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Pat,
A couple of years ago a group in the UK (I can't
remember which) reported the results of similar research with the UK population.
The results showed that 1 in 3 couldn't calculate area in either metric or
imperial. This was highlighted on a BBC report about people wasting their money
on DIY because they couldn't calculate material requirements.
The UK gov has launched an adult literacy and
numeracy program to combat poor standards, so it is officially
recognised.
It's a sad indictment of developed countrys with
mature education systems that so many people are falling by the way side. There
are I'm sure many reasons for this but as far as mathematics is concerned a big
factor in my view, (which is supported by education professionals) is that not
enough is done to encourage its application to the outside world, or even to
other subject areas. It tends to be learned in an academic vacuum.
This situation can only be exacerbated by a society
where kids are taught to calculate using metric but encounter non-metric or more
significantly non-decimal units of measurment in everyday life.
Phil Hall
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 4:37 AM
Subject: [USMA:33119] Re: Use of
millimetres
on
2005-06-06 09.56, Bill Hooper at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
Surely if there were a big problem with the use of
3-digit numbers, someone in the US would have proposed we add the stone to
our "system" of measures so that we could "more easily weigh ourselves".
:-)
Regards,
Bill Hooper
Dear Bill and All,
One of the issues
here is that so much of our population have few numeracy skills and the use of
millimetres (only) on a building site reduces all measures to simple numbers �
granted they may be large numbers � but they are simple, and able to be
successfully handled by a large range of workers.
I was reminded of
this yesterday when I heard a radio report from Canada that reported on a
study of some 23 000 adult Canadians. This report found that about
42 % of their test subjects were functionally illiterate and innumerate.
I tried to find references to this on the net but could only find these old
quotes:
Quote 1
See: http://canadaonline.about.com/b/a/024678.htm
September 08,
2003
Literacy in Canada
On International Literacy Day, it's important to realize
that approximately 20 percent of adult Canadians do not have basic literacy
skills in reading, writing, counting and computing to meet the demands of the
workplace. Another 20 percent have difficulty.
Quote 2
See: http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/abc/impabc/p5.htm
Reading skills
of Canada's adult population
Reading level
Definition
Percent of Canadian
population
Level 1
Non-readers
Have difficulty dealing with printed
materials. Most likely identify themselves as people who cannot
read.
7%
Level 2
Poor readers
Can use printed
materials for limited purposes only, such as finding a familiar word in
a simple text. Recognize themselves as having difficulties with common reading
materials.
9%
Level 3
Reluctant readers
Can use
reading materials in a variety of situations, provided the material is
simple, clearly laid out/ and the tasks involved are not too
complicated. Generally do not see themselves as having significant reading
difficulties, but tend to avoid situations requiring
reading.
22%
Level 4
Readers
Can meet most everyday
reading demands. Are a diverse group and exhibit a wide range of
skills.
62%
Source: Adult Literacy in Canada: Results of a
National Study
Although this confirmed the 42 % figure
(previously reported as 40 % and as 38 %) it did not give any more
details.
>From data that I have seen in Australia the local figures
are about the same in Canada as in Australia. But again the literacy figures
are only sometimes reported and the numeracy figures almost never. I know
nothing about literacy and numeracy rates in the USA.
The reason that I
am reporting these figures here is that I believe that to manage a successful
metrication program you needs to consider the literacy, and more especially
the numeracy, of your target audience. If your intended audience is the whole
population of a nation then you need to know about literacy and numeracy rates
-- and, as I said, these can be very hard to find and literacy figures are
more often quoted than numeracy figures.
Anti-metric forces have often
pointed out how silly it is to name large, imprecisely measured objects in
hundreds or even thousands of tiny millimetres with long rows of zeroes. In
isolation this is not a bad argument, but it ignores the enormous practical
benefits of the complete removal of fractions, both vulgar and decimal from
all measuring work. Measurement and calculations are much easier because there
are so few costly errors produced by calculations that involve any sort of
fractions.
Experience in Architecture and Engineering, and in the
Bricklaying, Butchery, Carpentry, Electrical Trades, Fitting and Machining,
Gas-fitting, Joinery, Metal Fabrication, Plumbing, and Saddlery trades has
shown the benefits of using millimetres both in the initial learning of
measurement skills and in the use of them on a daily basis.
This
'difficulty' is put into context when we consider that builder's labourers, in
Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, often with little secondary
education, have no trouble with tens of thousands of millimetres, but rocket
scientists at NASA in the USA have trouble landing a Mars Probe using a
combination of metric decimals and customary feet and inches with
fractions.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin ASM (NSAA), LCAMS (USMA)*
PO
Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia
Phone 61 3 5241 2008
Pat
Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication
matters'. You can subscribe by going to http://www.metricationmatters.com
and clicking on 'Newsletter'.
* Pat is the editor of the 'Numbers
and measurement' chapter of the Australian Government Publishing Service
'Style manual � for writers, editors and printers', he is an Accredited
Speaking Member (ASM) with the National Speakers Association of Australia, and
a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United
States Metric Association.
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