The problem is, with simple ideas like this, they typically don't get published. The only place they would be published is in introductory textbooks, or books/p

The problem is, with simple ideas like this, they typically don't get published. The only place they would be published is in introductory textbooks, or books/papers about pedagogy; and both of those are relativly rare. In contrast, the amount of people who would be in a posistion to discover this method is huge. Imagine looking through every algebra test and homework math students have submitted that involves solving quadratic equations. Do you really believe that not a single student stumbled into this method? The existance of this method as a pedalogical tool is a bit more interedting. But even there, most pedegogical knowledge exists only in the minds of experienced practitioners. Some of that knowledge gets written down in their lesson plans. Some gets shared with other teachers nearby. Some gets passed on by osmosis to students who will become teachers. A tiny minority of pedagogical knowledge actually finds its way to being published.