kay wrote in
:

I'd happily settle for less ability to multiply numbers together in ones
head in exchange for greater understanding of what the numbers actually
say, and therefore a greater ability to separate scientific argument
from opinion and quackery.

Very true.

But it would help if more than 20% of primary school
teachers knew the answer to "what is one plus two time three".

In my highly scientific survey of teachers at schools that
my daughter might have gone to 15 years ago:
- about 50% were convinced the answer is 9
- about 30% asked where the brackets were,
and were stumped when I said "none, just
the normal laws of arithmetic"
- about 20% got the right answer

It would also be nice not to have secondary school
teachers tell me that I couldn't possibly have
elementary calculus for O-level (and a year early
at that, just like everyone else in my state school)

Tom wrote:
But it would help if more than 20% of primary school
teachers knew the answer to "what is one plus two time three".

My answer would be "do you mean one plus two-times-three, or one-plus-two
times three?"

Do I win an apple?

Martin wrote:
But it would help if more than 20% of primary school
teachers knew the answer to "what is one plus two time three".

My answer would be "do you mean one plus two-times-three, or one-plus-two
times three?"

Do I win an apple?

Are you the teacher?

Well, I seem to agree with the majority. :-P

Seriously, you can't claim only 20% 'got it right', as asking where the
brackets are is a perfectly reasonable (and imho, much more sensible
response than assuming there are none) question. Brackets are very hard to
hear in spoken questions. (I assume it was a spoken question - if it was
written it would be a slightly different matter)

wrote in
:

Martin wrote:
But it would help if more than 20% of primary school
teachers knew the answer to "what is one plus two time three".

My answer would be "do you mean one plus two-times-three, or
one-plus-two times three?"

Do I win an apple?

Are you the teacher?

Well, I seem to agree with the majority. :-P

Seriously, you can't claim only 20% 'got it right', as asking where
the brackets are is a perfectly reasonable (and imho, much more
sensible response than assuming there are none) question. Brackets
are very hard to hear in spoken questions. (I assume it was a spoken
question - if it was written it would be a slightly different matter)

Sorry, no cigar, nor apple.

There is a single correct answer without brackets.

Tom wrote:
But it would help if more than 20% of primary school
teachers knew the answer to "what is one plus two time three".

My answer would be "do you mean one plus two-times-three, or
one-plus-two times three?"

Do I win an apple?

Are you the teacher?

Well, I seem to agree with the majority. :-P

Seriously, you can't claim only 20% 'got it right', as asking where
the brackets are is a perfectly reasonable (and imho, much more
sensible response than assuming there are none) question. Brackets
are very hard to hear in spoken questions. (I assume it was a spoken
question - if it was written it would be a slightly different matter)

Sorry, no cigar, nor apple.

There is a single correct answer without brackets.

Yes, there is a single correct answer without brackets. But if you speak
the question you can't tell if there are brackets that you can't see. It is
perfectly valid to ask.

Martin wrote:
But it would help if more than 20% of primary school
teachers knew the answer to "what is one plus two time three".

My answer would be "do you mean one plus two-times-three, or one-plus-two
times three?"

Do I win an apple?

Are you the teacher?

Well, I seem to agree with the majority. :-P

Seriously, you can't claim only 20% 'got it right', as asking where the
brackets are is a perfectly reasonable (and imho, much more sensible
response than assuming there are none) question. Brackets are very hard to
hear in spoken questions. (I assume it was a spoken question - if it was
written it would be a slightly different matter)

I agree with you.

It wasn't me who made the claim. Whoever it was has been snipped.

Apologies, it was my over-zealous snipping, but I did think it was you.
Apparently (from another branch of the thread), it was Tom.
Congratulations, I've merged you with another poster. :-)