Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
The real reason for showing your work is so that another human being can follow along using the same method of problem solving that you have chosen.

My explanation to my DD is that this is done so that, if you get the answer wrong, the teacher can follow your methodology and find out exactly WHY it went wrong. Since DD is the type who can easily transpose a sign or a digit, this works in her favor... the teacher can verify that she understands the concept, it was just a stupid mistake, and partial credit is awarded.

It was just this week that DD expressed how she can't wait to go further in math, because at present her problems have so many steps, and she hates having to document them all. Yeah... about that...