Becoming Competent, Confident and Critically Aware: Tracing Academic Numeracy Development in Nursing

This paper describes the mathematical journey of a mature aged nursing student as she struggles to become more academically numerate. Within the paper, academic numeracy is defined around three features: competence, confidence and critical awareness of both the context of mathematics and students' own relationship with mathematics. It then uses this definition to describe a course for 1st year nursing students to develop their mathematics skills needed for their degree. A conceptual framework, based on Valsiner's Human Development Theory, is used to trace students' developing understanding of academic numeracy. Finally the paper describes one student, Sally, as she struggles to become more numerate.