News & Notes

SIGMAA QL will be offering a rich variety of experiences, focused on the intersection of Quantitative Literacy and Social Justice. Watch our newsletter for details.

At the 2019 Joint Mathematics Meetings, Dave Kung and Kira Hamman called for a need to teach mathematics and quantitative literacy with an eye toward social justice. As part of their presentation, they not only reiterated the importance of promoting quantitative literacy for social justice (and vice versa), but they also pushed the audience to consider diverse and potentially divisive issues ranging from who ``receives'' quantitative literacy on their campus to how students are positioned in mathematics classrooms. Their remarks accentuate that the relationship between quantitative literacy and social justice is complex, and that there is much for the mathematics and quantitative literacy communities to consider as we teach in an era of alternative facts, dueling memes, and politically charged classrooms.

SIGMAA-QL would like to invite all members of the mathematics community who are interested in issues of social justice as well as pathways toward a quantitatively literate society to a town hall discussion at MathFest 2019 to follow up on some of these questions. In particular at this session we hope to start a much needed conversation about the roles people of mathematics can play in promoting quantitative literacy for social justice (and vice versa). Issues we would like to discuss range from teaching mathematics for social justice, to the role of QL in charting a path towards a more just society, to the future of SIGMAA-QL as an ambassador of mathematicians interested in these issues. The organizers will come in with questions to initiate and facilitate the conversation, but we invite everyone interested to come and make their voices be heard. The Town Hall Meeting will be held on Friday, from 3:00-4:20 PM.

The annual business meeting of the SIGMAA will also be held at MathFest---all are welcome to attend and have a voice in planning for the next year!

The National Center for Mathematics Education (NCM) and Swedish Adult Education in Collaboration (ViS) warmly welcomes you to the 26th Adults Learning Mathematics Conference (ALM26).

ALM is an international forum for research into Adults Learning Mathematics at all levels, and the annual conference of ALM offers a unique opportunity to present and discuss new thinking and research in the field of adults learning mathematics. The conference welcomes researchers, teachers and other interested to a supportive and friendly environment with possibilities to develop professional networks in this special interest group.

The National Numeracy Network (NNN) will be hosting their Annual Meeting on October 12-14, 2018 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

For more information and to register, see the NNN Meeting website.

The National Numeracy Network (NNN) will be hosting their Annual Meeting on October 15-16, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Tennis & Golf Resort in Asheville, NC.

The meeting will include an information session intended for faculty attending the ACA Summit.

If you are attending any of the Summit events, you must register for the Summit (and Early Registration ends on Oct. 2. The price goes up by $100 after that.) You should use the NNN code (72011) when you register and you may share this code with potential NNN members and friends.

If you are planning to attend only the special NNN sessions on Saturday and Sunday, contact Caren Diefenderfer (See link above.) asap (by noon on Sept. 9). I have a special code that will allow you to register.

For more information about the meeting, view the announcement at the ACA Summit web site. For more information about NNN, visit the organization's web site.

From Ross and Curran:

Interested in an innovative in-class game for Quantitative Literacy (QL) classes? There are still a few spots left in a Minicourse at this year's MathFest (Aug. 4-6) to learn about and play a game where we pretend it is 1935 and we debate what the Social Security law should include: pensions? disability? universal health care?

If you are already registered for MathFest and want to add the Minicourse (we understand that some people had technical problems doing this), you may do so by emailing Audra Weaver

For more information, follow the announcement link above.

From the announcement page.

The focus of the conference will be on innovative and practical approaches to educating for personal and social responsibility, particularly approaches reflecting academic and student affairs collaboration, campus-community partnerships, and global contexts. The conference also invites proposals describing ways in which campuses have effectively addressed challenges, including assessing personal and social responsibility, scaling up programs, and building supportive institutional policies and structures to sustain progress.

For more information, follow the announcement link above.

Inquiry-Based Learning is designed to inculcate QL, so this workshop might appeal to members. Here is the summary from the announcement page.

Inquiry based learning (IBL) has been highly successful both in mathematics and mathematics education environments. Via IBL, students actively participate in their mathematical education. They become adept at understanding and explaining mathematics.

In this workshop we will discuss IBL methods in a variety of settings. In particular we will feature sessions on

• The Freshman Experience
• The Math Major Experience
• Math Education
• Assessment

Experienced instructors will present and discuss their experiences. Workshop participants will be prepared to present effective IBL style courses after the workshop. Participants will be connected to a mentoring support system to help them as they implement these ideas in their own institutions.

