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But the motivation for solving complicated rational equations does not come from word problems. The word problems for this topic involve very simple rational f
by yequalsx 17y ago
But the motivation for solving complicated rational equations does not come from word problems. The word problems for this topic involve very simple rational functions. My point has been that the motivation for studying and doing much of mathematics ought not come, solely, from practical word problems.
- dhimes 17y agoI agree with you that you (we) shouldn't feel the need to have a one-to-one mapping between problems we solve and word problems. Even in elementary physics you could argue that the word problems in many cases aren't practical, but we teach it to teach the flavor of the approach; the attitude of how we attack problems (or, less poetically, what exactly we mean when we say "cause and effect"). That said, the motivation is still greater when the students see some hope that what they are learning is meaningful. What that motivation is depends on the level of the class. For algebra 2, it might be "we learn to manipulate rational functions because it gives us a tool to understand (or solve) a certain class of problems. Someday you may own a business where you have to worry about the average cost of something that depends on things that change alot, or variables as we call them. And you know what an average is: it's the amount of something divided by how many there are. Well if your amounts are represented by an algebraic expression, and your total is represented by an algebraic expression, then the quantity you will be interested in will look something like this (writes a rational function on the board). Now, what the fuck do we do with this?"