Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Maths: showing working out?

I remember the things that irked me most as a kid when faced with "show your work.":

First it is a dishonest request. I had no work to show. If there was work, it would be shown.

Second, a frequent argument for showing work is that it proves you did the work as opposed to cheating from someone nearby who tends to get significantly poorer scores on tests? Trying to persuade me to song and dance because you don't trust me = fail.

Third, the bait of partial credit, already being on the edge of thinking the whole grading system was ridiculous, that convinced me it was pointless, because it is math. If it is wrong, it is wrong. There is no subjectivity to it. Tell me it was wrong, I'd figure out what I did. If I can't I'd ask (Historically proven to ask questions anytime they struck me.)

Fourth, I proved I knew it seventy-three other times. Why was I continuing to prove it? One repetition was enough.

But I wasn't entirely as obnoxious as my thoughts on the subject, and would comply up to a point. The persuasive answer would've been along the lines of tutoring. "Show how to get the answer in a way that someone else in the class could reuse to solve a different problem."

Oh yeah, and it was partially about the burden of writing.

p.s. DS8 enjoys the heck out of trying to do everything in his head. He thrives on that challenge. In addition to the so others can learn, I've suggested doing it in his head first and using the long way to double-check his work, and since he is interested in programming, I've pointed out that decomposing problem is a critical skill in programming.