QuIRK's FIPSE Project

Funding from FIPSE (2004-05 through 2007-08) supported the early development of QuIRK as an advocate of a novel approach to quantitative reasoning (QR) that located the discussion in the context of the construction and evaluation of arguments. On the Carleton campus, the grant project included three elements.

• The project initiated a professional development program to encourage better quantitative reasoning instruction across campus. These workshops and brown-bag seminars motivated curricular reform supported by competitive mini-grants. While many courses were revised under the grant, special emphasis was placed on the creation of quantitatively-rich first-year seminars.
• The project developed an innovative protocol for assessing QR in students' written work.
• The project organized campus talks to raise awareness of the power of QR in contexts ranging from the costs of war to gun control to voting systems.

QuIRK's unique argument-based conception of QR has drawn national attention. The extensive list of publications and presentations related to QuIRK's FIPSE project can be found here.

A portion of the QuIRK initiative has been supported by a grant from the U. S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (#P116B040816). 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 Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.