For more information, follow the announcement link above.

Mathematics and Democracy is a concise and compelling exposition of the importance of quantitative literacy contemporary society. It's tenth anniversary is an important milestone, and the MAA is acknowledging that.

In the linked column, Bressoud mentions "[t]here is now a special interest group of the MAA, SIGMAA QL, which 'aims to provide a structure within the mathematics community to identify the prerequisite mathematical skills for quantitative literacy (QL) and find innovative ways of developing and implementing QL curricula. We also intend to assist colleagues in other disciplines to infuse appropriate QL experiences into their courses and hope to stimulate the general national dialogue concerning QL.'

"SIGMAA QL works closely with the National Numeracy Network . . ."

SIGMAA-QL business meeting followed by Math and Democracy reunion/discussion: Thursday January 6, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm. La Galerie 6, 2nd floor, Marriott.

The Role of QL in the High School Mathematics Curriculum: Friday Jan. 7, 1:00 pm - 3:50 pm. Napolean C1, 3rd floor, Sheraton. Note: This is listed in the program as: AMS-MAA-MER Special Session on Mathematics and Education Reform, II

There is an August 6 deadline if you are interested in applying.  Also, The board of the National Numeracy Network is planning their next board meeting to occur just before the PKAL workshop.

SIGMAA QL sponsoring a Panel Discussion on "Mathematics in Interdisciplinary Survey Courses" on Thursday August 5, 3:30 - 4:50 pm in the room " Monongahela".  Unfortunately, at the moment in the MathFest online schedule it only appears at "Panel Boersma".  Not very informative.

After the panel discussion, we will adjourn to a nearby brewpub for an informal reception/happy hour.  During this time we can meet other SIGMAA-QL members, talk about future SIGMAA-QL activities, do a little networking, and see if a Pittsburgh ale can hold its own to a Pacific Northwest IPA.

The reception will be at the Courthouse Tavern at 5:15 pm.

Over the last several years many colleges and universities have reconsidered their approaches to teaching and assessing quantitatively literacy/reasoning. Outcomes have been articulated, curricula have been designed, and in many cases some exciting integrative collaboration has taken place. This session invites papers which speak to the manifold approaches to the issue of quantitative literacy at the undergraduate level. Papers addressing successful cross- disciplinary curricula, integrative projects, learning communities, meaningful placement procedures, articulation issues, and multi-stage assessment are especially encouraged.

Organizers:

• Stuart Boersma, Central Washington University, is currently chair-elect of SIGMAA-QL and Governor of the Pacific Northwest section of the MAA.
• Deann Leoni, Edmonds Community College, is Co-PI of the Mathematics Across the Community College Curriculum project (NSF DUE #0442439).

• SIGMAA QL Annual Business Meeting: Friday, Jan. 15, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
• Contributed Paper Session: Friday, Jan. 15, from 8:00 am to 11:00 am
  Quantitative Reasoning and the Environment, Maura B. Mast, University of Massachusetts Boston, Karen D. Bolinger, Clarion University, and Cinnamon Hillyard, University of Washington Bothell. The combination of teaching quantitative literacy and environmental issues in the classroom can be a powerful one. Both fields naturally focus on mathematical topics such as understanding basic numeracy, constructing models, and generating and interpreting statistics. Furthermore, both fields emphasize concrete data, real-world applications, and mathematics in context. Courses that integrate quantitative literacy and the study of environmental issues are suitable for students at a range of levels, from those with a limited mathematics background, to calculus students, and beyond. This combination is also timely, given the active national conversation about implementing quantitative literacy requirements and the public's increased awareness of environmental issues. There is a growing source of support material, from textbooks to workshops to web pages, providing further evidence of the interest in developing course materials that draw from both of these fields. We invite presentations addressing the teaching of quantitative literacy and environmental problems. This could include ideas and examples for how to bringing quantitative literacy and environmental mathematics together in the classroom, suggestions for how quantitative literacy can be used in the study of environmental problems, and resources available for this type of work. This session is jointly sponsored by SIGMAA-EM and SIGMAA-QL.

SIGMAA QL sponsoring a Panel Discussion on "Mathematics in Interdisciplinary Survey Courses" on Thursday August 5, 3:30 - 4:50 pm in the room " Monongahela".  Unfortunately, at the moment in the MathFest online schedule it only appears at "Panel Boersma".  Not very informative.

