THE NATIONAL NUMERACY NETWORK – AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION

In a world awash in numbers, the National Numeracy Network (NNN) envisions a society in which all citizens possess the power and habit of mind to search out quantitative information, critique it, reflect upon it, and apply it in their public, personal, and professional lives.

The NNN began in 2001 when the National Council for Education and the Disciplines (Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) brought together academic centers at Dartmouth College, The Evergreen State College, Trinity College (Conn.), and the University of Nevada – Reno for the purpose of promoting quantitative literacy (QL) across the curriculum. The NNN is now expanding to become a professional organization of individuals, educational and nonprofit institutions, professional societies, and corporations that share its vision. It will be offering charter memberships through 2005.

The NNN aims to support faculty development, assessment strategies, and systemic interventions through regional and national meetings, forums, workshops, and electronic publications. The intention is to grow a network of individuals and groups that will develop a quantitatively literate society.

Mathematics educators are concluding that new approaches are needed to prepare future alumni to deal with the barrage of data that awaits them. Among the new approaches is teaching mathematics in context, and so mathematics educators are seeking partners with interesting context (e.g., earth and space science). At the same time, geoscience educators are finding that their students lack the quantitative skills to learn geoscience deeply. When geoscience educators have workshops on how to enhance the quantitative skills of geology students, few mathematics educators attend. Similarly, few geologists attend QL workshops convened by mathematics educators. The NNN, with its emphasis on networking, can break this impasse.