3 ms·

Yes, that's my point, there's no way to know without making assumptions. Making assumptions about important details is sloppy and irresponsible, not what should

by t-3 4y ago

Yes, that's my point, there's no way to know without making assumptions. Making assumptions about important details is sloppy and irresponsible, not what should be promoted by putting it on a test. They could have easily used a the same setup with weight or speed or anything else but money and it would have been a fine question.

eesmith 4y ago
Life requires making assumptions. Understanding the specific tax requirements for this exchange of goods is not an important detail. Your overthinking the problem. As posed, the question doesn't even get to the point where the bat and ball have been purchased, which is where tax needs to be paid. If I'm shopping and someone asks me "I'm sorry, I left my reading glasses at home. Could you tell me the price of the pimentos", then I might say "$2.99 for the jar." I won't say "$2.99 for the jar, plus applicable sales tax", and neither would the vast majority of people.
- dismantlethesun 4y ago
  That’s life though. It’s reasonable to ask clarifying questions on a test. Word problems are notoriously tricky and one shouldn’t fail because they simply made a wrong assumption.
  - eesmith 4y ago
    You are assuming that's the main reason people get the question wrong. IMO your assumption seems very unlikely. Your conjecture that taxation affects interpretation can be tested by international comparisons, between the US (where shelf prices do not include tax) and another country where shelf prices include tax. A Google Scholar shows this test has been carried out in many other countries, including those where prices include tax. The few papers I skimmed (like https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13428-018-1029-4 https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13428-018-1029-4 ) make no mention of your conjectured effect, suggesting my opinion is widely held. Yes, it's just about impossible to make a word problem which cannot be over-thought, even one based on a real-world example.
- t-3 4y ago
  Sales tax was honestly the first thing I thought of as I read the question, because I've encountered such trick questions in the past in math classes and on 'cognitive tests'. I'm also really boggled on why you think training future engineers to make assumptions about numbers isn't really bad.
  - eesmith 4y ago
    I never made such a blanket statement. I said that the question as posed is not "confusing garbage". Based on the price, I assumed it was a garage sale and not really taxable. But, ok, let's say it's a fire sale and is taxable. How would sales tax affect the calculation at all? If it does, how would you write the question in a way to assuage your concerns about taxation? Does your text cover all the relevant details? Like, is the entity making the purchase subject to sales tax? Or, does the purchase take place in West Virginia when this purchase might be covered under the Annual Back to School tax holiday?

by t-3 4y ago

eesmith 4y ago

Life requires making assumptions. Understanding the specific tax requirements for this exchange of goods is not an important detail. Your overthinking the problem. As posed, the question doesn't even get to the point where the bat and ball have been purchased, which is where tax needs to be paid. If I'm shopping and someone asks me "I'm sorry, I left my reading glasses at home. Could you tell me the price of the pimentos", then I might say "$2.99 for the jar." I won't say "$2.99 for the jar, plus applicable sales tax", and neither would the vast majority of people.

dismantlethesun 4y ago
That’s life though. It’s reasonable to ask clarifying questions on a test. Word problems are notoriously tricky and one shouldn’t fail because they simply made a wrong assumption.
- eesmith 4y ago
  You are assuming that's the main reason people get the question wrong. IMO your assumption seems very unlikely. Your conjecture that taxation affects interpretation can be tested by international comparisons, between the US (where shelf prices do not include tax) and another country where shelf prices include tax. A Google Scholar shows this test has been carried out in many other countries, including those where prices include tax. The few papers I skimmed (like https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13428-018-1029-4 https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13428-018-1029-4 ) make no mention of your conjectured effect, suggesting my opinion is widely held. Yes, it's just about impossible to make a word problem which cannot be over-thought, even one based on a real-world example.
t-3 4y ago
Sales tax was honestly the first thing I thought of as I read the question, because I've encountered such trick questions in the past in math classes and on 'cognitive tests'. I'm also really boggled on why you think training future engineers to make assumptions about numbers isn't really bad.
- eesmith 4y ago
  I never made such a blanket statement. I said that the question as posed is not "confusing garbage". Based on the price, I assumed it was a garage sale and not really taxable. But, ok, let's say it's a fire sale and is taxable. How would sales tax affect the calculation at all? If it does, how would you write the question in a way to assuage your concerns about taxation? Does your text cover all the relevant details? Like, is the entity making the purchase subject to sales tax? Or, does the purchase take place in West Virginia when this purchase might be covered under the Annual Back to School tax holiday?