After the panel discussion, we will adjourn to a nearby brewpub for an informal reception/happy hour.  During this time we can meet other SIGMAA-QL members, talk about future SIGMAA-QL activities, do a little networking, and see if a Pittsburgh ale can hold its own to a Pacific Northwest IPA.

The reception will be at the Courthouse Tavern at 5:15 pm.

Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul, MN will be host to the Midwest SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) Center of Innovation Fall Symposium on Teaching Quantitative Reasoning through Civic Issues. The symposium will be held on November 6th and 7th. The events on Nov. 6th will begin with an evening plenary address by Professor Deborah Hughes Hallett. Professor Hallet holds a joint appointment at the Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Arizona and is currently teaching a course at Harvard, Politics and Policies: What Can Statistics Tell Us? On Saturday November 7th, the events will run from 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. with break-out sessions for contributed and invited papers and poster presentations. Undergraduate students are encouraged to participate in the symposium. There are a limited number of registration waivers available for undergraduate students on a first come, first serve basis. Please look for updates on a call for abstracts, schedules, registration information and general information for the symposium at www.sencer.net/Outreach/centers/midwest/index.cfm. We look forward to seeing you in Saint Paul!

POSTER SESSION: First Day of Class Activities
Friday, August 7, 10:30 am – noon
Sponsors: SIGMAA QL and SIGMAA TAHSM

• Creating a Rubric for Graphing
  Caren Diefenderfer, Hollins University
  I start my "Introduction to Quantitative Reasoning" class by giving students some frequency data on a variety of topics. We form groups of 3–4 people and each group receives a data set. The data sets come from our text book and consider the total sales (in billions of dollars) of the top eight retail companies in the US, the number of platinum albums of the top ten musical groups (with the most platinum albums) in the US, the areas (in millions of square miles) of the world's major land masses or the religious preferences (measured as a percent of the sample) of first-year college students. I ask each group to create a graph of the data set and draw it on an overhead transparency. Together we look at the graphs and critique them. As a class we develop a list of guidelines, or a rubric, for graphing data. Creating this rubric allows us to establish some shared terminology and we use the group rubric for grading graphs throughout the entire semester. This activity is a good way to start a class and emphasizes that good written communication skills are crucial for success in this class.
• Encouraging Problem-Solving the First Day of Class
  Mike Pinter, Belmont University
  I will describe a specific problem that I've been able to use very effectively the first day of class for both an introductory quantitative reasoning course and for an Honors Program course. The problem is simple for the students to understand but eludes a quick solution; for those reasons, students of varying ability levels find something both understandable and challenging about the problem. As the students work in small groups on the problem, I guide them through several aspects of problem solving, such as: be clear about the "rules" of the problem; start with a smaller version of the given problem in order to gain insight and to generate some data; look for patterns in data that's been generated, conjecturing and testing along the way. So, in addition to ideas of problem solving, I also establish a collaborative approach to the course where students help each other and I guide their efforts. Students leave class the first day with a true taste of the problem-solving they will encounter many places in the course.
• Gather specific student information on an index card
  Alice Kaseberg, retired
  I ask students to record on index cards: their major, personal goals, number of hours employed each week, number of course credits, and major personal responsibilities. In addition to taking roll, this lets you personalize to the students your comments about goal setting, persistence, and time management. For courses from algebra to calculus, discuss an equation for a realistic load. Pass out cards as students enter. Have all questions displayed before class so students are involved in class from the first minute they arrive.
• I Don't Teach Math. I Teach Students Math.
  Stacey Allyn Cederbloom, Mount Union College
  "You are the first math teacher who ever cared whether I understood or not." I have heard these words again and again out of the mouths of students who work hard in my classes. As math teachers, we have the unfortunate reputation of loving our content first, and our students a far second, if at all. So, my first key to motivating students is to convince them, in both words and actions, that I care about them and their success in math. My second key to motivating students is to spend a good part of the first day doing math with them and introducing them to my teaching style. I choose material which is relevant to them, challenges them to think, but does not completely intimidate them. More importantly, I create an environment in which participation is not only "safe," but is also crucial in the learning process. Because I have found that students "will not care how much I know until they know how much I care," I carefully weave this theme throughout everything I do on the first day - from necessary administrative tasks, to my choice of content, to the way in which I teach that content. For me, designing such a lesson on the first day reaps huge rewards for the rest of the semester: it encourages students who "hate math" to persevere, and it inspires many others to achieve success in math that they did not think was possible.
• Life's Expectations And Requirements
  Susan Lea Beane, University of Houston-Downtown
  My first class day stresses that the class is an important LIFE event, and in order to be successful in life, we need some necessary skills. Those skills are mathematics and reading and writing. Math comes first in life skills. Everything in life is built around the sciences and science is build around math. The expectations are the course goals and objectives. The requirements are the necessary study skills needed to successfully carry out the course expectations.

