Where have the real world math skills gone?
A study by the American Institutes for Research has some scathing things to say about the state of literacy – readin’, writin’ and ’rithmetic – of US graduating college seniors.
Concerning mathematics literacy, the study says:
Students in 2- and 4-year colleges have the greatest difficulty with quantitative literacy: approximately 30 percent of students in 2-year institutions and nearly 20 percent of students in 4-year institutions have only Basic quantitative literacy. Basic skills are those necessary to compare ticket prices or calculate the cost of a sandwich and a salad from a menu.
In other words, they can add the bill, but cannot calculate the tip.
There is something very wrong when a 20-something college graduate cannot even compare credit card deals, cannot do comparison shopping (“the 100 g bottle costs $2.40 while the 150 g bottle costs $3.10″), cannot mix solutions in proportion and cannot calculate fuel consumption of a car.
Where does solving a quadratic formula or finding the roots of a 6th degree polynomial fit into this scene…?
The study:
The National Survey of America’s College Students, (NSACS) is based on a sample of 1,827 graduating students from 80 randomly selected 2-year and 4-year public and private colleges and universities across the United States.
The results can be found at: New Study of the Literacy of College Students Finds Some Are Graduating With Only Basic Skills
Related posts:
- Without math skills, who gets the best deal? Post-Christmas shoppers won't know if they have a bargain or...
- Real World Math: Engaging Students through Global Issues Here's a "real-world" math program that gives students a reason...
- Skills Your Child Needs to Know That She’s Not Getting In School Everyone has pet views on what should be taught in...
- Violence in schools – real life statistics A report by the National Center for Education Statistics of...
- 21st century math skills A reader asks for advice on 21st century skills and...
