> However, typically book work is intended to be rote practice of an algorithm.
I see your point, I see the article's point and you're both right -- a maths textbook probably shouldn't look like that. It's a mistake, an oversight, a bug, and, as someone noted in the comments, it would be great if books were being improved instead of written anew every few years. It's why I can run the most current Linux kernel and actually have a better experience than with a stable one -- it was improved, not rewritten.
What I didn't like was this idea that a parent could be scared because of some imperfection in the way a homework problem is framed, pandering to this light version of maths anxiety many people seem to have that actually prevents them from learning maths. If the problem is poorly stated, reframe it, point out the problem, guess or find the missing information, assume whatever needs to be assumed to get some sort of workable solution (which you can then improve upon :) There is no reason to panic, be afraid, or even really bothered by that.
Again, I know, it was just a hook but it bothered me enough to post these two comments.
Oh, yeah, I understand that. If it's something you consider yourself to be educated in already then you should be able to skip around some of these issues and make a note to send the publisher. I go off half-cocked in these education discussions sometimes.
I see your point, I see the article's point and you're both right -- a maths textbook probably shouldn't look like that. It's a mistake, an oversight, a bug, and, as someone noted in the comments, it would be great if books were being improved instead of written anew every few years. It's why I can run the most current Linux kernel and actually have a better experience than with a stable one -- it was improved, not rewritten.
What I didn't like was this idea that a parent could be scared because of some imperfection in the way a homework problem is framed, pandering to this light version of maths anxiety many people seem to have that actually prevents them from learning maths. If the problem is poorly stated, reframe it, point out the problem, guess or find the missing information, assume whatever needs to be assumed to get some sort of workable solution (which you can then improve upon :) There is no reason to panic, be afraid, or even really bothered by that.
Again, I know, it was just a hook but it bothered me enough to post these two comments.