Poorly designed Math questions misconstrued as tricky

[BlurBee]

Blobbi:

For Q1, I see 26 straight lines. Maybe I'm seeing double. Let me look again :shock: . Still lidat what!

:lol: Me too.

[corneyAmber]

BlurBee:

ksi:

Q2, can any other distance other than the diagonal one be shorter? Am I missing something? :?

35m (from dear to monkey) + 32m (from monkey to elephant) = 67m, which is shorter than the diagonal one.

Juz guessing.

I know...in principle is this mathematically ever possible? Can this ever be possible to be shorter than the diagonal? It is very misleading leh...

[BlurBee]

ksi:

I know...in principle is this mathematically ever possible? Can this ever be possible to be shorter than the diagonal? It is very misleading leh...

Yes, theoretically this is not right. But I think the teacher is only trying to set a math qn not by logical thinking.

[Sun_2010]

BlurBee:

ksi:

I know...in principle is this mathematically ever possible? Can this ever be possible to be shorter than the diagonal? It is very misleading leh...

Yes, theoretically this is not right. But I think the teacher is only trying to set a math qn not by logical thinking.

The point is not to gang up on the teacher, but when setting questions it really is essentail that the teacher see visualise it. After all maths is about all this not just number sense.

In fact a smart upper primary kid will likely spot this.

Then again when there could be a such a mistake in PSLE paper, i guess we have to take it lightly on lower pri teachers...

[corneyAmber]

Sun_2010:

BlurBee:

[quote=\"ksi\"]I know...in principle is this mathematically ever possible? Can this ever be possible to be shorter than the diagonal? It is very misleading leh...

Yes, theoretically this is not right. But I think the teacher is only trying to set a math qn not by logical thinking.

The point is not to gang up on the teacher, but when setting questions it really is essentail that the teacher see visualise it. After all maths is about all this not just number sense.

In fact a smart upper primary kid will likely spot this.

Then again when there could be a such a mistake in PSLE paper, i guess we have to take it lightly on lower pri teachers...[/quote]Yalor...on one hand they want to test IQ and on the other hand...try to damage the IQ.....contradicting leh... Yes certainly not to gang up on teachers but to raise relevant points to the teachers setting exam questions to take note. I see this as constructive feedback without pointing to specific teachers. But this is a genuine concern. If it happens in PSLE, that question has to be invalidated.

As I mentioned in my right-angle triangle in geometry example, where visual clearly cannot determine the real angle of a triangle, then we cannot assume. Technically speaking, unless the question states a square or put the right-angle on 4 sides, we also cannot assume a square looking picture to be a square because a small slant in angle will make it not square. But in this picture, I cannot be convinced that there is ANY OTHER way to draw the diagram to make it possible to be shorter than the diagonal, GWIM? And this is Mathematics, not English where one can use fairy tale to conjure anything possible, including humans flying.

[jedamum]

ksi:

Example 1:


http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww246/ks2me/P1020339-1.jpg\">

Can you solve this?

What is wrong?

which level are these questions?

my P2 gave me 26 straight lines first.
when i told him that it is not possible, and we decided that the eyes should be curved lines, our answer is 2.

[jedamum]

ksi:

Example 2:


http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww246/ks2me/P1020340-1.jpg\">

Can you solve this?

What is wrong?

which level of question is this?
is the answer 112?

[Blobbi]

I think the second question will benefit by adding the phrase \"following the pathways\". But because the picture has the pathways nicely drawn with the distances written on them, it would be fairly obvious to kids with more experience (maybe upper primary).


Number 1 is outright wrong. Straight is straight mah!

These days, math IS English, sigh.

I don't see it as blaming the teacher either. But I'm sure they'd like to know that the questions can be misconstrued easily too. Don't think they planned for it to be wrong or unfair. We all make mistakes mah. What's important is to fix it and git on with life :).

[verykiasu2010]

There was a two marks question recently in the prelim paper


The kids spent too much time solving the question, more than what 2 marks deserve…resulting is just merely finishing the paper…no time to check for careless mistakes…then the teacher said all the answers provided in the choices are possible answers and everyone was given the two marks

The kid complained it is unfair because those who did not attempt the question also got the two marks, since the teachers decided it was a bad question, and the kids true enough lost a few other marks due to carelessness not spotted…which would have had enough time to do checking if not due the "impossible" question…hope the actual PSLE will not be like that

[verykiasu2010]

jedamum:

ksi:

Example 2:


http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww246/ks2me/P1020340-1.jpg\">

Can you solve this?

What is wrong?

which level of question is this?
is the answer 112?

did my eyes play trick on me ?

how can the paths 35m + 32m is shorter than the diagonal straight path of 69m ? i am confused