Community Chat

[Marp]

What is more important, getting an answer correct or the method used to get the correct answer?   What does a child learn for future real life situations when they are penalized for getting the correct answer by the "wrong" method?

Excerpt from:  http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/whats-hot/parents-cant-figure-out-why-this-students-math-problem-...

This elementary school math problem has parents stumped. Not because they can't solve it, but because it was marked wrong, even though the final answer is correct.

An image posted to Imgur in Oct. 2015 shows a Common Core math worksheet asking students to "use the repeated addition method" to solve an equation: 5 x 3. The student wrote 15 as the final answer, but was penalized for writing "5 + 5 + 5" instead of "3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3."

The student clearly arrived at the correct answer, and used addition to show his or her work, but points were still deducted.

For the second question on the worksheet, the student again wrote the right answer and showed his or work, but points were taken off.

[PhilaLady1]

I was reading about this today.    I don't see how one answer can be right and the other wrong.  To me, both answers are correct.   To me, 5 x 3 can mean five three times, which is the same as 5 + 5 + 5 . That's 5 written three times, as the equation indicates.

[CrazyDaisy]

In this case I think the student got both the correct answer and the correct method.  I would guess that whoever was grading the paper, perhaps a student teacher, was expecting to see 3+3+3+3+3 and took off points when they saw something else.  I would be interested in hearing the teachers side of the story.  The grade may have been changed.  You know how facebook posts take on a life of their own.

[Cakers3]

The student was asked to use the addition method to solve but I don't understand why the 5+5+5 was incorrect instead of using 3+3+3+3+3. 

Did the teacher use the matrix to indicate that the problem would read "5 items of 3"?

[muttmom]

I saw this the other day.  The student lost 1 point, not entire credit.

It depends what concept is being taught.  Technically doesn't the problem say 5 times 3 which would be 3+3+3+3+3?  3 x 5 would be 3 times 5 or 5+5+5.

[VanSleepy]

If the repeated addition method should have been 3+3+3+3+3 (meaning the method is different for 5x3 and 3x5), then the student didn't follow the directions and points were taken off.  Yes, the answer is correct but you have to learn to follow the correct steps for when the problem is a lot more difficult than 5x3.  

This is just my thought on why points were deducted - I'm not saying it's right lol

[faeriemoon]

If the students were learning a method, and there is a specific way to perform that method, I can understand the deduction.  However, I have never heard of this method, or learned it so long ago I've forgotten it.

I find it more disturbing that some parent found the need to make a federal case out of a one point deduction, when clearly the teacher was going for a concept (however useless the concept may be.)

[sidsmom]

I see both sides, but lean towards the instructor's viewpoint.

In the beginning stages of math, the reasoning might be simplistic, 

but learning it the correct way will make sense when

you have a 'Good Will Hunting' situation on the board. 

[faeriemoon]

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@sidsmom wrote:

I see both sides, but lean towards the instructor's viewpoint.

In the beginning stages of math, the reasoning might be simplistic, 

but learning it the correct way will make sense when

you have a 'Good Will Hunting' situation on the board. 

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Ding, ding, ding!!!

Exactly.

[occasionalrain]

I'm in agreement with the instructor. Not only did the student fail to follow the proper method; he failed in reading for meaning.