Is 4×6 the Same as 6×4? This Primary School Math Made Controversy in Social Media
Posted On 23 Sep 2014



PRmatematikaSD_facebookThe primary school homework created social media frenzy in Indonesia (Photo source: Facebook).

Jakarta. Indonesian netizens were having social media frenzy on what seems to be a really basic multiplication of numbers. The Mathematics controversy was started after one netizen posted a homework that was done by his sibling, who is seating in primary school.

On Sunday (21/9), Muhammad Erfas Maulana posted a photo depicting a homework that was completed by his sibling, a grade 2 primary school student. In this assignment, the student was asked to declare 4+4+4+4+4+4 in a multiplication format.

With Erfas helped, his sibling wrote down his answer “4+4+4+4+4+4 = 4 x 6”, which according to Erfas is supposedly correct. However his sibling’s teacher thought otherwise, noting that the correct answer should be “6 x 4”.

Out of 10 problems, the teacher only marked 2 problems as being correct. These two were “8+8+8+8+8+8+8+8 = 8 x 8” and “4+4+4+4 = 4×4”, which would yield a similar order in its variant format.

Erfas, who is an engineering student at Universitas Diponegoro, then posted his sibling’s homework in social media, which had since triggered a heated online debate by netizens. They were arguing for the correct ordering format, whether it is the 4 x 6 or 6 x 4 format.

As reported by Kompas.com, the discussion was even participated by a Mathematics professor from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Iwan Pranoto, who had tweeted a series of comment.

Iwan is in the opinion that ‘4 x 6’ is actually the same as ‘6 x 4’. However, it may also be wrong if the problem is seen in a different context.

“The question style adopted by Mathematics teacher in Indonesia may not be right. The correction method is also wrong,” said Iwan as quoted by Kompas.com.

The professor further said that there is a current need to reform the attitude, culture and way of thinking of Mathematics teacher.
http://www.globalindonesianvoices.co...-social-media/

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