Introduction
The NAPLAN test (http://www.nap.edu.au) is for both primary and secondary schools to assess the performance of Australian students against minimum national standards (Reys et al., 2012). With this in mind the approach to answering the questions was to work through all parts of the questions just like a student would, to form an understanding of the process and methods a student taking the test would perform. The questions were not overly difficult to conceptualise, however, working them out practically was challenging, as being out of a classroom for many years I am able to use mental computation effectively to solve many equations without writing them out. Thinking like a student taking the test allowed me to improve my own practical …show more content…
ACARA (n.d.) requires students in senior secondary schooling to be able to solve problems related to measurement and scale drawings. Although this scale is not a difficult scale, it is quite apparent the differences in units of measurement would make this problem seem harder that it actually is. While students at the senior school level should be able to solve this, other lower secondary schools should not have too much trouble. According to Reys et al. (2012) children become familiar with units of measurement and even simple multiplication and division in the earlier years. This emphasises that although scale drawings as a whole are implemented into the curriculum in senior schooling the elements of mathematics used to solve the problem are introduced sooner which combine to allow the student to reach an answer. Whilst first examining the question it was apparent immediately that dividing the scale drawing by itself down to one enabled the scale to be reduced to a smaller size. Then by dividing the computer chip size of 8mm by four, which is the same amount that was divided by the scale, this equated to two. Thus giving the answer to confidently acknowledge that 1cm represents 2mm. Another way this could be solved was to multiply the answers in centimeters by the …show more content…
Although challenging at first glance, the resources used since the unit had begun were imperative to solving such an equation. The Helping Children Learn Mathematics textbook (Reys et al., 2012) revised the theoretical aspects of algebra, whilst the https://mathspace.co/ website enabled a practical element in regards to algebra strengths and weaknesses. The first objective to the question was to break down each part of the equation and then see how it relates to the answers. Multiplying ‘n’ by itself represented ‘n x 2’ which in algebra is ‘n2’, then it was simply continuing the equation by dividing that number by two as a way to half it and then subtracting ten. Once I had done this I was comfortable with the answer. ACARA (n.d.) identifies that in Year 7 students should be confident in the concept of variables being able to represent numbers using letters. This highlights the importance of gaining an understanding early, as all that is needed in a question like this is to recognise the arithmetic needed and how they work in an algebra context. Another way of solving the problem was not apparent other than working from back to front or the process of
The NAPLAN test (http://www.nap.edu.au) is for both primary and secondary schools to assess the performance of Australian students against minimum national standards (Reys et al., 2012). With this in mind the approach to answering the questions was to work through all parts of the questions just like a student would, to form an understanding of the process and methods a student taking the test would perform. The questions were not overly difficult to conceptualise, however, working them out practically was challenging, as being out of a classroom for many years I am able to use mental computation effectively to solve many equations without writing them out. Thinking like a student taking the test allowed me to improve my own practical …show more content…
ACARA (n.d.) requires students in senior secondary schooling to be able to solve problems related to measurement and scale drawings. Although this scale is not a difficult scale, it is quite apparent the differences in units of measurement would make this problem seem harder that it actually is. While students at the senior school level should be able to solve this, other lower secondary schools should not have too much trouble. According to Reys et al. (2012) children become familiar with units of measurement and even simple multiplication and division in the earlier years. This emphasises that although scale drawings as a whole are implemented into the curriculum in senior schooling the elements of mathematics used to solve the problem are introduced sooner which combine to allow the student to reach an answer. Whilst first examining the question it was apparent immediately that dividing the scale drawing by itself down to one enabled the scale to be reduced to a smaller size. Then by dividing the computer chip size of 8mm by four, which is the same amount that was divided by the scale, this equated to two. Thus giving the answer to confidently acknowledge that 1cm represents 2mm. Another way this could be solved was to multiply the answers in centimeters by the …show more content…
Although challenging at first glance, the resources used since the unit had begun were imperative to solving such an equation. The Helping Children Learn Mathematics textbook (Reys et al., 2012) revised the theoretical aspects of algebra, whilst the https://mathspace.co/ website enabled a practical element in regards to algebra strengths and weaknesses. The first objective to the question was to break down each part of the equation and then see how it relates to the answers. Multiplying ‘n’ by itself represented ‘n x 2’ which in algebra is ‘n2’, then it was simply continuing the equation by dividing that number by two as a way to half it and then subtracting ten. Once I had done this I was comfortable with the answer. ACARA (n.d.) identifies that in Year 7 students should be confident in the concept of variables being able to represent numbers using letters. This highlights the importance of gaining an understanding early, as all that is needed in a question like this is to recognise the arithmetic needed and how they work in an algebra context. Another way of solving the problem was not apparent other than working from back to front or the process of