The totally off-topic thread

[Flashback]

Just not my day today.
Crazy traffic.Get every red light.Idiots galore on the road.
Go to fill up-tanker has just arrived and stayion closed.Go to the next and get rudest operator yet.
Cant get details of where I am staying for work tomorrow night and leave ~ 0800.
Get notice to pick up kindle from Officeworks at 1830.Open till 2000.But they have moved since I was last there.
Find it and go to click and collect-told girl has just gone home.Well find someone else.
Leaving nearly get wiped out by ute and trailer going through red light.
Then nearly collect 2 young kids on bikes,without lights and bike path beside road anyway.
Now ATO wont except my BAS statement online or let me pay the BAS.
Got to get better tomorrow.

I think I continued your run once you finished for the day, making sure it lasted over the timezones Dealing with halfwits all afternoon. Fun times!

 

[medhead]

I thought that reality was much, much closer; say, almost now? After all, most parents think their kids are pretty well off with just Google anyway, so who needs a teacher?

In seriousness, I think we are some way off replacing human teachers, though having bad or ineffective teachers certainly doesn't help the profession's cause. Even teaching technology subjects, I'm finding that I'm overestimating the technical abilities / intuition of most of my students, even though they kick my backside skill-wise in other arenas.

I tend to agree with the who needs a teacher anyway. The state of maths at our school is strange - the teachers don't seem to want to teach the basics of doing maths. The oldest child, in year 10, stared at me blankly when I said to "substitute in". She had no idea about cross multiplication! Something that my year 10 maths teacher explained very well. She is doing maths at this year level that I did in year 11, so she should've done that in year 9. She wants a STEM career, but without getting a B she can't keep doing maths in year 11 that is kinda a prerequisite for science at uni. Private school, the kids don't mess around - so what is the use of the teacher if they can't teach the basics to someone who is there to learn. Anyway, we're now paying for a tutor.

I'm not even going to rant further about the lack of prescriptive requirements for uni. Well I will: What is this nonsense about "It is recommended that you do XYZ maths for this degree"? I guess the evil $$$ has griped unis if they are accepting students who have a greater chance of dropping out because they don't have the required ground to support their study.

SWMBO (and I to a lessor extent) have also worked hard to teach the kids how to write assignment. Getting their points to support their argument, finding the counter argument, etc. and most importantly research skills using google - get a wide range of sources, assess the validity of the sources, dismiss if the source is cough. That last one in particular we've focussed on.

 

[blackcat20]

Just not my day today.
Crazy traffic.Get every red light.Idiots galore on the road.
Go to fill up-tanker has just arrived and stayion closed.Go to the next and get rudest operator yet.
Cant get details of where I am staying for work tomorrow night and leave ~ 0800.
Get notice to pick up kindle from Officeworks at 1830.Open till 2000.But they have moved since I was last there.
Find it and go to click and collect-told girl has just gone home.Well find someone else.
Leaving nearly get wiped out by ute and trailer going through red light.
Then nearly collect 2 young kids on bikes,without lights and bike path beside road anyway.
Now ATO wont except my BAS statement online or let me pay the BAS.
Got to get better tomorrow.

Took me three goes to submit my BAS last night, had to "edit" a section and put 0 in the empty boxes then it went through.

 

[Pushka]

I wait a couple of days for the June BAS. Online submissions there is an extension to approx 11 Aug. The credit card points bonus has largely gone so I am not in a hurry anymore.

 

[medhead]

Now its confusing to read but we will get over it.

It appears that most of the lead up discussion is still in this thread. Half a conversation probably is confusing. Perhaps the moved posts should be moved back because they're off topic in the other thread without the preamble...

 

[blackcat20]

I wait a couple of days for the June BAS. Online submissions there is an extension to approx 11 Aug. The credit card points bonus has largely gone so I am not in a hurry anymore.

I paid all my July expenses upfront to get in before June 30 so I have a refund coming for a change. That'll help pay the tax bill as my business did far better than I expected last year.

 

[Pushka]

I paid all my July expenses upfront to get in before June 30 so I have a refund coming for a change. That'll help pay the tax bill as my business did far better than I expected last year.

Nice re profit. How did those tricky customer issues turn out?

We usually get a refund on GST paid as a lot of our work is in NZ. This quarter - large payment due to ATO.

 

[blackcat20]

Nice re profit. How did those tricky customer issues turn out?

We usually get a refund on GST paid as a lot of our work is in NZ. This quarter - large payment due to ATO.

That customer is now blocked from making a purchase and I managed to sell the cut fabrics to another customer.

 

[anat0l]

I tend to agree with the who needs a teacher anyway. The state of maths at our school is strange - the teachers don't seem to want to teach the basics of doing maths. The oldest child, in year 10, stared at me blankly when I said to "substitute in". She had no idea about cross multiplication! Something that my year 10 maths teacher explained very well. She is doing maths at this year level that I did in year 11, so she should've done that in year 9. She wants a STEM career, but without getting a B she can't keep doing maths in year 11 that is kinda a prerequisite for science at uni. Private school, the kids don't mess around - so what is the use of the teacher if they can't teach the basics to someone who is there to learn. Anyway, we're now paying for a tutor.

