I am not a sheep, I have my own mind
I have had enough of being told what and how to think
Whilst we are still allowed the remnants of free speech, I will speak out.
I also reserve the right to discuss less controversial matters should I feel the urge.
Pages
▼
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Modern Maths is crap
Those roundings used to check reasonableness are just wrong. 354 should round up to 400 not down to 300,and as for 291 how does that roughly equal 200 not 300?
The answer is a "reasonableness" check is not a test of correctness. It is a quick and dirty calculation to verify that the answer is in the right ball park. It is a very useful second opinion that engineers and others use numbers in real life and under pressure should be taught to use.
Mark, yes I undestand that it's a test of reasonableness. My point is that using correct roundings would be a better test of reasonableness: 400 + 300 is no harder to calculate than 300 + 200 and 700 is much closer to the correct answer of 645 than the 'reasonable test of 500.
The answer is a "reasonableness" check is not a test of correctness. It is a quick and dirty calculation to verify that the answer is in the right ball park. It is a very useful second opinion that engineers and others use numbers in real life and under pressure should be taught to use.
ReplyDeleteMark, yes I undestand that it's a test of reasonableness. My point is that using correct roundings would be a better test of reasonableness:
ReplyDelete400 + 300 is no harder to calculate than 300 + 200 and 700 is much closer to the correct answer of 645 than the 'reasonable test of 500.