An analysis of the interaction between mathematical literacy and financial literacy in PISA

Nowadays, individuals are expected to be literate in different areas. Mathematical literacy and financial literacy are among them. Mathematical literacy has been evaluated in PISA since 2000 while financial literacy has been included in PISA since 2012. Based on the idea that there is a close relationship between these literacies, in this study PISA mathematical and financial literacies questions were analysed in order to identify the interaction between them. For the analysis, the interaction model of mathematical and financial literacies model, which was worked out to examine the interaction between these literacies, was used. A total of 17 PISA questions including 13 mathematical literacy questions released since 2002 and four financial literacy questions released since 2012 were analysed. The results of the study show that literacy questions have potential to support conceptual and process skills for both literacies although PISA documents state that financial situations are only a context for mathematical literacy and that mathematics, is only a tool for financial literacy. This result strengthens the idea that financial literacy education can be easily integrated into mathematics courses, at least for 15 year old students.