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Mathematical Literacy and Critical Thinking

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Teaching College-Level Disciplinary Literacy

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Abstract

The development of mathematical literacy enables students to become skilled critical thinkers and problem-solvers who have a better understanding of the world they live in. However, very often students are unable to understand the mathematical principles and apply them to real-life situations. In many college mathematics classrooms, the lessons focus only on abstract concepts and routine exercises. Mathematics teachers need to transform the way they present and deliver the concepts, which should be contextualized in real-life applications, in order to motivate the students and enable them to acquire the necessary skills to understand and utilize the mathematical language. Reading is essential to access the mathematical language, but many beginning college students lack the literacy skills to navigate the abstract concepts to acquire a deeper understanding of how mathematics works. Reading in mathematics involves not just literal and linear comprehension; the process requires a broad range of thinking and reasoning skills. In each stage of the reading process, students need to engage themselves in understanding words, symbols, and concepts; analyze problems; and apply content knowledge and mathematical models to solve problems.

Since the application of the math content requires both general and specialized vocabulary knowledge, student success in math courses requires the mastery of general and discipline-specific literacy skills. The lack of these skills generates obstacles for students to learn math effectively. This chapter discusses the development of observation, generating questions, communication, listening skills, implementation of vocabulary strategies, metacognitive skills, cooperative learning, and emotional intelligence to develop students’ disciplinary literacy. These skills are fundamental to acquire a solid critical thinking process.

…Socrates: And it won’t be as a result of any teaching that he’ll have become knowledgeable: he’ll just have been asked questions, and he’ll recover the knowledge by himself, from within himself.

—Meno dialogue by Plato

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York City College of Technology, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Estela Rojas & Nadia Benakli

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  1. Estela Rojas
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  2. Nadia Benakli
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Correspondence to Estela Rojas .

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  1. New York City College of Technology, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Juanita C. But

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Rojas, E., Benakli, N. (2020). Mathematical Literacy and Critical Thinking. In: But, J. (eds) Teaching College-Level Disciplinary Literacy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39804-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39804-0_8

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-39803-3

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