SIGMAA-QL Lunch following poster session at a local restaurant. Details to Follow!

MINICOURSE: Game Theory Path to Quantitative Literacy
David Housman, Goshen College
Rick Gillman, Valparaiso University
Part 1: Friday, August 7, 3:30 – 5:30 pm
Part 2: Saturday, August 8, 3:30 – 5:30 pm
** additional fee applies for all mini-courses.

The National Center for Science and Civic Engagement invites applications to participate in the 2009 SENCER Summer Institute, planned for August 6-10th in Chicago and hosted by Harold Washington College.

SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) is a National Science Foundation-supported faculty development and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education reform initiative. SENCER supports the development of courses and programs that connect course content to real world problems, and by so doing, extend the impact of learning across the curriculum to the broader community and society. This approach has been especially effective in engaging women, minority students, and students who major in non-STEM fields.

The SENCER Summer Institute (SSI) is an annual, intensive, residential team-based learning opportunity for educators, administrators and students. The SSI features a rich mix of plenary sessions, workshops, and concurrent sessions that focus on not only what students should learn, but how that learning might be accomplished. Educators and students of all disciplines are welcome to apply as members of a team or as individuals.

Pennsylvania Campus Compact and New York Campus Compact, with support from Learn & Serve America and Ithaca College, are collaborating to support faculty members in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We invite STEM faculty members and other interested partners to participate in the event called Developing a Good Heart in STEM: The First Summit on Incorporating Social Justice and Service-Learning into the STEM Curriculum. The summit will take place June 11-12, 2009 at Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY).

The theme for the afternoon session is "Numeracy and Decision-Making." In particular we anticipate papers on:

• QR and health and medical decisions
• QR and personal finance

Here's a schedule

April 30

1:00-4:00

NNN Board meeting

5:00-9:00

Opening reception, dinner, opening plenary for NNN board and workshop participants

May 1

8:30-9:00

Opening remarks introduction etc.

Exploring Project Pages

9:00-12:00

Example, Small group discussions of projects

12:00-1:30

Lunch

1:30-3:30

Work on pages; prepare for poster session

NNN Meeting Starts

3:30-3:45

NSF QL overview

3:45-5:30

Poster session - opportunities to learn about projects and discuss grant writing strategies

6:00

Dinner on own

May 2

Numeracy and Decision Making

9:00-12:00

Panel of NSF examples and discussion

12:00-1:30

Lunch

1:30-5:00

Afternoon program: Contributed papers

Finish with NNN business

• SIGMAA QL Annual Business Meeting: January 6 2009, 5:45 pm to 7:15 pm
• Contributed Paper Session: January 7 2009, 8:00 am to 10:55 am
  There are a growing number of colleges and universities with programs that embed QL in various disciplines. We would encourage dissemination of this important work by soliciting papers from any individuals or groups actively involved in Quantitative Literacy across the curriculum. Individuals who have embedded QL in various disciplines, are welcome to submit contributed papers. Papers should provide sample projects from various disciplines that authentically embed QL and evidence of the impact on students' ability to interpret data and make inferences. Preference will be given to abstracts that provide quantitative or qualitative data on the impact of the program or projects. If you have been working with faculty from other disciplines we encourage you to bring these faculty to JMM to present with you. Organized by Kimberly Vincent and Cinnamon Hillyard.
• Minicourse: January 6 2009, 8:00 am to 10:00 am and January 8, 2009, 9 am to 11 am
  Educating about the state of the planet and sustainability while enhancing calculus, by Tom Pfaff
• Minicourse: January 5, 2:15 pm to 4:15 pm and January 7, 2:15 pm to 4:15 pm
  A game theory path to quantitative literacy, by Rick Gillman and David Housman

• An assessment of QR in student writing
• A sophisticated standardized test that tests QR in contextualized case studies
• A QR assessment protocol that has been used by 210 institutions in 46 states allowing for cross-school comparison
• Assessment tools that can be used at the program, course, and student level

