[kde-edu]: KMathTool

[Arnold Kraschinski]

Am Samstag, 2. April 2005 14:27 schrieb Birgit Lachner:
> Am Freitag, 1. April 2005 07:02 schrieb Arnold Kraschinski:
> > Am Donnerstag, 31. März 2005 18:59 schrieb Anne-Marie Mahfouf:
> > > Hi all,
>
> ...
>
> > For example finding prime numbers or finding the faktors of a number.
> >
> > It's useless if the programm does all the work. It would be better if the
> > user enters his solution and the program tells if it is right or wrong.
> > For
>
> That' an other possiblity ... a (mor or less) little add-on, but ...

That's not a little add on, that's another point of view.

>
> > Homework cheating doesn't help anything.
>
> no teacher would really accept it, if the pupil only gives the result and
> can not explain how he got the result. 

I cannot see how KMathTool helps pupils explaining how to do the 
factorization. It only gives the result. It explains nothing.

> But if the pupil try to get the 
> result on is own, he can check if his results are right or not.

That's exactly the point: the pupil should get the result on its own. But 
kmathtool like it is coded at the moment gives the result and that's bad. 
It's alright if the program can find the result but it shouldn't be presented 
to the pupil but the pupil should enter his result and then the program 
compares the two solutions and gives a feedback. This makes more sense.

>
> And the programm can be used by parents, too, who check their childrens
> homework! 


Oh, this is the first time I compiled the thing and installed it. I saw some 
other odd things:

- formulas like A = a ^ 2 cannot be read by pupils. They don't know what this 
means. Programmers can read it. But pupils not because it isn't standard 
mathematical notation.

- in the parabola section the plus signs are missing in the formula: 
  a x² + b x + x. In the program it looks like a x² b x c. That's wrong. Its 
the same in the lines section



Arnold