Here is a Quantitative Literacy Test for ya...
1. The following ballot initiative appeared before Colorado voters in 1992:
Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution to prohibit the state of Colorado and any of its political subdivisions from adopting or enforcing any law or policy which provides that homosexual, lesbian, or bisexual orientation, conduct, or relationships constitutes or entitles a person to claim any minority or protected status, quota preferences, or discrimination?
What does a yes vote mean?
2. Suppose that the United States government decided to institute a national lottery, the proceeds of which would be used to retire the federal debt (which can be taken to be $7 trillion). Assume that the lottery could raise $50 million each week after expenses and prizes. How long would it take to pay off the federal debt assuming that the budget is exactly balanced every year in the future?
3. You’ve been charging your school expenses to a credit card, and have built up a balance of $5,000. Your credit card charges an annual interest rate of 18%. Assume you charge nothing more to your credit card.
a. At this rate, what is your monthly payment for interest only?
b. Suppose the credit card requires that you make minimum monthly payments of $70. With minimum payments, how long will it take you to pay off the balance?
4. At the local Video Station, you pay a total of $15.50 for a DVD, after taxes. Assuming a local sales tax rate of 7.5%, what is the retail (before-tax) price of the DVD?
5. You have a fair coin, which means the chance of getting a head on a single toss is 1/2. Suppose you toss the coin 10 times and get 10 tails in a row. Is the probability of getting a head on your next toss more than, less than, or equal to 1/2? Explain.
6. Last year, it was bad news: the value of your investments plunged by 50%. This year was much better: your investments increased in value by 75%. Over the two-year period, have you gained or lost? Explain.
7. An election features three candidates: Smith, Jones, and Webb. Among the actual voters, Webb is by far the most disliked candidate; in fact, 60% of the voters oppose his election. Is it still possible for Webb to win? Explain.
8. A high school tests all athletes for drug use, using a drug test that is 98% accurate. That is, it correctly gives a positive result for 98% of the drug users who are tested, and it correctly gives a negative result for 98% of the nonusers who are tested. Suppose that 1,000 athletes take the test, and 50 of these athletes are actually using drugs. What percentage of the positive tests are false positives (nonusers who test positive)?
9. The world population is currently about 6 billion and increasing at a rate of 1.3% per year. If this rate remains constant, how long will it take the population to double in size? At this rate, estimate the world population in the year 2100.
10. Suppose you are visiting an Italian market and see tomatoes priced at 3.20 Euros per kilogram. Assume that 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds and that the current exchange rate is $1 = 0.9 Euros. What is the price of the tomatoes in dollars per pound?
11. You purchase 10 tickets for a lottery in which the probability of winning any prize on a single ticket is 1 in 10.
a. What is the probability that you’ll have at least one winning ticket among the 10 tickets?
b. What is the probability that all 10 tickets are losers?
12. The figure below shows the increase in tuition at public and private colleges and universities between 1987 and 1995. The increase in the consumer price index (CPI) over the same period is also shown.
a. In what year between 1987 and 1995 was the tuition at public schools the greatest? Explain.
b. Which increased more between 1987 and 1995, tuition at private schools or the cost of living? Explain.
c. Have there been any years in which tuition decreased at either public or private colleges? Explain.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
I have not updated this in over a month, not because I have not been working but because I have been doing the same things! Now I am starting something new. I have gone from 17.5 hours per week to 28 hours per week for one thing and I am moving from Confirmation Bias to Quantitative Reasoning. This should be an interesting move!
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Web Utilities for Research/Business
Over the past several weeks I have "discovered" many web utilities that have made my life 100x easier. I have listed, linked to and described these various utilities below in hopes that someone else will find them as useful as I have!
Blogger
I prefer Livejournal for personal journaling, but Blogger seems to have the layout of a more "professional" style blog. I am still learning my way around it, but so far it seems excellent. Jason Toal, the Experience Designer for Educational Support and Innovation at the LIDC sent me an AMAZING chart that you can use to choose the best blogging service for you. It can be found here.
eSnips
I use eSnips to upload my many PDF files so that I can access them from anywhere: work, home, etc. It gives you 1 Gig of free space and has an easy upload tool you can download so that you can upload many files at once.
