Re:Can 1/3 and 1/3 = 2/6? It seemed so
by Wowfunhappy on Tuesday May 26, 2020 @11:43AM
(#23312533)
I'd absolutely agree if you were tutoring the child one-on-one. My concern is about leading the other 19+ kids astray with a confusing example before they're ready for it.
Ignoring it does feel wrong, but I don't know that it is. There's only so much time in a class period, etc.
That said, I really liked where mnsc went with it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23312266
Re:Can 1/3 and 1/3 = 2/6? It seemed so
by karatestomp on Tuesday May 26, 2020 @02:10PM
(#23314475)
My observation of points at which even very smart people fall off the "math train" k-12:
- Fractions
- Factoring
So yeah, I'd say great care is warranted in teaching kids fractions. Screw that up and there's a good chance you've lost them for life.
> My concern is about leading the other 19+ kids astray with a confusing example before they're ready for it.
Except that the kids were all agreeing with her. Whether she did made that statement or not, they still believed that made sense.
I agree with you about the solution from mnsc, that was a good way to skip that without confusion.
Glossing over critical mental models while explaining new concepts is what creates the confusion. Absolutely using drawings would have made things easier. That's a good way to establish those correct mental models.
"No you can't do that" is probably not the right approach.
The kid's instinct was spot on. The calculation they did was correct, just out of context. Rather than telling them they did it wrong and disrupt their correct mental model, I think it makes way more sense to talk about how what they did is different.