Comparative Needs of Elementary and Secondary In-Service Teachers and College Pre-Service Students for Metric Education.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper reports on a survey of the need for inservice metric education and for greater emphasis upon metric education in mathematics methods courses in Nevada. The report is based upon data from two types of questionnaires. One questionnaire surveyed the need for metric workshops. The second questionnaire surveyed the present knowledge of the metric system. Both questionnaires were administered to a random sample of elementary, junior high, and high school teachers in Nevada and to elementary and secondary mathematics method students at the University of Nevada, Reno. The paper contains eight tables comparing the data from these two questionnaires. Each table is followed by separate conclusions. In general, it is concluded that there is a need for metric workshops for elementary teachers of Nevada and that more amphasis should be incorporated into elementary mathematics methods courses. Furthermore, it is recommended that a relevant comprehensive questionnaire be prepared and administered to secondary mathematics and science teachers in order to verify the need for further metric education. (BW)