The Key Components of a Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education (NICHE): Using Best Practices to Train Faculty

• Activity Number: 168
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 5, 2013 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
• Author(s): Esther Wilder*+ and Elin Waring and Frank Wang and Dene Hurley
• Companies: Lehman College, CUNY and Lehman College and LaGuardia Community College and Lehman College
• Keywords: active learning ; assessment ; multidisciplinary instruction ; numeracy ; quantitative literacy ; quantitative reasoning

Abstract

Faculty at the City University of New York (CUNY) have developed a Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education (NICHE) that teaches best practices for effective Quantitative Reasoning (QR) instruction to faculty in a wide range of disciplines. NICHE is a predominantly online course that consists of 8 separate units: (1) QR and Making Numbers Meaningful; (2) QR Learning Outcomes; (3) The Brain, Cognition and QR; (4) QR and Writing; (5) Discovery Methods; (6) Representations of Data; (7) QR Assessment; and (8) QR Stereotypes and Culture. This paper describes the key components of NICHE and shows how the same strategies recognized as effective methods for teaching QR can be employed in training faculty as QR instructors. Course activities, interactive discussions, and faculty-developed instructional materials are also presented.