Search results

Uses National Child Development Study (NCDS) data to examine the employment experiences of men and women assessed with poor numeracy compared with those with good numeracy skills at age 37. To uncover the extent of negative effects of having poor numeracy skills, the sample is restricted to those whose poor or good numeracy was accompanied by good literacy skills. As a further control, much of the analysis is also restricted to those who had left full‐time education at age 16. Maps the proportions in full‐time employment between ages 17 to 37 and demonstrates the very different labour market experiences of the two skills groups in the areas of occupation, training, promotion and income. Concludes that poor numeracy reduces employment opportunities and progress in jobs.

National Child Development Study (NCDS) data are used to examine the negative impact of time out of paid employment on numeracy, as measured by a maths test at 16 and a functional numeracy test at 37. Restricting the sample to respondents who left full‐time education at 16 and accounting for maths at 16, we found negative correlations between time out of paid employment and adult numeracy scores. Using the whole sample, adult numeracy scores were regressed on maths at 16, family background and adult experiences. The longer the absence from paid employment, the greater the negative impact on adult numeracy. The relationship was strongest for men with poor maths at 16. This suggested that a certain level of maths was needed before skills were retained and not weakened by absence from paid employment. Training offered some protection against skill loss, as did women’s more diverse roles at home and work.

The purpose of this study is to understand the research on numeracy coach in the Canadian context.

This study was a systematic review of studies about numeracy coaching in Canada, which described the trend of knowledge production on this topic. The study made use of qualitative meta-analysis. According to Timulak (2009, p. 591), qualitative meta-analysis is “an attempt to conduct a rigorous secondary qualitative analysis of primary qualitative findings. Its purpose is to provide a more comprehensive description of a phenomenon and an assessment of the influence of the investigation on findings.” By using meta-analysis, this article analyzed the general pattern of knowledge production, the nature of the publications, the focal topics, the research methods and the citation impact of numeracy coaching studies in Canada. The literature analyzed in this review included all the available sources we were able to find with regard to Canadian numeracy coaches. The sources included peer-reviewed journal articles, online magazines, program reports and information from non-profit organizations, as well as doctoral theses.

Research about numeracy coaches in Canadian contexts remains in an initial stage, and there is, as yet, no accepted definition of a Canadian numeracy coach. Scholars in this area have been fond of empirical studies and qualitative research methods. This research has shown that numeracy coaches, who can be regarded as directors, evaluators and consultants in schools, also experience difficulties such as a lack of background knowledge in math. Scholars have advised several ways to improve the quality of coaching activities, including teacher collaboration and coaching models. The citation impact of the current Canadian literature about numeracy coaches has been quite uneven; only a few articles have been cited by other researchers. This article concludes by summarizing the results of this meta-analysis, its limitations and suggestions for future research.

This is one of important studies to explore numeracy coach research in Canadian context. Theoretical and practical significance is explored.

This study examined subjective numeracy and its relationship with accounting judgements on probability issues.

A subjective numeracy scale (SNS) questionnaire was distributed to 231 accounting students to measure self-evaluated numeracy. Modified Bayesian reasoning tasks were applied in an accounting-related probability estimation, manipulating presentation formats.

The study revealed a positive relationship between self-evaluated numeracy and performance in accounting probability estimation. The findings suggest that switching the format of probability expressions from percentages to frequencies can improve the performance of participants with low self-evaluated numeracy.

Adding objective numeracy measurements could enhance results. Future numeracy research could add objective numeracy items and assess whether this influences participants' self-perceived numeracy. Based on this sample population of accounting students, the findings may not apply to large populations of accounting-information users.

Investors' ability to exercise sound judgement depends on the accuracy of their probability estimations. Manipulating the format of probability expressions can improve probability estimation performance in investors with low self-evaluated numeracy.

This study identified a significant performance gap among participants in performing accounting probability estimations: those with high self-evaluated numeracy performed better than those with low self-evaluated numeracy. The authors also explored a method other than additional training to improve participants' performance on probability estimation tasks and discovered that frequency formats enhanced the performance of participants with low self-evaluated numeracy.

Early literacy and numeracy development among children may be the best measure of a child's well-being. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of child factors, quality of care and household factors, and community factors in early childhood on the development of literacy and numeracy skills of children in Bangladesh.

For this study, the authors used data from Bangladesh's 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. The association between response variables and selected covariates was examined using the chi-square test. To determine the risk factors for early child literacy and numeracy development, the authors applied two-level logistic regression models.

Among the total of under five children (n = 9,449), in general, 29.1% of the children were growing in the development early childhood literacy and numeracy in Bangladesh. Children (36–47 months), male children, children with moderate stunting, children with severe and moderate underweight status, mothers without education and primary education, and mothers from the poorest, poorer, middle and richer households were less likely than their counterparts to develop children's early literacy and numeracy skills. In contrast, women from the eastern and central regions, children who read at least 3 books, and early childhood education had higher odds of children's literacy and numeracy skills development than their counterparts.

The results from this study suggest that children's, community, quality of care and household level significant factors should be considered when trying to improve children's literacy and numeracy skills development in Bangladesh.

The purpose of this article is to develop a theoretical explanation – financial numeracy – for consumer proficiency with financial services. With sufficient financial numeracy, consumers benefit fully from financial services and make competent choices in regard to financial management.

The article builds theory by combining consumer cognitive capacity and customer knowledge theories with findings from prior studies of consumer difficulties with financial services to introduce a comprehensive model of the antecedents and consequences of financial numeracy with testable propositions for many psychographic and cultural influences and moderators.