• Thursday, July 31, 9-10:20 am
  Panel on "The Role of QL Centers in Supporting Studnets and Faculty" with panelists Judy Moran, Caren Diefenderfer, Nicole Hoover, and Corrine Taylor. Cinnamon Hillyard and Maura Mast will moderate.
• Thursday, July 31, 1-3 pm and Friday, August 1, 1-3 pm
  Minicourse: "A Game Theory Path to Quantitative Literacy," led by Rick Gillman and David Housman. Separate registration for this minicourse is required.
• Saturday, August 2, 9-10:20 am
  Panel on "Math Matters: Numerate Approaches to Everyday Issues" with panelists Bernie Madison, Don Saari, Jonathan Hodge, and Any Miller. Andy Miller will moderate.
• Saturday, August 2, 11-1 pm
  Lunch at Cafe Soleil, located at 25 North Pickney Street. You can view the menu at Letoile Restaurant

This session is from 8 am – noon. Assessment continues to be an important issue for the mathematical sciences, with increasing faculty involvement in assessment activities. Departments are expected to document assessment activities focusing on student learning in general education, the major, and graduate programs for program review and institutional accreditation. Project SAUM (Supporting Assessment in Undergraduate Mathematics) and the SIGMAA on Quantitative Literacy (QL) encourage faculty to disseminate information about their experiences by inviting contributed papers that (a) describe assessment projects on student learning in undergraduate mathematical sciences programs, including the areas of quantitative literacy, general education, and the major; (b) report findings of those projects; and (c) describe faculty and departmental responses to those findings. Papers are solicited from any individuals or groups actively involved in assessment of student learning and are not restricted to members of the SIGMAA-QL or participants of Project SAUM workshops. Organizers:

• William O. Martin, North Dakota State University
• Bernard L. Madison, University of Arkansas
• Maura B. Mast, University of Massachusetts-Boston
• Kimberly M. Vincent, Washington State University

Not much else to say.

This panel runs from 9:00 - 10:20 am and will consist of presentations on pedagogy associated with courses investigating the interaction between quantitative literacy/mathematics and civic engagement. Potential topics include voting rights, voting fraud, gerrymandering, and one person/one vote; the impact of opinion polls on the democratic process; financial exploitation of the quantitatively illiterate; statistical misconceptions and their consequences in politics and policy; mathematics education as a determinant of economic status; and statistics and health policy. Panelists will be encouraged to share with the interested public curricular materials for units in a general education course linking mathematics to social justice, including reading lists, study guides, discussion guidelines, and assignments. The session is sponsored by the SIGMAA on Quantitative Literacy. Panelists include:

• Robert G. Root, Lafayette College
• Kira Hamman, Hood College
• Maura B. Mast, University of Massachusetts, Boston

This is the second year of the project, aimed at creating spreadsheet modules designed to help students understand quantitative concepts in courses across the curriculum. The Washington Center will provide lodging and meals for participants during the institute. In addition, once participants develop a module and submit it to the design team, along with an assessment plan, they are eligible for a $1,000 honorarium. Both new and returning participants are encouraged to apply. Please feel free to share this opportunity with your colleagues.

An application and a project description are available on the Washington Center Website.

The goals for this workshop are to (1) broaden the base of college mathematics faculty serving as voices of experience in incorporating social justice questions into their teaching, (2) enlarge and improve upon the set of resources for course development available to mathematics faculty, including service-learning and other project models, and (3) plan outreach efforts to bring resources to those who can use them.

In our increasingly quantitative world, inundated by numbers, data, and ever-changing technologies, students need quantitative reasoning skills and the facility to make use of the latest technology.

It's also no surprise that many students learn best when they are actively engaged in solving real and relevant problems. Therefore, this workshop has been designed for those faculty members who want to motivate and engage students to become critical thinkers through activities that investigate real-life situations, using real data.

"Quantitative Reasoning: Tools for Today's Informed Citizen" will serve as the textbook and guide for the workshop. It contains background readings, examples, a set of exercises called "explorations", and two versions of activities that allow students to explore, to think, and to solve problems.

One version of the activities uses Microsoft Excel; a second version uses a TI-83 or TI-84 graphing calculator. Instructions for using technology have been integrated into the activities so that students can concentrate on ideas rather than on computational details when researching and solving problems.

Overview and Theme

Join educators, parents, students, activists, and community members from around the country for a 3-day conference to explore the connections between math and social justice. How has math literacy been a gatekeeper to future educational and financial success? How can math educators ensure equity in the classroom? How can issues of social, political, and economic justice be integrated into math curriculum? What is Ethnomathematics and how is it related to our work with students? These are a few of the many issues participants will have the opportunity to explore throughout conference.

