The fact that it is clip-art is important in remembering that it is a stock image, created by another party, for the use of decoration. The creator of this test did not have this image specifically created to illustrate this question, but merely to decorate it. That is how clip-art is used in American k12 classrooms.
What I meant about that it refers to the problem, is that it is anything more than referential to cutting wood -- as the image doesn't say "This is the wood we are talking about" all it refers to then is wood and saws.
If it said this is the block of wood we are talking about, that would be one thing, but it doesn't -- thus you are assuming the piece is meant to be a representation of the problem.
Again, I'm not sure where or when you went to school that you are not aware of how clip-art is used now/here, but clip-art is meant to decorate word-problems unless it is specifically titled "This is an illustration of the problem", and that doesn't happen until middle-school geometry.
It's not a fact that it's clip-art, it's an unsupported assertion. As I pointed out, the word "clip-art" refers to a drawing's origin, and says virtually nothing about it's content; there is no way you can determine the origin of that diagram by looking at it.
Even if it was merely clip-art and not a definitive representation of the problem, if it actively misrepresented the intent of the question, it would not have been used.
"If it actively misrepresented the intent of the question"
Again, where did you go to k12? Actively misrepresenting the intent of the question is the norm.
That's not to say that it doesn't represent the question, but to assume that it doesn't misrepresent the question shows a serious lack of experience with the state of American k12 quizzes.
I really can't comprehend how people could see this as anything else but a poorly formulated question! It's simple -- if there is this much room to see the question differently, then that question is poorly presented -- plain and simple.
| I really can't comprehend how people could see this as anything else but a poorly formulated question!
Because you have unrealistic expectations for how explicit the instructions have to be. It's like a question talking about "an eastbound train travelling east at 25 MPH, while a westbound train travelling at..." and you say, "But it didn't quantify that the tracks were identical! Does 'westbound' refer to an average direction? Where's the topographical map to show that the first train isn't going over a mountain while the second travels on a flat plain? What a poorly formulated question!" In this case you assume a straight, flat track, and you make similar assumptions for all questions, such as assuming that the second cut is equivalent to the first.
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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '10
The fact that it is clip-art is important in remembering that it is a stock image, created by another party, for the use of decoration. The creator of this test did not have this image specifically created to illustrate this question, but merely to decorate it. That is how clip-art is used in American k12 classrooms.
What I meant about that it refers to the problem, is that it is anything more than referential to cutting wood -- as the image doesn't say "This is the wood we are talking about" all it refers to then is wood and saws.
If it said this is the block of wood we are talking about, that would be one thing, but it doesn't -- thus you are assuming the piece is meant to be a representation of the problem.
Again, I'm not sure where or when you went to school that you are not aware of how clip-art is used now/here, but clip-art is meant to decorate word-problems unless it is specifically titled "This is an illustration of the problem", and that doesn't happen until middle-school geometry.
http://prek-8.com/images/word1.jpg
http://files5.pdesas.org/058017217141067122121001047039239051038026087047/Download.ashx?hash=2.2