MathNotations: The Number Warrior and the Mysterious Minds of Students!
Robin Schwartz said...
Negative exponents, fractional exponents, the zero exponent, exponent rules, logs – these should turn on the ALERT indicator – be careful -- danger ahead!! Even armed with a calculator, students will get tricked by these types of problems…Jason, did your students use calculators for this exam?Studying multiple choice questions can help refine thinking skills (and analyze potential errors) through the strength of the comparative.
An example from “Using ‘Good Wrong Answers’ To Achieve Math Confidence and Success” is:
What’s the value of 3^-2?
A) -2/3
B) -9
C) 1/9
D) -6
If they are comfortable with the zero power, they can write 3^-2 = (3^0)/(3^2). Since exponents (and logs) are not logical, I work with learners on extra alertness with this type of content. Unlike some content where they know they are guessing, here they feel sure they have done it right. Another exercise is shown below:
16^1 =
16^.5 =
16^0 =
16^-.5 =
16^-1 =
By increasing awareness of their thinking process, students can build confidence and enjoyment of Math and even improve their scores.
Robin A. Schwartz
Founder, www.mathconfidence.com
www.blogspot.mathconfidence.com
December 24, 2008 11:32 PM
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