a four-year institution and examples from introductory courses at a two-year institution. The secondary goal will be to elevate student voices at ASA by having students share their experiences with the types of numbers they heard about the Bronx and the numbers they utilized and analyzed as part of the NICE Program in their sociology classes. Audience members will leave with a plethora of resources and examples of numeracy infusion assignments, best practices for numeracy infusion, and opportunities to ask faculty and student workshop facilitators questions.

Authors

• Sarah Hoiland, Hostos Community College

• Esther Isabelle Wilder, Lehman College