30 - 15 + 12 / 3 x 2
It's no surprise, but order of operations poses difficulty for the students. I asked the students to simplify the expression shown above. As you might expect, the answers included 13, 18, 23, and an assortment of others resulting from incorrect calculations.
My students have been 'drilled' to know "Please excuse my dear aunt Sally." I told them it could be as easily called "Please excuse dear my sally aunt" but they didn't seem to believe something they had been told for years could possibly be wrong (or inadequate). I don't think the two class days had much impact on the students...
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