by Scott77 76 Replies latest social current
| I am an advanced a Excel user. You aren't going to be able to write a decent formula without Algebra. So yes, I use my schooling all the time. That Excel analysis means I can extract trends from large data sets, which my bosses value. | |
| jgnat |
jgnat, I see the connection when you say ' I use my schooling all the time.' This makes sense. By the way, is Simon a math wizard?
Scott77
I have no idea if Simon is a math wizard. I do know he did a kick-ass job of raising his sons.
Scott77: 'ten percent' huh? where is it and can you show the steps you went through?
10% can also be expressed as 1/10th. As both Quendi and GrreatTeacher said, there are often several ways to solve a problem. I believe that knowledge and skills (the use of that knowledge) is more powerful if we understand both how and why things work and can solve things in a variety of ways. That being said, most of us have our favorite methods and tools in our toolkit.
For me a problem like the "tipping" one GT gave us is most easily solved by simply knowing that 1/10th of something (or 10%) can be quickly calculated by simply moving the decimal point one place to the left:
$25.00 --> $2.50
But again, at least where I live, a 20% tip would only be for truly superior service. (My wife was a food server for many years and has schooled me hard on what, when, how and how much to tip).
I'd ordinarily calculate 15% for an average tip. I calculate that by starting as above to get 10% then I'd add half of that, 5% being 1/2 of 10%:
$2.50 / 2 = $1.25
$2.50 + 1.25 = $3.75
I'd probably then round that up to $4 and call it a day.
Tipping Tip #2: Always tip in CASH money if at all possible.
More and more we pay the bill with our VISA card, but wait staff appreciate cash tips over a tip that's put on the bill with a credit card. Why? Two reasons:
zimunzucz: Oklahoma's Algebra exam requires a 70% to pass = a D
Most common grading scales look something like this:
A = 90% - 100%
B = 80% - 89%
C = 70% - 79%
D = 60% - 69%
F = 59% and below
Grade Inflation concerns aside, a grade of "C" is by traditional standards "average." Average is by definition the statistical middle of ability and achievement. (I am referring to a mean average, the average calculated by adding all scores and dividing by the number of test takers).
In a perfect world, and assuming a large enough sample to be statistically meaningful, the distribution of grades from any testing should look something like this:
Of course, this is not how it usually works in the world we live for a variety of reasons, some legitimate, others not so much.
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FUN FACT: Did you know that half of all people have below average intelligence?
Does that surprise you? It shouldn't. If it does, it means you don't understand what average means.
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I see my dose of reality posting regarding what a "C" really means proved to be a thread-killer!
Hey, no one likes to think of themselves as average, but most people are. It is was it is.
It reminds me of Gallagher's joke, "Surveys show 2 out of 3 people are ugly. So look to your left and look to your right. If they're not ugly, guess what!"
In reviewing the OP, I have to say, it's a fairly strange rant against math in general and algebra in particular. The author cherry-picks his data and misrepresents much of it.
Here is one factoid that I thought particularly strange:
It would appear that Mr. Hacker is trying, with this reference,to suggest that engineering graduates and computer science majors were suffering an employment crisis in 2012 and that this somehow supported his thesis that we shouldn't require everyone to learn how to do algebra.
Besides that fact that those two points are non sequitur , I have to point out the context of unemployment in the US in 2012. Here is a chart showing Unemployment rates in the United States over the period of 2004-2014 for all people over 16 years of age :
From January of 2004 through 2014 overall unemployment in the US ranged from about 4.5% to around 10%.
Even a cursory examination of this data shows that unemployment rates of 7.5% - 8.2% is right in the range for the general population, particulary for the year cited, 2012. In fact, it is under the average rate shown in the chart for January 2012. So engineers and computer science majors face employment issues just like everyone else. How does that suggest we should stop teaching algebra?
That's probably why Mr. Hacker hates algebra. He either doesn't get it or doesn't like it because he can't make it fit his political theories!
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Not all problems on multiple choice tests are designed to be solved. Some are there to test concepts that, if you had the knowledge, you could eliminate all the other answers.
Let's try an example using calculating a tip.
Find the dollar amount of a 10% tip on a $28 bill.
a. $5.40
b. $5.60
c. $2.80
d. $0.28
The knowledgeable student knows he only needs to move the decimal place one place to the left. So the actual numerals are not changing. This means that a and b are obviously incorrect. Now consider c and b. The numerals are the same as the $28 amount. But in c the decima point was moved 1 place to the left while in d it was moved 2 places to the left.What is the rule when multiplying by factors of 10? Only move the decimal one place to the left.
So, the teacher is likely only giving you the time to really think about two answers since the first two are so obviously wrong.
How do teachers choose the other wrong options on test? I chose b because it represented 20% If we had been working with lots of 20% tips in class a lazy reader or rigid thinker might automatically go for choice b. I just learned something about that student. I chose a because it represents a math error on the 20% tip. This means all of the above, plus their calculation skills are poor.
How about this problem?
Which represents 80% of 200?
A 16000
B 280
C 1000
D 160
You should be able to look at that and immediately know the answer is D because it's the only answer that is less than the original number 200. When you multiply a whole number by a fraction, the answer is always smaller. As a teacher, I dont want you to solve that problem, I just want to know that you understand that concept.
Maybe you can figure out the errors in the wrong options and then the concepts that I would then have to reteach.
