Dick Evans reports on efforts to improve statistical literacy amongst the population. It is now an unquestioned and accepted fact of life that we live in a world dominated by science and technology and that this inevitably requires a workforce and members of society in general to be more scientifically literate and numerate. Employees are required to possess higher levels of the basic skills of literacy, numeracy and a greater capability in the use of IT. This is coupled with the wider skills for employability namely: team working, problem solving and managing their own learning and development. People leaving education
Browsing 13 Articles Originally Published in: “Numeracy Briefing”
Mathematics – Why the Problem?
Dick Evans bemoans the negative attitudes towards mathematics that persist in British culture A great quote – ‘Nature talks to us in mathematics’ – Richard Feynman There have been a number of developments following the publication of my article in the September edition of Numeracy Briefing. Some people responded agreeing with many of the issues highlighted in the piece whilst others disagreed with the arguments. Recent announcements about the closure of the physics department at Reading University and the close call for the closure of Chemistry at Sussex have re-ignited the debate about the ongoing crisis in the state of
Functional Mathematics – a Possible Solution?
Dick Evans is concerned that functional maths will go the way of so many other initiatives in mathematics A new term has appeared on the educational landscape namely functional mathematics. But has it been used before? Will it require a set of unique and radical solutions? I ask these important questions having witnessed a series of worthy reforms in the past which have inevitably regressed into narrow incremental tinkering with existing approaches and subjected to political dogma and interference. One immediate problem is how functional mathematics is defined. For example, is it the mathematics that all people need to participate