Thursday, May 19, 2005
And on top of that, I never learned how to read.
I was teaching about permutations and combinations today in class. One of the girls asked me to explain the difference between the two and I asked her to read the word problem so I could ask her to interpret it. My student, while reading out loud, said:
"There are 6 terrorists that arrive 15 minutes before a plane is about to take off. When they get there, there are only 3 seats left on the plane..."
I stopped her
"Wait. There are 6 what?"
"There are 6 terrorists who want to get on the plane."
"Is that what it says?"
"I think so. Yeah, 6 terrorists."
"Why would someone write a word problem about terrorists getting on a plane?"
"I don't know."
"That doesn't say terrorists. It says tourists."
"Oh really. My bad, mista."
"There are 6 terrorists that arrive 15 minutes before a plane is about to take off. When they get there, there are only 3 seats left on the plane..."
I stopped her
"Wait. There are 6 what?"
"There are 6 terrorists who want to get on the plane."
"Is that what it says?"
"I think so. Yeah, 6 terrorists."
"Why would someone write a word problem about terrorists getting on a plane?"
"I don't know."
"That doesn't say terrorists. It says tourists."
"Oh really. My bad, mista."
# posted by ChuckJerry : 5/19/2005 06:29:00 PM
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Most people learn permutations and combinations in a way that is useless, despite the fact that the two of them are probably one of the most useful tools of math.
Are you serious, Joe? The difference between the terminology of permutation and combinations may have "zero value", as you put it, but applying the concept of permutations and combinations to appropriate situations is, as Jerry said, one of the most useful things a student may learn in high school, especially to areas of life that incorporate probability theory (poker playing comes to mind first, which most high school students seem to do nowadays.)
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