Re: HELP!! (implied multiplication)


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Re: HELP!! (implied multiplication)



Darryl K. Nester writes:

> Now on tests and quizzes I make sure to ask students to graph 0.5x+2
> instead, just to avoid the potential snags that those with older
> calculators might encounter.  (I save the discussion of such snags for
> class time.)

Yeah, but this doesn't work when the denominator involves a prime other than 2
or 5.  What I do instead is get students into the habit of rewriting such a
fractional expression (1/2)x as  x/2 .  Similarly (3/4)x becomes 3x/4, etc.
It seems to require a real mental wrench for students to get comfortable with
this kind of expression re-writing.  But that's a good thing!  Learning to
"unblind" oneself, and actually struggle with the syntactic issues underlying
the construction of mathematical expressions, is one of the _benefits_ of
having to use a character-by-character entry mode, as is required with graphing
calculators or formal computer languages. I never regret the time I spend with
students exploring this and related issues.

RWW Taylor
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester NY 14623

>>>> The plural of mongoose begins with p. <<<<