Numeracy for adults: building skills with online learning links

2. Literature review

A review of the wider literature on how adults develop their numeracy expertise was carried out. The review identified four sets of research-based understandings that informed the researchers’ approach to strengthening the numeracy of adults. These understandings are summarised in the bulleted points that follow.

The full review and reference list for sections one to three of this summary are available here on Education Counts.

2.1. How adults develop their numeracy expertise

• Adults engage in learning for their own larger purposes. These purposes are associated with their roles in society as workers, family members and community members.
  
• Adult learners develop expertise by building on their existing knowledge, skills and experiences.
  
• Adult learners develop their numeracy most effectively in contexts that have meaning to them. As learners develop their expertise, their increasing awareness of their knowledge and skills allows them to apply them in a wide range of contexts.
  
• Mathematics anxiety is experienced by many adults. This makes it difficult for them to access their working memory and think logically and results in lower course completion rates.

2.2. The features of effective embedded numeracy provision

• Where vocational tutors and numeracy specialists work as a team, learners are more likely to stay in training and complete qualifications.
  
• Successful approaches to embedding numeracy clearly link numeracy and vocational components of the course.
  
• Effective assessment in programmes where numeracy is embedded makes use of learning progressions to provide direction for teaching programmes and to monitor progress toward learning goals.
  
• Embedded numeracy provision is facilitated by appropriate organisational policies, management structures, resourcing, and working conditions.

2.3. Managing and sustaining change to achieve effective long-term embedding of numeracy

• Organisations are more likely to develop and maintain effective approaches to embedding when the value of numeracy is understood and it is viewed as an integral part of vocational training.
  
• Teaching materials are important tools that can substantially influence the content and enactment of instruction.
  
• Professional development programmes can be effective in improving tutor practice and learner performance.
  
• Assessment data provides valuable information that can be used systematically to improve programmes.

2.4. The role of ICT in the development of adult learners’ numeracy skills

• The use of ICT enables the development and delivery of effective learning resources.
  
• Previously established principles for effective instruction underpin the successful use of technology for teaching and learning.
  
• The use of ICT can make learning more appealing, increasing learner motivation and persistence.
  
• Use of ICT can open new networks of support for learners as learning is taken out of the classroom and into other environments such as the home.
  
• ICT can be used as a means of making learning more accessible to adults because learning can take place at any time and in any place.
  
• ICT provides a cost-effective way of developing the skills of learners currently at level 2 of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey.