Newsgroups: comp.lang.logo Path: news.media.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!sgiblab!munnari.oz.au!metro!frost!barry From: barry@frost.bain.oz.au (Barry Allebone) Subject: Re: 2 stages of learning/using Logo (was Brian Harveys text) Message-ID: <1993Dec15.231117.6669@frost.bain.oz.au> Organization: Bain & Company X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] References: <1993Dec12.140639.87@magill.unisa.edu.au> <2eefgh$9n1@agate.berkeley.edu> <2emupq$fnp@sol.ccs.deakin.edu.au> Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1993 23:11:17 GMT Lines: 37 Peter Evans (evans@deakin.OZ.AU) wrote: > In article ljd@world.std.com (Larry Davidson) writes: [text deleted] > I too have seen teachers resort to all sorts of > magical/mystical explanations for why some logo objects are quoted and > others are not -- and resorting to magic when a two or three real > concepts will explain all is not very helpful for either the growing > intellect of the child or the confidence of the teacher. [text deleted] > How about getting some students to talk on the list -- perhaps some of mine > will in semester 1 1994. > Dr. Peter Evans email: evans@deakin.edu.au _--_|\ > Faculty of Education voice: 052 271455 / \ > Deakin University 3217 fax: 052 272014 \_.--._/ > Geelong Victoria AUSTRALIA v Many years ago (perhaps 25) I ran across a real life example which truly frightened me and has haunted me ever since. A friend of mine was a maths lecturer at a technical college in the UK. He had a young son perhaps 7-8 years old. One day he noticed that his son had multiplied by zero and produced the answer 1. The son insisted that he had been taught this in school. My friend approached the teacher in question who confirmed that this was so. The teacher maintained her stance even in the face of my friend's profession and qualifications. Nothing he said could dissuade her from the view. Clearly subtle proofs were also not indicated and in the end he convinced her by showing her a worked example in a text book !! Later he asked his son about the situation who reported that his teacher had announced that "The government had changed the rules and that from now on zero times anything would now be zero"