Students often say they know how to solve the equations and it is just that they have trouble with
“word problems.” The problem is, of course, that in engineering, virtually all problems are word
problems. Because of the advent of inexpensive, powerful computers to crunch numbers, it is
now very important that people be able to correctly interpret and express technical information.
However, empirical evidence shows that students’ ability in this area has declined, rather than
improved. This paper describes some specific issues in math literacy and the use of technology to
address them. Examples are drawn from a junior-level data analysis course having a large
fraction of international students. However, these issues are common in most engineering
courses and occur among domestic as well as international, students. For a number of reasons,
this report is anecdotal, though some indications of success are presented.