"Bob LeChevalier" <lojbab at lojban.org> wrote in message
news:6i88ju0l26pdg0q7k2tbmarmqamf4fipt3 at 4ax.com...
> "Parse Tree" <parsetree at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >"The 9th Witch" <appalachian_witch at hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >news:ah044j$oqm9k$1 at ID-131540.news.dfncis.de...> >> > TIMSS also included many problems that were NOT multiple choice, BTW,
and you
> >> > could not get full credit unless your work was shown and contained
the key
> >> > steps expected in the solution.
> >>
> >> Well, shit, I'd would have missed it too. I never write down the steps,
just
> >> chicken scratches and the correct answer.
> >
> >When I was littler, I was always scolded for not showing enough work.
They
> >expect so many unnecessary steps. While they may require multiplication
to
> >be explicitly written out, I most certainly do not. And what's with
proper
> >notation? Just useless memorization.
>> That may be one more reason why we did more poorly on TIMSS than other
> countries; we have less tolerance for following directions. If the test
says
> "show your work", you "show your work". The modern standardized tests
that
> have work-out problems all require the work to be shown. Those that
require
> essays sometimes require that the rough draft/outline be included, and you
> may be downgraded for not doing a draft/outline.
That's tripe. I never write an outline. It's meaningless busy work.
> Now in the case of TIMSS, it was NOT that you had to show every step. But
if
> you missed the key step that showed that you understood, as opposed to
merely
> hand-waved, your answer was downgraded.
There is very little handwaving in mathematics. You can't guess and get
that the answer is 5/3. It doesn't really work like that.