Goals of the Conference

• Bring together educators, researchers, parents, activists, and students to collectively discuss social justice and math education
• Foster new and innovative partnerships and collaborations
• Create a space to share resources, lesson plans, best practices, and other classroom materials
• Develop structures for ongoing discussion and working groups about math and social justice
• Contribute to the ongoing conversation about mathematics education reform by creating a new voice in the math reform debate

More information can be found at Conference Information.

This meeting is held in conjunction with the regional meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society and the North Central Sociological Association. The NNN/SIGMAA QL portion of the meeting will include:

• Contributed Paper Session connecting quantitative literacy and sociology. Email abstracts (due Oct 31, 2006) and questions to Dr. Cinnamon Hillyard chillyard@uwb.edu
• Pre-conference workshop - "Models and Strategies for Quantitative Literacy Across the Sociology Curriculum"
• Keynote Speakers (Joel Best and another TBA) on Democracy and QL followed by network reception
• Invited sessions on QL assessment, visual representation of data, teaching statistics for the social sciences

Please see future postings at www.themss.org for information on hotel (Chicago Downtown Mariott) and registration.

We look forward to seeing you in Chicago this spring!

Bernie Madison and Rebecca Hartzler
President and Secretary/Treasurer
National Numeracy Network

In a recent survey of quantitative literacy programs, three points became clear: (a) there seems to be a consensus on the requisite mathematical skills, (b) it is assumed that any student taking calculus becomes quantitatively literate, and (c) there is no clear role for the traditional liberal arts "great ideas" course in QL. Starting with the consensus answer to the first point, this panel will begin a discussion of the following questions: Are calculus students quantitatively literate? Can a liberal arts course teach quantitative literacy? In John Paulo's initial works on numeracy, he suggests that many scientists are quantitatively illiterate; are we addressing this concern? Similarly, does a course in the history of math or on fun geometric topics prepare a student to deal with their everyday world? The panelists will respond to these questions from their various perspectives in their presentations and in response to the audience's questions. Panelists include:

• William E. Briggs, University of Colorado, Denver
• Deborah Hughes-Hallett, University of Arizona
• Michael Starbird, University of Texas at Austin
• Richard A. Gillman, Valparaiso University

This panel will be held between 9 am and 10:20 am.

We will introduce the new elected officials of the SIGMAA at this time as well as discuss general business of the SIGMAA.

This meeting will be held between 5:45 pm and 6:30 pm.

The issue of achieving quantitative literacy (QL) is one that spans disciplines. This panel will take a closer look at how very different institutions have used a cross-disciplinary approach to teach QL. Faculty at Farmingdale State University, a state university with a focus on technology, participated in a regional project on interconnected learning in the quantitative disciplines. As a result, mathematics and QL have been incorporated into many courses in other disciplines. At North Dakota State University, a comprehensive doctoral-granting institution, QL is assessed in interdisciplinary settings by reviewing experiences in subsequent courses. The Quantitative Literacy Center at Hamilton College, a small liberal arts school with a focus on teaching effective writing and speaking, provides peer tutoring and support for students in introductory level courses containing a mathematics/QL component. Each of these programs was featured in the recently published MAA Notes book Current Practices in Quantitative Literacy. Panelists include:

• John A. Winn Jr., SUNY Farmingdale
• William O. Martin and Dogan Comez, North Dakota State University
• Robert Kantrowitz and Mary O'Neill, Hamilton College

This panel will be held between 2:30 pm and 3:50 pm.

• Semra Kiliç-Bahi, Colby-Sawyer College
• Gary Franchy, Davenport University
• Cheryl Coolidge, Colby-Sawyer College
• William Thomas, Colby-Sawyer College

• Part 1: Friday, January 5, 4:45 pm–6:45 pm
• Part 2: Sunday, January 7, 3:30 pm–5:30 pm

In this minicourse, participants will explore a wide range of spreadsheet modules centered on quantitative literacy concepts and skills. These modules were developed with the support of an NSF grant, Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum; Principal Investigator: Len Vacher, Univ. of South Florida, and Project Director: Emily Lardner, The Washington Center. Each module aims to have students explore one or more problems in disciplinary contexts by building their own spreadsheets. These modules are tested and ready to be used in classroom along with classroom assessment suggestions. The necessary support and guidance will be given to participants to start developing their own spreadsheet modules. This minicourse is designed for people who are at the initial stages of implementing QL as well as for people who would like to enhance their existing QL courses by integrating the use of spreadsheets

After the session, plan to join the SIGMAA QL officers for a small social gathering. Beginning at 4:30pm, hors d'oeuvres will be served at Chesapeake's Restaurant a short walk from the Knoxville convention center at 500 Henley Street.

