4 ms·

or, as explained quite clearly in the article, a simple misunderstanding of symbols: the kid interpreted it as 12/7 instead of 7/12.

HarryHirsch 12y ago
Two misunderstandings: the kid also thought that 1.5 means 1 remainder 5. That's a profound lack of knowledge, he does not understand decimal notation. If you do not know what these number symbols mean, how can you communicate using those symbols? It all degenerates into futile pattern matching.
- yuliyp 12y ago
  Yes, yes it is a profound lack of knowledge. But he's still a fifth grader, and once you diagnose the problem (pattern matching gone wrong), you can fix it. In this case, the teacher identified that there was a sloppiness error (note it and allow them to work on being less sloppy using grades as motivation), as well as the misunderstanding of "remainder" vs "decimal part". The goal isn't just to grade the student, but to actually fix the things that are blocking their learning.
- aptwebapps 12y ago
  I think you're being too extreme. It quite possible to have a less than complete grasp of something and write down the wrong answer. Heck, you can give the wrong answer even when you know something cold, all thought that's obviously not the case here. We don't know how much or how little attention the kid is putting into it and this is a 5th grader, after all. I understand what you're getting at but some kids don't get all of this all at once in a blinding flash - they become more and more familiar with it over time.
- judk 12y ago
  A typo is not a profound non understanding. When a C++ programmer misuses Java notation, it isn't a profound none understanding, it's a mistake.
- 21echoes 12y ago
  > he does not understand decimal notation. which, again, is a symbol misunderstanding. it's extremely presumptuous of you to say that two chained symbol misunderstandings by a fifth grader new to a subject are "the problem [of] rote learning of algorithms [by someone who] does not connect classroom learning with the real world [or] understand what the answer means" when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail
EpicEng 12y ago
Which, of course, is still wrong... again, not understanding what he is doing.
thaumasiotes 12y ago
to be fair, that isn't necessarily a misunderstanding of symbols -- if you retested that kid several times, you might find him interpreting 7/12 as 12/7 and 12/7 also as 12/7, on the grounds that obviously you divide the larger number by the smaller number. That kind of "reasoning" is common, but amounts more to ignoring the symbols than misunderstanding them.

HarryHirsch 12y ago

Two misunderstandings: the kid also thought that 1.5 means 1 remainder 5. That's a profound lack of knowledge, he does not understand decimal notation. If you do not know what these number symbols mean, how can you communicate using those symbols? It all degenerates into futile pattern matching.

yuliyp 12y ago
Yes, yes it is a profound lack of knowledge. But he's still a fifth grader, and once you diagnose the problem (pattern matching gone wrong), you can fix it. In this case, the teacher identified that there was a sloppiness error (note it and allow them to work on being less sloppy using grades as motivation), as well as the misunderstanding of "remainder" vs "decimal part". The goal isn't just to grade the student, but to actually fix the things that are blocking their learning.
aptwebapps 12y ago
I think you're being too extreme. It quite possible to have a less than complete grasp of something and write down the wrong answer. Heck, you can give the wrong answer even when you know something cold, all thought that's obviously not the case here. We don't know how much or how little attention the kid is putting into it and this is a 5th grader, after all. I understand what you're getting at but some kids don't get all of this all at once in a blinding flash - they become more and more familiar with it over time.
judk 12y ago
A typo is not a profound non understanding. When a C++ programmer misuses Java notation, it isn't a profound none understanding, it's a mistake.
21echoes 12y ago
> he does not understand decimal notation. which, again, is a symbol misunderstanding. it's extremely presumptuous of you to say that two chained symbol misunderstandings by a fifth grader new to a subject are "the problem [of] rote learning of algorithms [by someone who] does not connect classroom learning with the real world [or] understand what the answer means" when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail

EpicEng 12y ago

Which, of course, is still wrong... again, not understanding what he is doing.

thaumasiotes 12y ago

to be fair, that isn't necessarily a misunderstanding of symbols -- if you retested that kid several times, you might find him interpreting 7/12 as 12/7 and 12/7 also as 12/7, on the grounds that obviously you divide the larger number by the smaller number. That kind of "reasoning" is common, but amounts more to ignoring the symbols than misunderstanding them.