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[Phys-L] Re: Division via subtractions



John queries:
Suppose there's a test, and the student defines division in
terms of multiplicative inverse. What are you going to do,
mark it wrong?

Wow, John. You must be teaching to a different 4th grade audience
(the grade where division is typically taught), than any which I have
encountered.

If I encountered such a statement, I would, minimally, be curious
where the student learned the concept, and what "multiplicative
inverse" meant to him/her in *other* words which are part of a 4th
grader's vocabulary. Worse, yet, I would see if the student could
convey this concept to anybody who was "just learning" to perform
division, ie, let the student be a peer tutor. And then, I'd get the
student to teach relativity and quantum mechanics for the next 4th
grade trick (smile).

(Sorry, John, but I think you have a very unusual audience in mind). Karl




--
Dr. Karl I. Trappe, outreach consultant Home (512) 264-1616
Research Scientist Associate V (retired)
Senior Lecturer in Physics (retired)
Physics Department, Mail Stop C-1600
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas 78712-1081