There is a growing interest in Quantitative Literacy (QL) and Quantitative Reasoning (QR) at many levels of undergraduate education. Some institutions have opted to include QL/QR requirements in their general education requirements, others have embedded QL/QR requirements in major requirements and many others are trying to decide how to address the QL/QR needs of undergraduate students. Three different professional groups have been working with these ideas over the past 20 years. This panel will compare how summer PREP programs, the QL SIGMAA, the National Numeracy Network (NNN) and NSF funded Mathematics Across the Curriculum (MAC) projects have each addressed QL/QR in the undergraduate program. The panel will be moderated by Caren Diefenderfer (SIGMAA QL) and the panelists will be David Bressoud of Macalester College (NNN), Rebecca Hartzler of Seattle Central Community College (MAC³), and Maura Mast of University of Massachusetts at Boston (SIGMAA QL).

This panel will run from 2:30 – 3:50 pm.

The 2006 Summer Institute will feature workshops given by experienced MAC³ faculty from Edmonds Community College, Seattle Central Community College, Miami Dade College, and other colleges. The institute also will provide the needed time and assistance for faculty to create projects and assessments for their classroom. Participants may choose to create and work on any part of the curriculum, from one-day modules to entirely new courses that combine mathematics / quantitative reasoning and other disciplines. Participants are strongly encouraged to attend in interdisciplinary teams and to have a proposed or existing project to work on at the institute.

The Institute, to be held August 1–4, 2006, will be the second annual MAC³ summer institute hosted by AMATYC. These institutes are based on five annual "Math Across the Curriculum" summer institutes previously hosted by Edmonds Community College. The registration fee is only $100 and includes food and lodging (triple occupancy) for four days and three nights. Participants will receive a $60/day stipend to develop curriculum during the four-day institute.

This is the second year of the project, aimed at creating spreadsheet modules designed to help students understand quantitative concepts in courses across the curriculum. The Washington Center will provide lodging and meals for participants during the institute. In addition, once participants develop a module and submit it to the design team, along with an assessment plan, they are eligible for a $1,000 honorarium. Both new and returning participants are encouraged to apply. Please feel free to share this opportunity with your colleagues.

An application and a project description are available on the Washington Center Website.

Dear QL Colleagues,

The program for the tenth Northeast Consortium for Quantitative Literacy meeting is now posted at http://www.amherst.edu/~qcenter/NECQL%20X/NECQLX.htm. The page also includes links with directions to campus (and a list of local places to stay), information on parking, and an email address for registration.

The meeting will take place at Amherst College in Amherst, MA on Saturday, April 29, 2006, with Bernard Madison of the University of Arkansas as our speaker on the topic of assessment of QL. Several faculty members from the Five Colleges who teach QL courses in history, government or statistics will also be participating in a panel presentation. So please pass the information on to any of your colleagues outside the math community who might be interested.

The organizing committee for the conference consists of David Cox and Jennifer Innes of Amherst College and Judy Moran of Trinity College. There is no registration fee, but if you are planning on attending, we ask that you send an email to qcenter@amherst.edu as soon as possible so that we can plan for lunch/catering and reserve appropriate meeting rooms.

We hope you will be able to join us on the 29th. Best regards, David, Jennifer, and Judy

NOTE: Date of the SIGMAA QL Contributed Paper Session has been moved. This move was required to allow the SIGMAA QL Business Meeting to immediately follow the paper session.

The paper session will run from 1 pm until 4 pm. Papers can be submitted for the Contributed Paper Session at AMS Website. The deadline for submissions is September 28, 2005.

The annual business meeting and then a reception will be held after the paper session.

The Mathematics Across the Curriculum (MAC) project was started at Edmonds Community College in 2000 with the support of the National Science Foundation. The project’s goal is to improve the mathematical and quantitative skills of students by integrating mathematics or quantitative reasoning into courses across the disciplines. Examples of curriculum can be found at the Math Across the Curriculum website.

The fifth annual MAC summer institute will be held August 9–12, 2005 at the Sleeping Lady Retreat Center in Leavenworth, WA. Faculty from high schools, two-year and four-year institutions are invited to attend. Participants are required to attend in interdisciplinary teams consisting of at least one math instructor and at least one instructor from another discipline. Registration costs $100, including room and meals for four-days, three nights. Participants will be paid a stipend of $60/day to attend and create curriculum. Registration is limited to forty participants. More information and online registration is available at the Math Across the Curriculum website.

