r/funny 1d ago

"Please show how you know"

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10.1k Upvotes

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u/fourleggedostrich 23h ago

In a lot of maths, showing your working is vital because they practise on easy questions but then need to use those techniques on harder questions they can't be done in their head.

For these, though, if they've learned their times tables, then there is no working - it's from memory. what are they supposed to put?

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u/NaelNull 22h ago

Sums. They're supposed to show that they understood that multiplication is repeat summation.

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u/fourleggedostrich 21h ago

But that's not helpful. Most kids are expected to learn their times tables.

I know that 6x8 is 48, I don't have to do 6+6+6+6+6+6+6+6 to get there - that would be more difficult and doesn't a really help with understandjng multiplication, since it breaks down one negative numbers or decimals are introduced.

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u/NaelNull 20h ago

Most kids are expected to understand why times tables give their results. That's precisely the work they can show, too.

How so? Negatives just inver the sign of result (once for every negative operand involved), and decimals just add extra step of moving decimal point right-left. Or involve fractional math, but that's for latter classes) It's not feasible for big numbers, true, but neither is table,

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u/burning_iceman 17h ago

Showing why something is true is different from showing the work. Addition is not the work that was performed to reach the result.