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An Across-The-Curriculum Approach to Quantitative Literacy in Environmental Studies 0011 0010 1 Ben Steele, Semra Kilic-Bahi, Nick Baer, Leon 1010 1101 0001Laura 0100 1011 Malan, Alexander, Harvey Pine Colby-Sawyer College New London, NH 2 4 Quantitative Reasoning and the Environment Need for Quantitative Skills 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 • Understanding issues • Careers • Informed citizenry • Environmental Studies and Environmental Science 1 2 4 Across the Curriculum Approach 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 • Encounter different skills and different applications throughout the curriculum • Use skills in context – Learning advantage – Habit of mind 1 2 4 – But hard to ensure students get all skills – Harder to assess Skills • Basic arithmetic 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 – Proportion; percent – Unit conversions – Rate of change – Error – Graphing – Descriptive statistics Average Percent of Leaf Missing • Data presentation and analysis 44 42 40 38 36 34 32 30 1 2 4 Sugar maple (alone) White Birch (clumped) Skills (cont.) 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 Both species • Algebra; Modeling • Geometry; Trigonometry – – – – – Circles Squares, rectangles, Triangles Trigonometric functions Spheres Cubes and other solid figures R 600 500 Population – Manipulating equations – Linear and non-linear functions – Modeling P 400 300 200 100 0 0 1 50 2 100 4 Curriculum Grid Env. Science Aquatic Basic arithmetic Data presentation 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 and analysis Aquatic track ENV 100 Natural History BIO 107 Ecology ENV120 Environmental Science CHE 101, 102 Chem Principles ENV 201 Water Resources ENV 203 Climate Change SCI 200-level (geology) ENV 300 environmental chemistry BIO317 Aquatic Ecology MAT 220 Statistics pro po r tio n; p Un it c erc onv en t s e rs Sig i ons nifi can t fig Rat u re eo s f ch ang Est im a e tion Log arit hm s; s Ga the cie nti ring fic err dat not or a atio n Gra ph i ng De scr ipti ve Pro sta bab tist ility ics Sta tist i ca l te spr sts ead she et s Ma nip kill s ula tin Lin g ear equ fun ctio ations No nlin ns ear fu n Mo ctio del ing ns (e x Ge pon om ent etr y ial, log ) Number sense Algebra Modeling 1 2 4 Curriculum Grid Env. Science Terrestrial 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 Basic arithmetic Data presentation Environmental Science Terrestrial track ENV 100 Natural History BIO 107 Ecology ENV120 Environmental Science ENV 201 Water Resources ENV 203 Climate Change ENV 204 GIS BIO314 Animal Behavior BIO 318 Terrestrial Ecology BIO 407 Conservation Biology SCI 200 geology MAT 220 Statistics and analysis pro po r tio n; p Un it c erc onv en t s e Sig r sio nifi n s can t fig Rat u re eo s f ch ang Est im a e tion Log arit hm s; s Ga the ci e nti ring fic err dat not or a atio n Gra ph i ng De scr ipti ve Pro sta bab tist ility ics Sta tist ica l te spr sts ead she et s Ma nip kill s ula t ing Li n ear equ fun ctio ations No nlin ns ear fu n Mo ctio del ing ns (e x Ge pon om etr ent y ial, log ) Number sense Algebra Modeling 1 2 4 Curriculum Grid Env. Studies Basic arithmetic Data presentation Number sense and analysis Algebra Modeling Environmental Studies ENV 100 Natural History BIO 107 Ecology BUS 115 Business Intro BUS 321 Sustainable Org. PSY 101 or SOC 101 ENV120 Environmental Science ENG 215 Env writing ENV 201 Water Resources ENV 203 Climate Change ENV 204 GIS MAT 220 Statistics pro po r tio n; p Un it c erc onv en t s e Sig r sio nifi n s can t fig Rat u re eo s f ch ang Est im a e tion Log arit hm s; s Ga the ci e nti ring fic err dat not or a atio n Gra ph i ng De scr ipti ve Pro sta bab tist ility ics Sta tist i ca l te spr sts ead she et s Ma nip kill s ula tin Lin g ear equ fun ctio ations No nlin ns ear fu n Mo ctio del ing ns (e x Ge pon om etr ent y ial, log ) 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 1 2 4 Examples: BIO 107 Ecology • Data collection and presentation 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 • Preference of Fall Web Worms for maple versus cherry leaves • Spreadsheets, means, standard errors, graphs LEAF 1MAPLE 2MAPLE 3MAPLE 4MAPLE 5MAPLE 6MAPLE 7MAPLE 8MAPLE 9MAPLE 10MAPLE WEIGHT BEFORE WEIGHT AFTER CONSUMPTION 0.2462 0.1023 0.1439 0.2369 0.104 0.1329 0.3533 0.164 0.1893 0.6266 0.267 0.3596 0.4436 0.2132 0.2304 0.5503 0.1731 0.3772 0.3624 0.1201 0.2423 0.3173 0.1583 0.159 0.3436 0.1343 0.2093 0.7392 0.3976 0.3416 Average 0.23855 std dev 0.090864114 std error 0.5 amount consumed (g) DISH 0.45 0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 1 2 4 Maple Apple Examples: ENV 201 Water Resources 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 • Quantifying Stream Discharge – – – – – 0 Area calculations Unit conversions Data management Spreadsheet skills Graphing .5m 1m 1.5m 2m 2.5m 1 2.9m 2 4 Examples: BIO 318 Terrestrial Ecology 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 • Matrix model using survival and reproduction in several age classes. • Stable population and age classes • Effect of survival at different ages 0 1 2 0.5 0 0 0 0.5 0 year 1 year 2 year 3 year 4 year 5 year 6 10 30 15 20 22.5 17.5 10 5 15 7.5 10 11.25 10 5 2.5 7.5 3.75 5 total pop 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 30 40 1 32.5 35 36.25 33.75 0 2 4 total pop Matrix 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Does it work: Evaluation • Overall: Basic Q skills and QL skills tests 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 1 2 4 Does it work: Evaluation 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 • Pre/post test on module 4 3.5 1 Grade 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Pre test Post Test 2 4 End of semester Challenges 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 • Only one example of a skill: low retention • Hindered by basic skills Task 1. If the island is 267 ha and each bird needs 0.1 ha, what is the maximum population? (A hectare is 100m by 100m) 1 2 4 Challenges: basic skills (cont.) • Now design an experiment to answer the question: 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 – Is it better for a one year old to produce more young or to put their energy into survival? Start by reducing the survival of one year olds by 10% and see what % change in fecundity is required to recreated a stable population. 1 2 4 Challenges: basic skills (cont.) 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 • Extra credit: – What is 10% less than 0.7? – What is 20% less than 200 – What is 5 % more than .01 • Average = 1.7, Range 0-3 • Lack of practice? • Used to calculators? 1 2 4 Conclusions • Quantitative Literacy skills are weak • Across the curriculum makes sense 0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011 – But does it work? • Projection 1 – [email protected] 2 4 – Students need to encounter quantitative issues more often.
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