Financial numeracy demands that consumers possess sufficient financial information processing capacity and ability as well as sufficient prior knowledge of financial concepts. Although partly a function of individual cognitive ability, it can be enhanced through appropriate experience with financial instruments and familiarity through personal financial materials when consumers are motivated to process them. Financial numeracy directly affects financial management outcomes related to borrowing, saving, and taxes. It indirectly affects higher‐order financial consequences, such as a consumer's credit score, interest rates charged on subsequent loans, net worth, likelihood of bankruptcy, and size of inheritance.

Consumers around the world are increasingly experiencing difficulties with financial services. To advance research in financial services marketing beyond documenting troublesome financial behaviours of consumers, this conceptual model provides insights to help increase consumer proficiency in comprehending and managing financial services based on knowledge about consumer information processing, learning, memory and the cultural and psychographic influences on these internal processes.

The purpose of this article is to explore the role and importance of numeracy skills in graduate recruitment within a diversity of employment sectors.

The results of a mixed‐methods study, involving three online surveys (including an employer survey), student focus group sessions and interviews with tutors, are presented.

The results reveal the importance that employers attach to graduates’ numeracy skills and the extent to which employers use numeracy tests in graduate recruitment. They thus highlight the potential for poor numeracy skills to limit any graduate's acquisition of employment, irrespective of their degree subject; especially since numeracy tests are used predominantly in recruitment to the types of jobs commensurate with graduates’ career aspirations and within sectors that attract graduates from across the diversity of academic disciplines, including the arts and humanities.

Since participants were self‐selecting any conclusions and inferences relate to the samples and may or may not be generalisable to wider target populations.

The paper highlights what actions are necessary to enhance undergraduates’ numeracy skills in the context of graduate employability.

The vulnerability of particular groups of students (e.g. females, those not provided with any opportunities to practise or further develop their numeracy skills whilst in higher education, those with no (or low) pre‐university mathematics qualifications, and mature students) is highlighted.

The article is timely in view of national policy to extend the graduate employability performance indicators within quality assurance measures for UK higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to present an educational approach to elevating problem-solving and numeracy competencies of business undergraduates to meet workplace demand. The approach is grounded in the theory of constraints following the Decoding the Discipline model. The authors investigated a cognitive bottleneck involving problem modeling and an affective bottleneck concerning low self-efficacy of numeracy and designed specific interventions to address both bottlenecks simultaneously. The authors implemented the proposed approach in an introductory level analytics course in business operations.

The authors use an empirical study to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in addressing deficiency in numeracy and problem-solving skills. Cognitive and affective learning interventions were introduced in an undergraduate core course in analytics. The perceived effectiveness of the interventions was evaluated with the use of a survey at the end of the course. To further investigate the effectiveness of the proposed interventions beyond self-reporting, the impact of the interventions on actual learning was evaluated by comparing the exam scores between classes with and without the interventions.

Students who underwent the interventions successfully overcame both learning bottlenecks and indicated a positive change in attitude toward the analytics discipline as well as achieved higher exam scores in the analytics course.

This study succeeds in strengthening the body of research in teaching and learning. The authors also offer a holistic treatment of cognitive and affective learning bottlenecks, and provide empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of the proposed approach in elevating numeracy and problem-solving competencies of business undergraduates.

The proposed approach is useful for business educators to improve business students’ quantitative modeling skill and attitude. Researchers can also extend the approach to other courses and settings to build up the body of research in learning and skill development. Educational policy makers may consider promoting promising approaches to improve students’ quantitative skill development. They can also set a high standard for higher education institutions to assess students’ numeracy and problem-solving competencies. Employers will find college graduates bring to their initial positions the high levels of numeracy and problem-solving skills demanded for knowledge work to sustain business growth and innovation.

As students’ numeracy and problem-solving skills are raised, they will develop an aptitude for quantitative-oriented coursework that equips them with the set of quantitative information-processing skills needed to succeed in the twenty-first century society and global economy.

The proposed approach provides a goal-oriented three-step process to improve learning by overcoming learning bottlenecks as constraints of a learning process. The integral focus on identifying learning bottlenecks, creating learning interventions and assessing learning outcomes in the proposed approach is instrumental in introducing manageable interventions to address challenges in student learning thereby elevating students’ numeracy and problem-solving competencies.

Students in higher education, although usually qualified in mathematics, often have numeracy problems. Such problems frequently appear when undergraduates face numeracy tests as they seek employment. This article discusses the setting up of a numeracy project in a university and considers possible areas of research which might be pursued.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide a descriptive analysis of consumers’ ability to comprehend and use common price promotion information when they choose to do so (e.g. to find the least expensive price or to understand the savings amount); second, to identify which consumer groups (in terms of demographic characteristics) find price promotion comprehension particularly challenging.

An online questionnaire with 14 measures (four literacy, ten numeracy) was administered in the study. Data from 607 Australian consumers were analysed using descriptive, cross-tabulation, and multiple regression analysis via IBM SPSS analytics software.

On average, 20 per cent of the consumers surveyed were unable to comprehend the price promotion signage. On average, 13 per cent of the consumers were unable to carry out arithmetic tasks using the information on price promotion signage. Multiple regression models showed that income level was the main driving factor for the consumers’ price promotion literacy and numeracy levels.

The present study is the first exploratory examination of consumers’ levels of comprehension (literacy) and effective use (numeracy) regarding common types of price promotion communication. The use of online samples and data collection method overestimates the results effect.

This is a pilot field study to investigate whether levels of consumers’ price promotion literacy and numeracy are adequate for everyday decision making. The information can be used as evidence and justification for further research.