Sociology
macalester
Examination: Quantitative Thinking Question part of State Your Case:Activities
In this 100-level Sociology / Legal Studies course, students learn quantitative thinking skills (as defined by Macalester's Quantitative Thinking General Education Requirement). In both readings and during class, we discuss questions about describing the world quantitatively, evaluating data quality, comparing rates, using modeling to test theory, and understanding causation. In previous offerings of the course, despite coverage of each of these topics, student course evaluation items showed only minimal appreciation of the range of quantitative thinking (particularly as it related to being able to assess / make arguments). As a result, I decided to incorporate an examination for this offering of the course that included items specifically targeted to the intersection of the course content and Macalester's General Education Requirement goals.
