Quantifying Quantitative Reasoning in Undergraduate Education: Alternative Strategies for the Assessment of Quantitative Reasoning

Carleton College, Northfield MN 55057

"[Quantitative reasoning] requires creativity in assessment...."
-Lynn Arthur Steen, Achieving Quantitative Literacy

a workshop co-sponsored by Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) and the QuIRK initiative

October 10-12, 2008

Application deadline: Rolling, but we suggest no later than August 1, 2008

Quantitative reasoning clearly requires facility with a set of mathematical skills. But it also demands the ability to apply these skills in context. While long-existing standardized tests can easily assess QR's basic skills, it is much more challenging to evaluate its application in context. In "'Get Real!': Assessing for Quantitative Literacy," Grant Wiggins points out "standardized conditions are decontextualized by design." At its 2001 Forum on Quantitative Literacy, the National Council on Education and the Disciplines concluded, "[QR] is largely absent from our current systems of assessment and accountability."

The QR community has been busy since the NCED report, developing various means of QR assessment. We invite schools to send teams of 3 to 5 for a 3-day workshop to explore alternative QR assessment strategies that may be applied in a broad range of institutions. Discussions of QR assessment and program design will be led by a team of facilitators with extensive expertise in the area. In particular, participants will be introduced to alternative QR assessment methods including:

An assessment of QR in student writing
A sophisticated standardized tests that test 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

Workshop conveners:

Nathan Grawe, Carleton College
Jeanne Narum, Project Kaleidoscope

Go to workshop overview.