lseaman@hawk.ulowell.edu (Lyle Seaman) (03/06/88)
In article <7301@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> zwicky@pterodactyl.cis.ohio-state.edu (Elizabeth D. Zwicky) writes: >I was moving the decimal place to get 10% and then multiplying that, >which math teachers fail because the intermediate steps aren't "right" >but it sure works.) Of course, it IS a mathematically sound way of finding a result: 0.2*y = 0.1*y*2 or 0.15*y = 0.1*y + (0.1*y)/2 etc... Unfortunately, what passes for "right" among schoolteachers is all too often what _they_ say is right, and only that... This attitude is most common among schoolteachers who have a poor grasp of the subject matter being taught. I saw it most in elementary school, least in grad school. -- lyle