The key difference between this method and the traditional "completing the squares" technique is that there's no guessing involved. Students get frustrated wit

The key difference between this method and the traditional "completing the squares" technique is that there's no guessing involved. Students get frustrated with trying out different numbers to get the right sum and product. It's easy for them to make a mistake or think they made a mistake. This method is more mechanical and also looks easier than just chugging on the quadratic formula. Is it dramatically better than well-taught and well-practiced traditional methods? Probably not, but I like it. It does seem slightly better, but then I'll never have to crank through a worksheet of these.