Quantitative Literacy Across the Curriculum

Members of the QLAC Committee Beimnet Teclezghi – co-chair Laura Pannaman – co-chair Marilyn Ettinger John Donnellan William Montgomery Hanae Haouari Reed Carroll Vanashri Nargund

Goals of a QLAC Program Upon completion of a designated number of classes that incorporate instruction in Quantitative Literacy skills, students will 1- Understand basic Quantitative Literacy skills; 2- Apply Quantitative Literacy skills to discipline specific and every-day life situations; 3- Communicate solutions to real world problems using quantitative data.

Student Learning Outcomes As students progress through a series of classes that incorporate Quantitative Literacy activities, students will “demonstrate progressively more sophisticated levels of attainment” in the following competencies, as detailed in the AAC&U Quantitative Literacy Value rubric:

The ability to convert relevant information into various mathematical forms (e.g. equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, words); The ability to explain information presented in mathematical forms (e.g. equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, words); The ability to perform calculations; The ability to make judgments and draw appropriate conclusions based on the quantitative analysis of data, while recognizing the limits of this analysis; The ability to make and evaluate important assumptions in estimation, modeling, and data analysis; The ability to express quantitative evidence in support of the argument or purpose of the work (in terms of what evidence is used and how it is formatted, presented, and contextualized).

Timeline Spring 2015 QLAC members are appointed QLAC meets during the spring semester to define the activities of the committee QLAC, in collaboration with Sue Gerber, designs a Quantitative Literacy survey to be sent to all department chairs. The survey’s aim is to identify if and how Quantitative Literacy is addressed in department course offerings (exclusive of General Education and major requirements in mathematics) and how Quantitative Literacy can be further introduced into department curricula

Summer 2015 Survey sent to chairs of all university departments Responses to survey received from 24 of 37 department chairs (64.9% response rate)

Fall 2015 Identify Quantitative Literacy needs based on survey responses Define goals of a Quantitative Literacy initiative Develop a plan for a QLAC pilot program Develop a plan for extension of the pilot program to all university departments

Spring 2016 Select departments to participate in the pilot program (3 from College of Arts and Sciences, 2 from College of Professional Studies, 2 from School of Business, 2 from College of Education). Faculty members from selected departments discuss adding specific QL content to their courses; Select a liaison from each pilot program department; Plan five workshops for Fall 2016 (General Introduction to QL, STEM-focused, Social Science-focused, Arts and Humanities- focused, Business and Professional Studies-focused); Identify possible workshop leaders; Start developing a QL website; Define Quantitative Literacy skills to be assessed; Start developing assessment tools to assess students’ quantitative skills and the impact of the QL program; Identify appropriate software to implement QL in pilot program departments.

Summer 2016 Complete developing assessment tools; Continue developing QL website; Select workshop leaders for Fall 2016.

Fall 2016 Departments selected for the pilot program implement QL into curricula; Workshops for faculty implementing QL into their classes; Schedule five workshops (General Introduction STEM-focused, Social Science-focused, Arts and Humanities-focused, Business and Professional Studies-focused) for faculty across the university; Identify appropriate software to implement QL across university departments; Identify workshop leaders for Spring 2017; Select additional departments to participate in the Spring 2017 expanded pilot program; Select a liaison from each additional department in the expanded pilot program; Add resources to QL website; Assess students’ quantitative skills in the courses that integrated QL in Fall 2016.

Spring 2017 Assess success of Fall 2016 pilot program; Expand pilot program, doubling the number of departments participating; Add resources to QL website; Schedule five workshops (General Introduction to QL, STEM-focused, Social Science-focused, Arts and Humanities-focused, Business and Professional Studies-Focused); Faculty members from all departments discuss adding specific QL content to their courses; Assess students’ quantitative skills in the courses that integrated QL in Spring 2017.

Summer 2017 Assess success of the Spring 2017 expanded pilot program; Select a liaison from each department across the university; Add resources to QL website; Identify workshop leaders for Fall 2017.

Fall 2017 Start implementing QL across all university departments; Schedule five workshops (General Introduction to QL, STEM-focused, Social Science-focused, Arts and Humanities-focused, Business and Professional Studies-Focused); Faculty members from all departments discuss adding specific QL content to their courses; Add resources to the QL Website; Assess students’ quantitative skills in the courses that integrated QL in Fall 2017.

Spring 2018 Assess success of the Fall 2017 QL program; Assess the overall success of the program; Continue implementing QL across all university departments; Assess students’ quantitative skills in the courses that integrated QL in Spring 2017