An Assessment of the Quantitative Literacy of Undergraduate Students. Issue 4 (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wilkins, Jesse L. M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of experimental education. Volume 84:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 639
• Page End: 665
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: attitudes -- assessment -- beliefs -- factor analysis -- mathematics education -- quantitative literacy -- structural equation modeling; Education -- Experimental methods -- Periodicals; Educational psychology -- Periodicals; Education -- Periodicals; Psychology, Experimental -- Periodicals; 370.15
• DOI: 10.1080/00220973.2015.1111854
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-0973

Abstract

Abstract : Quantitative literacy (QLT) represents an underlying higher-order construct that accounts for a person's willingness to engage in quantitative situations in everyday life. The purpose of this study is to retest the construct validity of a model of quantitative literacy (Wilkins, 2010). In this model, QLT represents a second-order factor that accounts for the interrelationship among three first-order factors: mathematical beliefs, mathematical disposition, and mathematical cognition. Using data from two samples of undergraduate students ( n = 186 and n = 184), a series of confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Results supported the hierarchical three-factor structure and confirmed its factorial invariance across multiple groups of students. Latent QLT scores from the model were used to compare and rank student QLT by gender and class standing.