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ERIC Number: EJ1098471
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1938-9809
EISSN: N/A
Quantitative Literacy: A Means for Bridging the Chasm of the Two Cultures
Owusu-Ansah, Angela; Chew, Stephen; McDaniel, Gretchen
Forum on Public Policy Online, v2007 n1 Win 2007
Quantitative literacy (QL), a relatively new literacy, has the potential to bridge the gap between the literary and scientific cultures. The chasm of the two cultures refers to the gulf and increased polarization between scientists (science) and literary intellectuals or literati (arts). Snow (1959) drew attention to the divide of The Two Cultures and attributed the gap to the inability of scientists and literati to communicate effectively with each other due to deficient knowledge of each others' discipline. Re-education or less specialization in education, according to Snow would facilitate communication between the cultures and promote citizenship, as QL cultivates the authentic application of scientific and mathematical cultural practices (measurement, interpretation, quantitative expression, assertions, reasoning, estimation, analysis, problem solving, etc.) across the arts, humanities, and culture. QL highlights the natural inter-relatedness of the two cultures and serves as a potential bridge in the gap. In addition QL across the arts would provide measurable, yet unobtrusive component of the arts; a pedagogical component that requires no formal training; and a language understood by both literati and scientists. The development of QL has emerged as a task for higher education, mainly because of higher education's emphasis on scholarship and research, model tools in re-education. QL provides an alternative approach to interdisciplinary instruction in higher education and cross curricular projects at the elementary school level. Whereas elementary schools seek to integrate the arts into the sciences, QL draws attention to the sciences and mathematics that inherently exist in the arts. Consequently, QL decreases compartmentalization, enhances meaning in context, and promotes the underpinnings of communication between the two cultures and citizenship.
Oxford Round Table. 406 West Florida Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801. Tel: 217-344-0237; Fax: 217-344-6963; e-mail: editor@forumonpublicpolicy.com; Web site: http://www.forumonpublicpolicy.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A