QuIRK's NSF Project

Project Abstract

With support from the NSF, QuIRK is adapting for dissemination its innovative protocol for assessing quantitative reasoning (QR) in student writing. Toward that end, QuIRK will work with six partners--Iowa State, Morehouse, St. Olaf, Seattle Central Community College, Welesley, and Yale--to consider revisions of QuIRK's scoring rubric for application at a broad variety of institution types. We will then conduct feasibility studies at Iowa State, Morehouse, Seattle Central, and Welesley.

At the same time, QuIRK will be exploring the usefulness of the rubric in summative assessment. Our assessment protocol has proved invaluable in motivating faculty discussions of the connections between QR and written argument and in guiding subsequent faculty development. But we are still unsure whether the data generated by our rubric is fine enough to tease out the differential effects of alternative curricular strategies. Using transcript analysis along with student attitudinal and demographic data, we will begin to explore this question and identify the correlates of QR proficiency.

To provide data for this research, the project also includes resources for faculty development workshops and curricular reforms.

If you are interested in seeing the full NSF proposal, contact Nathan Grawe (QuIRK Director) by email: ngrawe@carleton.edu.

Project Activities

Project activities directly supported by the NSF grant. (QuIRK has carried out many other activities with support from FIPSE, the Keck Foundation, Carleton College, and other sources. The full scope of the initiative is documented elsewhere on the website. This partial list documents NSF-funded work only.)

  • Dissemination

    • Completed a workshop, co-hosted with PKAL, to disseminated alternative QR assessment strategies
    • Planning is underway on four feasibility studies to be conducted at Wellesley (2008-09), Morehouse (2008-09), Iowa State (2009-10), and Seattle Central Community College (2009-10)

  • Assessment Research

    • Our first of three research projects will be completed by the end of 2008. This initial study will look for correlates of QR use and proficiency in demographics and course-taking behaviors.

  • Faculty Development Workshops

  • Learning and Teaching Center Talks

    • "How do we teach quantitative reasoning? Foster a curricular conspiracy," Deborah Hughes Hallett (University of Arizona and Harvard University), April 24, 2008
    • "Weasel words: Using QR to teach precision in argumentation," Nathan Grawe, January 10, 2008

  • New Teaching Materials

    • New courses developed summer 2008:
      • Media and Electoral Politics, Barbara Allen (Political Science)
      • Political Psychology, Greg Marfleet (Political Science)
      • Comparative Party Systems and Elections, Al Montero (Political Science)
      • Sustainability Science, Tun Myint (Political Science)
      • The Black Death and How it Changed Europe, Martha Paas (Economics)
      • The Psychology of Numbers: A Fair and Balanced Look at Statistical Reporting, Mija Van Der Wege (Psychology)
      • Cliometrics, Jenny Wahl (Economics)
    • Course revisions completed summer 2008:
      • Microeconomics of Development, Meherun Ahmed (Economics)
      • Ethnic Conflict, Dev Gupta (Political Science)
      • Politics in America, Rich Keiser (Political Science)
      • Class, Power and Inequality in America, Nader Saiedi (Sociology and Anthropology)

A portion of the QuIRK initiative has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (#DUE-0717604). The contents of this portion of the web site were developed under this grant. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the National Science Foundation and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.