Jeremy Vine asked for help with his 14 y/o’s maths homework and the internet exploded
Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine tried to give his 14-year-old daughter a helping hand with her maths homework and was so bamboozled by what he saw he went on Twitter to ask for help.
And if you think that sounds like a bad idea, well, anyway. Here’s what he had to say.
Can anyone help me *understand* this homework question for a 14 year-old, so I can actually explain the answer? Baffled pic.twitter.com/3orcFu8JFd
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 17, 2018
That’s probably very tricky to read (let alone solve) so here it is again, maths fans.
My computer has a program that can work out the decimal value of π to a large number of digits. You can specify the number of digits required. The time it takes is directly proportional to the square of the number of digits specified.
The computer can work out π to 5000 significant figures in exactly half a second.
a) find a formula for the number of digits, n, that the computer can work out in t seconds
b) use the formula to find out how long it would take to calculate π to one million digits
c) How many digits can the computer work out in 10 minutes?
Got it? Some people did, some people didn’t, and some people just got angry. Really angry.
1.
How about asking the teacher to first explain a real-life situation where this sort of equation would be required? Then ask your 14 yr old to explain APR that they actually will need to understand in the future.
— Claire Bailey (@baileybug500) November 17, 2018
2.
There doesn’t need to be a real-life situation for it to be important.
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 17, 2018
3.
Maybe my reply was too subtle but as @MartinSLewis has pointed out, kids are not leaving school with a basic, everyday, understanding of economic mathematics which is essential, such as mortgage, inflation & APR rates etc. Teach other maths too but give them real-life lessons
— Claire Bailey (@baileybug500) November 17, 2018
4.
That stuff is easy. Astrophysics is more important than APR. Look up, not down.
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 18, 2018
5.
How patronising. Its not a question of looking up or which is more important. Of course it’s easy Jeremy £700k Vine as you have no need to concern yourself with calculating mortgage, inflation nor annual percentage rate fluctuations. #groundcontroltomajortom
— SJ. McKenzie (@stuartm82694335) November 18, 2018
6.
What an appalling thing to say. You are so blocked.
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 18, 2018
7.
Surely, @theJeremyVine, if your 14 year old doesn’t understand it, he/she needs to go back to the teacher and say just that. Whether you understand it is beside the point. He/she needs to be able to understand the language and the terms of the question or it’s a waste of time.
— Keith Lockyer (@krlockyer) November 17, 2018
8.
I need to be able to understand it to explain it. Turns out she solved it before me
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 17, 2018
9.
Only that if the child does not understand the homework it is probable they did not understand what happened in the lesson (that the homework is (presumably) based on. The teacher needs to know this. Nothing wrong with parents joining in with homework, that’s not what I said!
— Keith Lockyer (@krlockyer) November 17, 2018
10.
It’s a Saturday. My daughter asks me for help. My answer is not “Wait till Monday.” I tried to grasp it and failed. She had solved it by the time Twitter (Claire, Rachel) rescued me. I’d call that an almost perfect educational outcome. I got schooled too. @RachelRileyRR
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 18, 2018
11.
Stop relying on teachers for everything. Most education happens in the home.
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 18, 2018
12.
Of course it does, Jeremy. I stand by my point, speaking as a teacher of 38 years experience! If a student does not understand homework I have set, I need to know. It means they need to better understand the topic in hand, so I need to pay more attention to their needs.
— Keith Lockyer (@krlockyer) November 18, 2018
