Quantitative Literacy for Pre-service Teachers via the Internet

Abstract

Quantitative literacy involves not just basic number skills, often called numeracy, but also the ability to integrate basic skills in contexts that require high levels of literacy to interpret situations and make judgments. This paper discusses the development, implementation, and evaluation of a unit designed to assist preservice teachers of mathematics to see the relevance of quantitative literacy to daily life, to understand and discuss aspects of quantitative literacy themselves, and to prepare and deliver lessons in schools using an internet site as a teaching resource. Forty pre-service teachers (a) selected a newspaper article and developed student questions and brief comments for discussion with teachers, identifying issues for mathematics teaching; (b) developed a teaching unit for one or more class lessons and implemented it in the classroom; (c) prepared an evaluation of the experience; and (d) discussed their colleagues’ work in relation to these tasks online. Responses indicated most of the pre-service teachers could engage with these tasks and came to believe that they supported effective teaching in the classroom. Some difficulties are identified, however, related to the implementation of the project, and suggestions are made for future variations.