SIGMAA QL will be hosting an informal gathering of its members at McGrath's Bar in the Hyatt Regency. The gathering will begin at 8:30pm on Friday, August 5. Hors d'oeuvres will be served and drinks will be available for purchase. The event will provide members of SIGMAA QL and interested guests to share their experiences in a casual atmosphere. For further information, please contact Rick Gillman at rick.gillman@valpo.edu

Hello! We are writing with the good news that our NSF proposal to develop spread sheets across the curriculum has been funded for three years.

This year the workshop will be in Olympia at the Phoenix Inn, July 26-29. Participants will get stipends ($1000), plus room and board. We aim to develop a team of developers from a range of institutions and disciplines; you also have to be in a position to use the module you develop with students. Please let me know if you are interested in participating and I will send you more information.

The purpose of the grant is to develop modules in Excel that address QL problems within and across disciplines. Summer institutes are at the heart of the project—we will have wonderful resource faculty on hand to help you with your modules.

The NNN envisions a society in which all citizens possess the power and habit of mind to search out quantitative information, critique it, reflect upon it, and apply it in their public, personal and professional lives.

Program and registrations information will be posted on http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~nnn/

Quantitative literacy is “the power and habit of mind to search out quantitative information, critique it, reflect on it, and apply it in one’s public, personal, and professional life” (National Numeracy Network). It is no more the exclusive preserve of mathematicians than writing belongs to the English department or critical reasoning to Philosophy, but mathematicians do have an obligation to encourage and support the development of quantitative literacy programs. How do you teach quantitative literacy? How do you measure it? How can you develop a program that will help students come to recognize its importance and be able to use its methods across all of their interests?There are now a variety of interdisciplinary programs that bring different departments from across campus together to teach quantitative literacy. Assessment strategies are under development and are being tested. The goal of this workshop is for interdisciplinary campus teams to learn about many of the programs and assessment strategies that are now running, to gain familiarity with the tools, materials, and case studies that these programs have generated, and to have the opportunity to adapt and build upon these materials for use on their own campuses.

The deadline for pre-registration is April 19, go to www.maa.org/prep/2005/.

The workshop will be held on the campus of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, starting with dinner on Tuesday, June 14 and concluding Saturday morning, June 18.

You can find more information at the MAA PREP web site

A Wiki (or WikiWikiWeb) is a collaborative web site that anyone with a web browser can edit. As part of the SIGMAA QL web site, the QL Wiki is designed as an open forum for topics relating to Quantitative Literacy and is open to anyone with an interest in QL (irrelevant of their membership in the MAA or SIGMAA QL). The Wiki can be found at the SIGMAA QL web site.

System Wide Quantitative Literacy Initiatives, Friday, 4:00 pm - 5:15 pm, organized by Judy Moran, Trinity College, Caren Diefenderfer, Hollins University. Representatives from Washington, Illinois and Georgia will discuss efforts in their states to implement statewide QL standards and programs. Joined by a national leader in the QL effort, they will be discussing issues of definitions, standards, assessment, articulation agreements, and political hurdles. Panelists include: Kathleen Burk, Georgia State University, Vauhn Foster-Grahler, The Evergreen State College, Bernie Madison, University of Arkansas, Linda Sons, Northern Illinois University and Kim Vincent, Washington State University. The session is sponsored by the MAA SIGMAA for Quantitative Literacy and will be followed by a reception for members of the QL SIGMAA and other MAA members interested in learning about the QLSIGMAA.

SIGMAA QL Reception and Business Meeting, 5:15 pm - 6:30 pm, organized by Judy Moran, Trinity College, Caren Diefenderfer, Hollins University.

The US is pretty far down the list. The test was also discussed in The Economist and other publications. You can find the article Math + test = trouble for US economy at the Chrisitan Science Monitor's Web site.

An MAA PREP workshop on creating QL courses and programs and examining QL requirements was held at the Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort, WA, August 16-20.

A reception to be held at MathFest in Providence from 6:15 to 7:45 PM in the Newport Room of the Westin Hotel. Refreshments and good company, courtesy of your SIGMAA. If you are attending MathFest, please come by and say hello and meet other folks interested in QL.

You can purchase copies of the issue and find some of the articles online at the PEER Review web site.