Date: Wed Oct 16 08:31:52 PDT 2002
Student's Name: M.T.
Answer(or question to Mentor): Problem solution: The thunder is 6.4 miles away!
Rationale: I divided 32.0 by 5 and got 6.4 meaning that the thunder would be 6.4 miles away!
Date: Thu Oct 17 22:22:59 PDT 2002
Student's Name: M.T.
Mentor Reply: Congratulations on getting the right answer M.T. If I can, I would like to offer a suggestion. Say this were a much more complicated problem and all you gave me was the answer; it would be difficult for me to help you. It's best if you explain what you have done and what each number stands for. Such as, 32 seconds and the sound travels one mile every 5 seconds. Little things like that will make tougher problems easier in the long run. Try doing the challenge problem if you would like. If I can help you in any way don't hesitate to ask.
Todd
Date: Sun Oct 20 03:55:11 PDT 2002
Student's Name: M.T.
Instructor Comments: Todd,
I think once again your response contains the right idea; but you need to be as direct as possible. So, instead of asking if you can offer a suggestion, you need to say straight up that although his answer is correct, his explanation is not clear. Specifically, he does not explain why he divided. SO, it would not even be sufficient to simply say what each of the numbers stand for; a conceptual explanation should discuss the mathematics behind why the operation of division gives the corect answer. You could say something like this: "Suppose that you wanted to explain your thinking to a friend in your class who was confused. Can you find a way to explain why division makes sense?"
Good to encourage him to try the challenge problem as well.
Dr. Bowers
Date: Tue Oct 22 21:04:05 PDT 2002
Student's Name: M.T.
Mentor Reply: Congratulations on getting the right answer M.T. However, I want you to get into the habit of showing your work. Let's say this were a much more complicated problem and all you gave me was the answer; it would be difficult for me to help you. It's best if you explain what you have done and why. Little things like that will make tougher problems easier in the long run. Try doing the challenge problem if you would like. If I can help you in any way don't hesitate to ask.
Todd
Date: Wed Oct 23 05:40:47 PDT 2002
Student's Name: M.T.
Answer(or question to Mentor): Rationale: for A. it took 5 sec to go 1 mile so I made it into a fraction and changed the 5 to a 1 and figured out how many times it would travel in 1 sec.
A. I multiplied 1005.6 (the answer for A) by 60 (for the 60 sec that make a minute) and got 60,336 times per minute.
B. then I multiplied 60,334by 60 because there are 60 minutes in an hour. I got 3,620,160 times per hour.
C. Then I multiplied 3,620,160 by 24 because there are 24 hours in a day. I got 86,883,840 times per day.
D. I multiplied 86,883,840 by 7 because there are 7 days in a week. I got 608,186,880 times per week.
E. I multiplied 608,186,880 by 4 because there are 4 weeks in a month. I got 2,432,747,520 times per month.
F. I multiplied 2,432,747,520 by 12 because there are 12 months in a year. I got 29,192,970,240 times per year!!!!
