During our primary school years, we all probably have struggled to understand or answer certain Math questions that were simply too mindboggling for us to comprehend.
One such Math question recently sparked an intense debate among netizens after a primary school student wasn’t awarded full marks despite giving an answer that would usually be accepted by most teachers.
Student writes RM2 instead of 200 sen
In a Facebook post shared by UCSI lecturer Othman Talib on Monday (Feb 5), it showed a Standard 1 Math question which went like this:
‘Ahmad bought a book and two pencils as shown below. Calculate how much he should pay in total.’
The question was accompanied with a picture of a book and a pencil, where the former cost RM80 sen while the latter at 60 sen.
Below the question, the student showed the calculation, where he added 80 sen with two 60 sen, thus coming up with the answer of RM2.
However, the teacher marked his RM2 answer as incorrect as he didn’t write 200 sen and only awarded him three out of four marks.
‘It should be accepted as correct!’
In the caption, Othman expressed bewilderment over the teacher’s logic in not giving the student full marks and went on to explain why it should be the case.
In mathematics and kids’ everyday life, the value of 200 cents is indeed mentioned as RM2. So, if a student gave the answer as RM2, he/she has correctly added the values and just expressed the answer in RM, which is mathematically absolutely correct.
“It is awkward for the kids to say or write 200 cents. Therefore, it would be crucial to accept RM2 as a correct answer, especially the question did not specify the unit of the answer, just ‘hitungkan JUMLAH WANG yang perlu dibayar’ (count the total amount of money to be paid) only,” he explained.
Netizens weigh in
In the comment section, netizens had plenty to say about the Math question and expressed what they thought about it.
‘The teacher is too straightforward. Where’s the art of teaching? Math can be solved using different methods. This student was very smart to convert sen to RM. He’s already reaching a high standard. Even diploma holders won’t be able to convert the unit.’
‘This is the reason why student(s) feel down and give up in (their) study. They already give the best they can do but still not enough. It’s not just the kid giving up but the parents too.’
Meanwhile, some also slammed the question for not stating clearly what unit should be used to answer it.
Read the post here:
What are your thoughts on this Math question? Share with us in the comments!
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