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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you know what a scale diagram is?

11 replies

restashoed · 16/12/2023 16:32

DC (17) is bright - got mostly 9s/8s in GCSEs - but recently flunked an A Level question because it asked for a scale diagram and he didn't know what it was. I told him it was a "diagram drawn to scale" and the penny dropped. But I'm surprised that he didn't work that out for himself. Aibu?

OP posts:
geckofrog · 16/12/2023 16:32

That sounds like a grammar thing.

StarlightLady · 16/12/2023 16:35

Yes, l know what one is. But it’s like a quiz. If you know the answer, it’s easy!

Plus with use of words, analytical skills increase with experience of life. Perhaps poor teaching in this case?

HoneyBadger525 · 16/12/2023 16:38

I would say I’m fairly academic. I achieved decent GCSE and A-Level results and a degree but I remember sitting in a Year 11 class with a sheet which said ‘label the areas’. I was confused as I didn’t have any labels 😂 How I’d reached 16 without encountering that term I don’t know. I think it’s just one of those things - if you’ve never come across it, it may not cross your mind.

spanieleyes · 16/12/2023 16:39

Given year 6 children construct scaled diagrams, it is a little surprising that he has no idea! He probably just had a brain freeze!

fedupandstuck · 16/12/2023 16:40

Was it a scale diagram for vectors? For physics?

geckofrog · 16/12/2023 16:40

StarlightLady · 16/12/2023 16:35

Yes, l know what one is. But it’s like a quiz. If you know the answer, it’s easy!

Plus with use of words, analytical skills increase with experience of life. Perhaps poor teaching in this case?

Yes I'm thinking the teacher has forgotten to tell them what it's called

Original poster
restashoed · 16/12/2023 16:42

fedupandstuck · 16/12/2023 16:40

Was it a scale diagram for vectors? For physics?

Yes

OP posts:
C1N1C · 16/12/2023 16:45

I have a bazillion degrees in biology and I remember coming second in the year my GCSE biology exam because the question asked to count the number of living organisms in a picture of a fish tank... and I forgot the plants.

It happens to us all! But I'll give him that one... I would have phrased it as you did: 'to scale'. I, too, would have probably wondered what a scale diagram was...

fedupandstuck · 16/12/2023 16:46

So, it's not the same as a scale drawing in general. He would need to revise methods for combining vectors and make sure he remembers that a scale diagram is one of the methods and how to draw one.

I wonder too if the teaching hasn't quite emphasised the name of the method enough.

Original poster
restashoed · 16/12/2023 17:01

fedupandstuck · 16/12/2023 16:46

So, it's not the same as a scale drawing in general. He would need to revise methods for combining vectors and make sure he remembers that a scale diagram is one of the methods and how to draw one.

I wonder too if the teaching hasn't quite emphasised the name of the method enough.

He calculated the size of the vectors ok, just didn't draw the diagram to scale, so got zero marks (which did seem a bit harsh). 🙂

OP posts:
ThinWomansBrain · 16/12/2023 17:05

Christmas quiz - now many "1"s on an advent calendar
I almost forgot to include the 1's that are in the teens - dawned on me in time.

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