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ROFL @ people arguing about how to do a simple math problem.
The answer will always and forever be 288... or 2 depending on how the problem is written.
48
-------
2(9+3)
vs
48
---(9+3)
2
Answer those two problems and we can see if you know how to do basic math.
48/2(9+3) is nonsensical. If you are going to write it out this way you CANNOT be ambiguous. It needs to be either (48/2)(9+3) or 48/[2(9+3)]
-Sincerly, Math Major.
but that is how some of those questions are set up as. ill admit i made the mistake when posting since solving that on paper just comes to me naturally. if not, then i would have been severely screwed in my calculus class long ago lol (dont even get me on antiderivatives. those alone are just...yeah).
If the tool is at my disposal, why not use it? Should I ditch my CAD software and break out the mechanical pencil and drafting board?
Honestly, I don't think the issue is that kids are dumber, I just think their are drawn to thinking the only way to be successful is to be a rapper, musician, athlete or movie star. Kids are brought up wanting "bling" and they see the people who have it are those that are mentioned. Maybe parents encourage this as well. When I played school sports, we always had huge turnouts at my basketball and football games and encouraged sports participation. The popular kids played sports. I never saw nearly as much enthusiasm for the science fairs I was also in. Perhaps culture is to blame? Grow up worshipping the 1% that's always in the spotlight and you want to be them. I always felt self-conscience being "smart" in school. I wouldn't say it discouraged me, but I definitely hid it. Now I'm glad I pursued it. My 10-year HS reunion was definitely interesting to see how people ended up. The quarterback of my HS team did play for the Steelers for a few seasons though. Guess once in a while someone actually gets that dream.
Enough of that though...
I have to say that our kids were expected to do a lot more in high school than we were, mostly in the math and science area. They were about 2 year ahead of where most kids in our high school were--through MV Calculus when they graduated vs most kids going through Calc--which now would be Calc AB. This is just a good public school (similar to where I went to high school). I remember my mom saying the same thing about our generation because we didn't know the fine points of the JFK shooting or things about the Korean War--things she lived through vs us just reading about in the history textbooks. I really don't think that makes our generation dumber, we just know different things.
I have to say that our kids were expected to do a lot more in high school than we were, mostly in the math and science area. They were about 2 year ahead of where most kids in our high school were--through MV Calculus when they graduated vs most kids going through Calc--which now would be Calc AB. This is just a good public school (similar to where I went to high school). I remember my mom saying the same thing about our generation because we didn't know the fine points of the JFK shooting or things about the Korean War--things she lived through vs us just reading about in the history textbooks. I really don't think that makes our generation dumber, we just know different things.
I guess it depends on the school district and area. I remember going though the Honor's courses at my jr high and hearing comments from other kids. I didn't really care, but there was a definite "anti-smart" culture despite how much parents and teachers pushed us. And this was back in the 80's.
Maybe things are different now, but I get a sense that kids still value sports/entertainment over math, science and other subjects.
I have taken friend's to work with their kids to try and excite them a bit about STEM type work. Hopefully a few take a liking to it and have a clear direction of what they want to do by the time they grow up and have to decide on college.
god i hate this stupid meme. a million internet users who think they've stumbled onto sphinx's new riddle and a new level of being clever. all willing to argue endlessly with the other side about what basically comes down to a preference
the best answer is that it's ambiguously (aka crappily) written. so i choose answer C, "try again pal"
or at least define the environment it's meant to be evaluated in
anyone with decent math skills would add parenthesis to make it clear
as far as the OP, i feel many students admitted today to harvard who plan to study STEM would probably do fine on that quiz, except for the antiquated unit "rod"
cube root might be problematic too but i bet a lot of admits got that one wrong in 1890 as well
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