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Could they figure out how to do it in less than 5 minutes if the stakes really mattered? I agree calculating averages is a pretty basic skill that I find has ma
by klenwell 12y ago
Could they figure out how to do it in less than 5 minutes if the stakes really mattered? I agree calculating averages is a pretty basic skill that I find has many day-to-day applications. But this also smells like a lighter version of the trick interview question.
Which is to say, I'm sure there are people out there who would smirk at me when they found out I didn't know how to tie a square knot off the top of my head.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- cbgb 12y agoIMHO, calculating an average is something every teacher should have to do many times throughout their career (at the very least for calculating how well individual students performed on a test relative to their peers). Calculating an average is the statistical equivalent of 2 + 2. Who could respect a teacher who had to look up the algorithm for 2 + 2 every time they were asked to compute it?
- Retric 12y agoI would hope most teachers stopped calculating averages by hand a long time ago.
- swalsh 12y agoYou still need to know the algorithm though to understand it's limitations.
- cbgb 12y agoSimilar to another comment, how can you evaluate the correctness of the computed value if you don't know how the computation is done?
- j2kun 12y agoBut understanding what an average represents is obviously important.
- outworlder 12y ago> But this also smells like a lighter version of the trick interview question. It would be bad if we were talking about children forgetting it after one year. Since this is university students we are talking about, that's horrendous. If they can't do averages, one wonders what else their basic education lacks. And how they even got there. And what they are worth to potential employers.
- hawleyal 12y agoSomehow basic math like addition, mutliplication, fractions, mean, median, and mode, is in no way similar to tying square knots. Especially for future teachers.