4 ms·

That's the theory, maybe. I have kids in school. In practice it seems more like simply rote memorization of multiple techniques to solve a problem. It's especia

by sidlls 4y ago

That's the theory, maybe. I have kids in school. In practice it seems more like simply rote memorization of multiple techniques to solve a problem. It's especially hard when a child figures out his own way, but is graded/marked on doing it the specific way(s) a homework or test question demands.

dylan604 4y ago
this is actually something i had to endure as well specifically from knowing these tricks and being well practiced in "doing it in my head". i had to be retrained to show my work. each new teacher would assume i was some how cheating on the homework by just writing the answers. that may be harsh, but that's the way it was always received. if they weren't going to give me the benefit of the doubt, why should i for them?
- thfuran 4y ago
  To this day, I remain unsure of what work I was meant to be showing in 3rd grade to "convert" between ratios and fractions.
  - wrycoder 4y ago
    Probably just change the colon to a horizontal bar?
    - thfuran 4y ago
      Yes, that's all there is to it, which is why I never showed any work and didn't get full marks.
hgsgm 4y ago
Does the bad grading hurt? If the kid figured out their own way, great! They don't need the lesson!
- dylan604 4y ago
  the thing that convinced me to switch to elaborately showing my work was partial credit. in the competitive tests, if you didn't know the correct answer, you'd look at the next 3 questions to see if you could answer them. a skipped answer was counted as wrong, and points deducted. since the test increased in difficulty as you progressed, you'd have to consider how many questions you were skipping and if it was better to just stop. in classes, even if the answer was incorrect, if you showed your work you could receive partial credit. if it was clear you were using the right steps to get there but forgot to carry a one or skipped a step somewhere else but it was clear that the basic understanding on how to solve the problem was close, you could avoid a big goose egg for that question. IIRC, the AP exams were like that as well. more about showing understanding of the process than just the correct answer is what they were trying to achieve.
- sidlls 4y ago
  Yes: some kids are quite sensitive to that sort of thing. More importantly, it's not actually teaching them anything except that they must conform.

by sidlls 4y ago

dylan604 4y ago

this is actually something i had to endure as well specifically from knowing these tricks and being well practiced in "doing it in my head". i had to be retrained to show my work. each new teacher would assume i was some how cheating on the homework by just writing the answers. that may be harsh, but that's the way it was always received. if they weren't going to give me the benefit of the doubt, why should i for them?

thfuran 4y ago
To this day, I remain unsure of what work I was meant to be showing in 3rd grade to "convert" between ratios and fractions.
- wrycoder 4y ago
  Probably just change the colon to a horizontal bar?
  - thfuran 4y ago
    Yes, that's all there is to it, which is why I never showed any work and didn't get full marks.

hgsgm 4y ago

Does the bad grading hurt? If the kid figured out their own way, great! They don't need the lesson!

dylan604 4y ago
the thing that convinced me to switch to elaborately showing my work was partial credit. in the competitive tests, if you didn't know the correct answer, you'd look at the next 3 questions to see if you could answer them. a skipped answer was counted as wrong, and points deducted. since the test increased in difficulty as you progressed, you'd have to consider how many questions you were skipping and if it was better to just stop. in classes, even if the answer was incorrect, if you showed your work you could receive partial credit. if it was clear you were using the right steps to get there but forgot to carry a one or skipped a step somewhere else but it was clear that the basic understanding on how to solve the problem was close, you could avoid a big goose egg for that question. IIRC, the AP exams were like that as well. more about showing understanding of the process than just the correct answer is what they were trying to achieve.
sidlls 4y ago
Yes: some kids are quite sensitive to that sort of thing. More importantly, it's not actually teaching them anything except that they must conform.