Education
Title: Math Literacy
Information: Being "math literate" - at its most basic level - implies that a person can determine when to use math in his or her everyday life and has sufficient mathematical skills to do so. It also considers educational standards and math curricula. You can learn more about math literacy through the resources listed below. "What is 'Math Literacy?'" This article appears on Math Mistakes Website,http://www.mathmistakes.com, by Paul Cox. It gives a short explanation of math literacy and the author's list of "minimum math skills every adult should possess." http://members.cox.net/mathmistakes/literacy.htm SciMathMN Website - This website offers documents, reports, and links to websites for science and mathematics education. Sections include resources for educators, parents, policy makers and business leaders. http://www.scimathmn.org/ "No Small Task: Changing Math, Changing Minds," researched by Sandra Gaumond Rummel, Ed.D. June 2001, commissioned by SciMathMN. "A case study delineating the key factors in a successful or unsuccessful implementation of standards based math materials." http://www.scimathmn.org/nosmalltask_toc.htm "Celebrate Math Literacy Week: October 18-24, 2004" Website - This website suggests events and activities for each day of the week - Kickoff Day, Story Problem Day, Math in Daily Life Day, Connected Literature Day, and Math Party Day. There is a section for home activities for Grades K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. http://www.mathliteracy.com/ "Math Literacy Week" - The Kentucky Academy of Technology Education (KATE) posted this index page of web resources, including articles and activities in celebration of math literacy week. http://coekate.murraystate.edu/kate/2004/oct/math/default.asp Check out the Math Forum's discussion posts on the topic of Math Literacy. Although the messages appeared in 1997, their responses to the question, "What is math literacy," are helpful. http://mathforum.org/epigone/numeracy/sartingvy. Also, check out the Math Forum messages under "Numeracy," the parent category for "math literacy." http://mathforum.org/epigone/numeracy. Statistical Literacy - This website addresses "Statistical Literacy: the study of statistics used as evidence in arguments." I discovered it by browsing the Math Forum's "Numeracy" messages. (Read Milo Schield's post on 12/8/04,http://mathforum.org/epigone/numeracy/trahroydroa). http://www.statlit.org/ A search of the National Science Digital Library,http://nsdl.org, for "math literacy" returned the following article. Pines, Laurie. "Bringing Literature into the High School Math Class" - Feature article on the ENC (Eisenhower National Clearinghouse) website explains how literature can motivate students in math. The links on the right-hand side of the page allow you to further explore the concept. http://www.enc.org/features/focus/archive/mathlit/document.shtm?input=FOC-003237-index The next three resources come from the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse,http://www.enc.org, one of the NSDL's collections. ENC's topical focus, "Inquiry and Problem Solving," in the context of math and science education, offers a list of resources. http://www.enc.org/topics/inquiry/ ENC Features: "Becoming Literate in Math and Science" - This issue of the electronic version of "ENC FOCUS" provides links to full-text articles on math and science literacy. http://www.enc.org/features/focus/archive/literacy/ ENC Features: "Defining Math and Science Literacy" - This is a list of publications that one can order on the topics of Math and Science literacy. Most require a fee. http://www.enc.org/features/focus/archive/literacy/ resources_v8n3/defining/ Good luck learning about math literacy. Be sure to check with the librarian at your local public library or school library for more information, that may be available in the library or through their subscription databases. Regards, Joyce W. Virtual Reference Librarian Created 12/30/04
Category: Education