ThinkFree
This site blows me away... It is an ONLINE WORD PROCESSOR! So if you are the kind of person that always forgets to send yourself your files (if you are working from multiple work stations) or if you find yourself fussing around with file conversion (between MAC and PC) or you just don't want to pay for a word processor, this is for YOU. I love it because I can upload my word documents (and excel files if I wanted to!) and I can post them online for storage or to share with others. It also works directly in conjunction with Blogger so you can easily post files in your blog.
RefWorks
This site has saved my life many times. I HATE typing out bibliographies, so now instead of typing them out myself, I simply store my resources in RefWorks. This program stores your references, sorts your references and- you won't believe this- MAKES YOUR BIBLIOGRAPHIES FOR YOU! It's like a dream come true.
Blogger
I prefer Livejournal for personal journaling, but Blogger seems to have the layout of a more "professional" style blog. I am still learning my way around it, but so far it seems excellent. Jason Toal, the Experience Designer for Educational Support and Innovation at the LIDC sent me an AMAZING chart that you can use to choose the best blogging service for you. It can be found here.
eSnips
I use eSnips to upload my many PDF files so that I can access them from anywhere: work, home, etc. It gives you 1 Gig of free space and has an easy upload tool you can download so that you can upload many files at once.
ThinkFree
This site blows me away... It is an ONLINE WORD PROCESSOR! So if you are the kind of person that always forgets to send yourself your files (if you are working from multiple work stations) or if you find yourself fussing around with file conversion (between MAC and PC) or you just don't want to pay for a word processor, this is for YOU. I love it because I can upload my word documents (and excel files if I wanted to!) and I can post them online for storage or to share with others. It also works directly in conjunction with Blogger so you can easily post files in your blog.
RefWorks
This site has saved my life many times. I HATE typing out bibliographies, so now instead of typing them out myself, I simply store my resources in RefWorks. This program stores your references, sorts your references and- you won't believe this- MAKES YOUR BIBLIOGRAPHIES FOR YOU! It's like a dream come true.
PDFs
I have uploaded my PDF collection to the following URL.
http://www.esnips.com/web/lidcart
The files are all freely distributed types, I didn't have to pay to access any of them, so I am assuming for now it's ok to store them here publicly :)
http://www.esnips.com/web/lidcart
The files are all freely distributed types, I didn't have to pay to access any of them, so I am assuming for now it's ok to store them here publicly :)
Refworks Bibliography
These are some of my favorite articles I have stumbled upon in the last few weeks. Most of them are freely distributed, but I am not sure it's legit (according to copyright law) to provide copies of the uploaded articles myself. At any rate, I will soon post links to many of these in PDF form for people who may be interested in reading them. This list is a collection of resources that focus primarily on Knowledge Translation and Critical Thinking.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Critical Thinking Activities
Over the past several weeks I have had the opportunity to absolutely scour the web for everything related to Critical Thinking. Through my searches I have come to find several very interesting links that I believe would be useful or interesting to just about everyone.
Battlefield God
This "game" may have a religious overtone, but it's really about examining how you think.
Skeptical Quizzes
These quizzes are both fun and interesting.
Project Implicit
An amazing research project that you can try your hand at. This project helps you "determine" your hidden prejudices.
Confirmation Bias Activity
This interactive website helps explain and identify Confirmation Bias.
Battlefield God
This "game" may have a religious overtone, but it's really about examining how you think.
Skeptical Quizzes
These quizzes are both fun and interesting.
Project Implicit
An amazing research project that you can try your hand at. This project helps you "determine" your hidden prejudices.
Confirmation Bias Activity
This interactive website helps explain and identify Confirmation Bias.
Confirmation Bias Lesson/Game
This is a very rough draft that will take several more revisions before I am happy with it I am sure. This is the third draft, and I am guessing it will be two or three more until it's complete. It can be viewed or downloaded from the following URL:
We have also created an online tool that will allow for people to play this game on the internet. The rough version of this game can be played by going to the following URL. I encourage people to play it and provide feedback so that we can improve it :)
Critical Thinking Draft Two
This is the second draft of my Critical Thinking document that I am producing for the LIDC. It can be viewed or downloaded from the following URL:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