Teaching maths is moving towards a more inquiry based model rather than the direct teaching model of the days of yore (including my days). The idea was meant to train students to develop their mathematical intuition rather than just be able to be robots that can spurt facts out.

For example, a kid may know that 10 - 8.8 = 1.2, but what good is that if a kid doesn't know how to answer the question, "Two coffees cost $8.80. What is the change from a $10 note?" A contrived example but you get the idea.

That said, those things like "substitute in" and "cross multiplication" are not skills which you necessarily find by inquiry; those are base skills and terminology (e.g. "substitute in" should be taught easily when doing simultaneous equations; cross multiplication should have been covered at latest grade 9, except in the lowest streamed classes). Moreover, inquiry-based approaches are not necessarily applicable to all contexts (in fact, inquiry pedagogy usually requires a very well engaged class, so if behaviour is an issue then you have some real challenges already and might be better off with direct instruction).

I'm not even going to rant further about the lack of prescriptive requirements for uni. Well I will: What is this nonsense about "It is recommended that you do XYZ maths for this degree"? I guess the evil $$$ has griped unis if they are accepting students who have a greater chance of dropping out because they don't have the required ground to support their study.

Well, to do engineering at my uni you still need a minimum satisfactory achievement in Maths B (mathematics with calculus and advanced algebra, soon to be Australian Curriculum Mathematical Methods).

Sometimes it's a commercial decision and in others it's purely a managing-numbers game. For example, the health fields related to exercise science and nutrition and so on are so in demand (thanks to the new health revolution) that the entry criteria to get into those fields are substantially more difficult than most physical science and technology based degrees. I'm not sure about prescriptive requirements for those kinds of degrees, but the need to get a high score just to get in is already decisive.

SWMBO (and I to a lessor extent) have also worked hard to teach the kids how to write assignment. Getting their points to support their argument, finding the counter argument, etc. and most importantly research skills using google - get a wide range of sources, assess the validity of the sources, dismiss if the source is cough. That last one in particular we've focussed on.

This is a skill that needs to be taught better in schools (and in universities, for that matter). In practice, however, since most of the population can't actually do it well and/or have no respect for it, it similarly doesn't get the attention it requires in schools, with the exception of subjects where it forms a substantial portion of the work (e.g. social studies).

Sorting between reliable and unreliable sources is a non-trivial skill; contrasting both of those types critically is even more difficult. The debate on whether Wikipedia is a reliable source of information is ongoing, but I think overall schools have slowly started to move more neutrally on the merits of popular news reporting.

 

[medhead]

General question - can you buy paper tickets for Melbourne trams?

Teaching maths is moving towards a more inquiry based model rather than the direct teaching model of the days of yore (including my days). The idea was meant to train students to develop their mathematical intuition rather than just be able to be robots that can spurt facts out.

For example, a kid may know that 10 - 8.8 = 1.2, but what good is that if a kid doesn't know how to answer the question, "Two coffees cost $8.80. What is the change from a $10 note?" A contrived example but you get the idea.

That said, those things like "substitute in" and "cross multiplication" are not skills which you necessarily find by inquiry; those are base skills and terminology (e.g. "substitute in" should be taught easily when doing simultaneous equations; cross multiplication should have been covered at latest grade 9, except in the lowest streamed classes). Moreover, inquiry-based approaches are not necessarily applicable to all contexts (in fact, inquiry pedagogy usually requires a very well engaged class, so if behaviour is an issue then you have some real challenges already and might be better off with direct instruction).

Maths Methods is indeed what she is doing. As you say a basic tool kit is required for Algebra. Furthermore on inquiry based learning there is zero need for inquiry to learn that toolkit. If we go down that pathway then we should all be developing basic proofs, like commutative laws, for ourselves. Utter nonsense to reinvent the wheel. Development is stunted by not building on what is already known.

Well, to do engineering at my uni you still need a minimum satisfactory achievement in Maths B (mathematics with calculus and advanced algebra, soon to be Australian Curriculum Mathematical Methods).

Sometimes it's a commercial decision and in others it's purely a managing-numbers game. For example, the health fields related to exercise science and nutrition and so on are so in demand (thanks to the new health revolution) that the entry criteria to get into those fields are substantially more difficult than most physical science and technology based degrees. I'm not sure about prescriptive requirements for those kinds of degrees, but the need to get a high score just to get in is already decisive.

Not that she wants to do engineering, but most of the STEM degrees I investigated had no maths subject requirement for entry. But maths methods would be nice to have. As I well know getting a good score is different matter to the subjects that you study. SWMBO is all over the details but there is a real industry in just doing any subject that the student can perform well in to get a good score. She's even said something about doing "Christian Living" as a subject as it can help achieve a good score. That was the case in my day (last century), my English result was a greater influence on my score than physics. But I had to do that physics subject to get into a Science degree. not so these days. If not a commercial decision I'm not sure how someone with great christian living marks but low lever maths should be doing STEM at uni.

