The Aetna Quantitative Center at Trinity College was established in 1987 with a grant from the Ætna Life and Casualty Foundation, in part to administer Trinity’s Quantitative Literacy (formerly Math Proficiency) Requirement. Although in its role as a tutoring center, the Center employs math majors, and provides support to students in the calculus sequence and in general education math courses, the administration, goals, and functions of the Quantitative Center and Math Department are separate.
The primary functions of the Quantitative Center are:
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Administering Trinity’s Quantitative Literacy Requirement, including assessment of the math proficiency of each incoming student and oversight of his/her progress in meeting the requirement.
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Providing self-study subject modules, as well as half- or full-semester courses taught by Math Center Faculty for those students deemed not proficient.
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Holding tutoring hours most afternoons and evenings, when students may find help from peer tutors on quantitative problems or on standardized test preparation.
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Operating as a math resource facility for the college faculty, with specialized math modules, lectures, and laboratories for specific college courses like Colonialism in the Americas, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Introduction to Classical Art and Archaeology, or Women’s Activism, and participating in outreach and grant programs with other departments.
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Offering other Quantitative Literacy courses, such as Math 116 Fair Division, and a first-year seminar, FYSM 204 Congressional Apportionment 1790-1990.
The proficiency of incoming students is determined by a test given each fall as part of the new-student orientation program. The skills and concepts tested are grouped into four areas:
Corresponding to Trinity’s four Quantitative Literacy courses:
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Math 101, Contemporary Applications: Math for the 21st Century
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Math 102, Cityscape: Analyzing Urban Data
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Math 103, Earth Algebra: Modeling our Environment
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Math 104, Hartford Current Issues: Logic in the Media.
All the courses offered by the Quantitative Center stress the transferring of mathematical skills and attitudes in the service of problem-solving, and they anchor quantitative ways of analyzing and solving problems in contexts using Hartford data. Contemporary Applications, a foundation course described in the MAA Report Quantitative Reasoning for College Graduates, has a laboratory, as well as three class meetings a week, and carries a full course credit; the other three Quantitative Center courses meet for one-half semester and carry one-half course credit. About 40-50% of Trinity’s incoming students pass three or all four of the sections of the proficiency test. Usually, those who pass all but one section are assigned a study unit, to be completed independently in the Quantitative Center. Those who pass none of the sections are assigned to the full-semester course, Contemporary Applications. Passing this course with a grade of C- or better fulfills the Quantitative Literacy Requirement. About 15-20% of each year’s class are assigned to this course. The remaining 30-45% of students are assigned to one of the three one-half credit courses listed above.
We agree with the MAA report that the creation of a quantitative "habit of mind" is the primary goal of our program. We also agree with the report that "...quantitative literacy for college students is not something gained by taking one specific course in the curriculum, by learning some specific mathematical content, or by developing a particular level of computational facility.... Rather, a student becomes quantitatively literate through a broad program aimed at developing capabilities in thought, analysis, and perspective -[and will have] formed attitudes and habits of thought which provide 'long-term patterns of interaction and engagement.'"
For more information about the Aetna Quantitative Center, please click here.