Introduction

As we develop and implement quantitative literacy programs, it is important to remember to design efficient and informative assessment plans. To accomplish this, we need to understand what the goals of our program are, as well as the context within which the program exists.

This paper describes the assessment efforts of the quantitative literacy program at Valparaiso University. As we begin describing this program, it should be noted that it is not a complete QL program as described in Quantitative Reasoning for College Students: A Supplement to the Standards. As you will see, it was designed to address the first component - remediation - of the three described in the volume.

After a description of the historical development of the course and a typical unit in it, various assessment goals are described. For each of these goals, there are descriptions of the assessment measures used over the past seven years to determine the effectiveness of the course at reaching the goal. These measures may give the reader some ideas for tools that he or she can use on their own campus.

In a final section, there is a discussion of what we have learned at Valparaiso, both about assessment techniques and about our success.

A History of MATH110: QPS

In the fall of 1996, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Valparaiso University began offering MATH110: Quantitative Problem Solving.