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Le risposte ai problemi di natura matematica nella vita quotidiana.
In real-life situations, people are required to respond to numeracy demands in a variety of ways. Below, types of responses are grouped under three broad headings: Identify, locate, or access; Act upon or use; and Interpret, evaluate/analyse, communicate. While each response is described separately, in real life all three may be present in a dynamic fashion and vary in complexity. Furthermore, responses are shaped not only by the interaction among situational demands, but also by the goals, skills, dispositions and prior practices and experiences of the individual.
Le risposte: identificare, individuare e accedere a informazioni matematiche.
Identify, locate, or access
In virtually all situations, people have to identify, locate or access some mathematical information that is present in the task or situation and relevant to their purpose or goal. When it exists alone, this response type often requires a low level of mathematical understanding or the application of simple arithmetic skills. However, this response type is usually found together with the other types of responses listed below.
Le risposte: utilizzare procedure e regole matematiche.
Act upon or use
In some situations, people must use already-known mathematical procedures and rules or perform actions based on mathematical information identified in the situation. Acting upon or using known methods or information involves arithmetical operations such as counting and making calculations. It may also involve ordering or sorting, estimating or using various measuring devices. Finally, it may involve using (or developing) a formula that serves as a model of a situation or a process.
Le risposte: interpretare informazioni matematiche.
Interpret, evaluate/analyse, communicate
This response type encompasses three separate but related responses:
Interpret. Some situations do not demand any direct manipulation of or action on available quantitative information, but instead interpretation of the meaning and implications of information of a mathematical or statistical nature. It may be necessary not only to interpret mathematical or statistical information, but also to make a judgment or develop an opinion about it, for example, regarding trends, changes or differences described in a graph, newspaper article or advertisement. Interpretive responses may relate not only to numerical information (i.e. figures or statistical data), but also to broader mathematical or statistical concepts (expressed in oral, textual or visual form), such as rates of change, proportions, distributions, samples, bias, correlation, probability risk and causality.
Le risposte: analizzare informazioni matematiche.
Evaluate/analyse. This response category is, in part, an extension of the “Interpret” response type. It covers responses to situations in which a person must analyse a problem, evaluate the quality of the solution against some criteria or contextual demands and, if necessary, cycle again through the interpretation, analysis and evaluation stages. Such situations may be encountered in various contexts, including dynamic or information-rich technology environments, or “decision situations”. Examples include: processing raw quantitative information through technology-enabled channels (e.g. sifting through a website), and retrieving and integrating information from multiple sources after evaluating their relevance to the task at hand (e.g. compare information from different sources regarding the costs of competing certain courses of action).
Le risposte: comunicare informazioni matematiche.
Communicate. In addition to the responses listed above, a person may have to represent and communicate mathematical information, describe the results of his or her actions or interpretations to someone else, or explain and justify the logic of his or her analysis or evaluation. This can be done via oral or written means (ranging from presenting a simple number or word, all the way to a detailed explanation); a drawing (a diagram, map, graph); the generation of a computer-based display (e.g. by referencing a spreadsheet-based chart showing the results of “what if” scenarios); or various combinations of these and other modes of communication and illustration.