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Comment Re:Microsoft already is (Score 4, Insightful) 402

Office file formats are not going anyway. I got modded down here a few times saying I can't leave Office because I can not guarantee that my resume will look the same on someone elses computer running Office if I make it under LibraOffice. For that reason it will stay forever in business and MS Office is not going anyway as suppliers and customers will think you are incompentent if you send a document that looks funny on their computer.

If you can't figure out how to make a pdf then maybe they're right.

Comment Re:It should be: 4+3+2=x+2 (Solve for x) (Score 1) 1268

And the fact remains that anyone that knows what equals means will recognize ( ) as a variable. Math education currently amounts to, "Here is a set of sample problems, you can expect to see something JUST like this on the test, so remember how you did it." Students can do some very complicated problems without the slightest clue what they are doing.

Math is, at its core, logic. If a student cannot come about this answer logically (no intuition necessary) using only some of the most very basic mathematical ideas, what does that say about his education?

It does seem that remedial education is in order, or at least a solid mention. Perhaps an example in class such as this one, to open the student's eyes concerning the matter. Most likely it will amount to a bad habit that needs to be unlearned. Fortunately you won't have to involve yourself with this, being an ex-teacher.

Comment Re:It should be: 4+3+2=x+2 (Solve for x) (Score 1) 1268

Similarly in standard notation, it is perfectly fine for x to equal 7, 3+4, 10-3, 3.5*2, or any other combination, so long as it is 7. The fact that you assigned values to the opening and closing parenthesis doesn't change the fact that using the meaning of the equal sign, you came about the correct answer, whatever form it may be in.

Math is not a guessing game. The problem is that students only memorize procedures so when they encounter a problem they can recreate the solution. When you rephrase the equation into 4+3+2=x+2 (Solve for x), you are merely putting the question into recognizable procedure. This does not mean that he understands what he is doing, as is shown by the article.

Plus, we live in a world where variables are expressed in a variety of different ways before we even get to the great and awesome x. Square boxes, underscores, question marks are several that I remember going through before x. ( ) isn't that much of a stretch for a young student.

Comment Re:It should be: 4+3+2=x+2 (Solve for x) (Score 1) 1268

I think the point of the study would have been to use non-standard notation to test the knowledge of the meaning of =. If you understand that what is on the left is the same as what is on the right of the equal sign, you can logically deduce that the ( ) is the missing information. If you do not understand that, then at that point you are left to guess. So yes, they are testing knowledge of the equal sign

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