This is a skill that needs to be taught better in schools (and in universities, for that matter). In practice, however, since most of the population can't actually do it well and/or have no respect for it, it similarly doesn't get the attention it requires in schools, with the exception of subjects where it forms a substantial portion of the work (e.g. social studies).

Sorting between reliable and unreliable sources is a non-trivial skill; contrasting both of those types critically is even more difficult. The debate on whether Wikipedia is a reliable source of information is ongoing, but I think overall schools have slowly started to move more neutrally on the merits of popular news reporting.

I do not agree with this idea of dismissing wikipedia. Anyone who does that, doesn't seem to have knowledge of wikipedia. It is a quick source of information that is mostly going to be correct. The big advantage of wikipedia is that it mostly provides references. Anyone who wants to disagree with info in wikipedia are free to check the sources, present their own sources and to edit the information in wikipedia.

Someone on here tried the wikipedia put down on me this week. Yet there was not alternative put, no disputing of the information in wikipedia. Failure to refute with an alternative argument is pretty weak. It certainly doesn't show wikipedia to be a bad source of information.

As for my kids, we've had to pull them up of websites that are clearly advertising.

 

[Pushka]

OK, the ATO BP is driving me nuts too. Cannot get a printer friendly version to process so I can print out and pay later. Crashes mozilla all the time.

 

[blackcat20]

General question - can you buy paper tickets for Melbourne trams?

No, Myki only.

 

[Pushka]

No, Myki only.

Had to buy a new myki as I left others behind in ADL. Suspect my ongoing purchases of the card (now have several) are keeping Mel transport afloat. Love Mel trams though esp with the free internal CBD routes.

 

[medhead]

Paying $6 for a myki card is an absolutely shocker.

 

[blackcat20]

Paying $6 for a myki card is an absolutely shocker.

Even worse, the cards "expire" after a few years and you have to buy a new one.

 

[medhead]

Even worse, the cards "expire" after a few years and you have to buy a new one.

Even if constantly used? It's a disgrace.

 

[serfty]

Even worse, the cards "expire" after a few years and you have to buy a new one.

No you don't - they replace it FOC.

myki frequently asked questions - Public Transport Victoria

It's generally a good idea is to register it - makes it easy, plus you get a heads up of an immanent expiry.

 

[Austman]

Edit: I see serfty posted while I was typing ...

Even worse, the cards "expire" after a few years and you have to buy a new one.

It was free when I last did it. At a train station and they instantly transferred over the remaining balance from the expired card.

Replace a myki on the spot - Public Transport Victoria

Had to buy a new myki as I left others behind in ADL.

It's also free to replace a "lost" card if you had the card registered. I believe this can also be done on the spot at PTV hubs but there's only 2 of them in the metro area. Else it has to be done on-line. So it's maybe worth registering your cards?

Paying $6 for a myki card is an absolutely shocker.

Yep. It's apparently to cover the cost of the card and the cost of a single journey. It seems the system will allow you in on a zero balance - not sure. So a $6 charge also stops people from traveling for "free".

I noticed that in London, a regular pay-wave card could be used at London Underground turnstiles - touch-on, touch-off.

 

[medhead]

Yep. It's apparently to cover the cost of the card and the cost of a single journey. It seems the system will allow you in on a zero balance - not sure. So a $6 charge also stops people from traveling for "free".

I noticed that in London, a regular pay-wave card could be used at London Underground turnstiles - touch-on, touch-off.

Well, that raises the question if I just get the $6 card, instead of the $14 visitor pack, I have 1 trip included? Or am I travelling illegally since they're not going to get any money?
I'm in Melbourne tomorrow for the day. Need to get from airport to Burnley campus with time to use Skybus/trams. But only have 90 minutes for the return trip, between meeting end and scheduled departure, which suggests a taxi.
As for the deposit idea, I can't remember about london, but my card in Tokyo had a deposit that was refunded when I handed the card back in.

 

[Pushka]

Edit: I see serfty posted while I was typing ...



It was free when I last did it. At a train station and they instantly transferred over the remaining balance from the expired card.

Replace a myki on the spot - Public Transport Victoria




It's also free to replace a "lost" card if you had the card registered. I believe this can also be done on the spot at PTV hubs but there's only 2 of them in the metro area. Else it has to be done on-line. So it's maybe worth registering your cards?



Yep. It's apparently to cover the cost of the card and the cost of a single journey. It seems the system will allow you in on a zero balance - not sure. So a $6 charge also stops people from traveling for "free".

I noticed that in London, a regular pay-wave card could be used at London Underground turnstiles - touch-on, touch-off.

I'm a tourist. I don't register for warranties so a myki card ain't going to happen.