Brains?

[cee-dee]

I saw a recent news report about a primary schoolgirl who responded to a supposed maths question. (It's actually old news regurgitated in the Mirror as it was reported in the Mirror in December last year). They were supposed to show how their answers had been reached.

The question was "Jane has 12 crayons and Kim has 7. How many more crayons does Susan have than Kim?" Her answer was "Who is Susan?"

There were two other questionable questions.

1/There are 8 birds on a branch and 3 birds on another branch. How many birds are in the tree?

2/ There are 8 fish in the pond. 7 fish swam away. How many are left in the pond?

Now are they trick questions or has the person who set the questions left their brain someplace else?

As for 1/, were the branches in the same tree or should the answer be 8 + 3 = 11?

Moving on to 2/, if the fish were in a pond, they couldn't leave the pond so all the fish were still in the pond or should the answer be 8 - 7 = 1?

In the past year or two, I've seen several similar news stories about questionable questions. Some were definitely trick questions but others had been set without giving proper thought.

It seems to me that some supposedly intelligent types fit the description that my father had of some people "His head's bulging with brains but he's not got an ounce of common sense".

[right-then-petal]

😁

1 / Who Is Susan ......Inquiring Mind

2 /  11 Simple Sum

3 /  8 No Exit From Pond....Their Still There Just Seperate

[cee-dee]

Bearing in mind that the questions were for children of primary school age, such questions should be in a straightforward format. They'd learn more easily if that was so.

That said, those particular questions looked like they'd been composed by someone who knew what answers were being sought with no thought given to to the way the question was asked.

I remember at around 13 we were asked to write "instructions" for someone from Mars (!!!!) to make a cup of tea (!!!) and I remember the teacher looking at our efforts and picking out one lad's contribution and pointing out that someone from another Planet wouldn't be able to follow his simple instructions to "Boil the kettle, put the tea in the teapot and pour on the boiling water, let it stand for a few minutes, put some milk in the cup and fill the cup from the teapot". He was explaining that such a person wouldn't know what a kettle was, where the water came from, what tea was nor teapots, cups or milk.

The point of that excercise was to show us how to give instructions to someone who had no knowledge at all of how to do something. Today, you find many, many instructions make too many assumptions that those following such instructions have some prior knowledge of the subject matter and will be able to satisfactorily and easily fulfil the task in hand. They seem to assume that "it's fun finding out" when in fact all you want to do is just "do it" quickly without having to "fathom it out". How many times have you heard someone say that something was "as clear as mud"?

[cee-dee]

There's lots of dubious maths questions which are senseless but this one takes the biscuit:-

"An orchestra of 120 players take 40 minutes to play Beethovens 9th Smphony. How long would it take for 60 players to play the symphony?"

Eventually the teacher that set the question said that it was a trick question to keep the kids on their toes. How stupid? 

[kade_9934]

It agree, these questions on usual logic. Although, they are completely normal and understandable for a child of her age.

[*guinevere*]

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@cee-dee wrote:

Bearing in mind that the questions were for children of primary school age, such questions should be in a straightforward format. They'd learn more easily if that was so.

That said, those particular questions looked like they'd been composed by someone who knew what answers were being sought with no thought given to to the way the question was asked.

I remember at around 13 we were asked to write "instructions" for someone from Mars (!!!!) to make a cup of tea (!!!) and I remember the teacher looking at our efforts and picking out one lad's contribution and pointing out that someone from another Planet wouldn't be able to follow his simple instructions to "Boil the kettle, put the tea in the teapot and pour on the boiling water, let it stand for a few minutes, put some milk in the cup and fill the cup from the teapot". He was explaining that such a person wouldn't know what a kettle was, where the water came from, what tea was nor teapots, cups or milk.

The point of that excercise was to show us how to give instructions to someone who had no knowledge at all of how to do something. Today, you find many, many instructions make too many assumptions that those following such instructions have some prior knowledge of the subject matter and will be able to satisfactorily and easily fulfil the task in hand. They seem to assume that "it's fun finding out" when in fact all you want to do is just "do it" quickly without having to "fathom it out". How many times have you heard someone say that something was "as clear as mud"?

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I'm impressed that a 13 year old would know how to make a cup of tea. When my mother was alive a few years ago she had a carer who didn't know how. Her way was to add the milk to the tea in the pot and  pour!

[motu_5535]

On the other hand, in any case, it only develops the child. Perhaps the questions are not very interesting, sometimes even stupid, but as a child, you look at it differently. I didn't study very well, always used https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/depression/ to quickly do homework and write essays. My parents did not take care of me, and, frankly, I would like to receive such questions. But then no one cared about my development and knowledge, I was on my own. And I never knew how to brew tea properly.

[*guinevere*]

As far as studying and learning goes at least you can say that everything you achieved you achieved by your own efforts. You can rightfully say you pulled yourself up with your own boot straps and made something of yourself. 

[firms--83]

You don't need to know literature to be a mathematician or to make a lot of money. you need to learn what will help you make money.