Numeracy in science

Professor Linda la Velle | View as single page |
Common problems
Pedagogical interventions
Case studies
Strength of evidence
Transferability
Areas for further research

16-17 year olds in science lessons

Example: 16-17 year-olds in science lessons:

In relation to converting between units 16-17 year old science students:

  • Solve even simple conversion problems in a variety of ways;
  • Are usually unsuccessful at conversions involving standard form notation or units with indices;
  • Use calculator-based "try-it-and-see" approach to calculating conversions, (usually unsuccessfully);
  • Make decisions on whether an answer is correct based on whether they expected the answer to be a "bigger or smaller" number than they started with.