wathe Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 A funny-sad story from "Under the Influence" (CBC radio show) about how the general public's poor math skills help the Quarter Pounder win out over a competitor in the 1980's. Poor understanding of fractions is nothing new, apparently. "More than half the people in the focus groups questioned the price of the third-pounder. They wanted to know why they should have to pay the same price for a third of a pound as they did for a quarter pound at McDonald's. They said A&W was overcharging them. You're ripping them off. People genuinely thought a third of a pound was less than a quarter pound. Because 3 was less than 4." 1 3 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoes+Ships+SealingWax Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 Whomp whomp. I’ll save this to my collection of “mathematics gone wrong in the wild” examples, along with the price-increasing-discounts & other poor calculations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 19 hours ago, wathe said: A funny-sad story from "Under the Influence" (CBC radio show) about how the general public's poor math skills help the Quarter Pounder win out over a competitor in the 1980's. Poor understanding of fractions is nothing new, apparently. "More than half the people in the focus groups questioned the price of the third-pounder. They wanted to know why they should have to pay the same price for a third of a pound as they did for a quarter pound at McDonald's. They said A&W was overcharging them. You're ripping them off. People genuinely thought a third of a pound was less than a quarter pound. Because 3 was less than 4." Aaaaand this comes back to what I always say about mental models and teaching math 😉 . Guess how many years most people have spent manipulating fractions? MANY. But they never got any kind of mental model... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraClark Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 Oh, man-at first I thought for sure it was because no one wanted that much meat (that would be my reason-ha!) until I read that there were actual focus groups... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 I remember this. It's why Hardee's made such a big deal about their ThickBurger, showing how much bigger it was than a quarter-pounder. They didn't want a repeat of before.😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChickaDeeDeeDee Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 On 4/17/2021 at 10:29 AM, Not_a_Number said: Aaaaand this comes back to what I always say about mental models and teaching math 😉 . Guess how many years most people have spent manipulating fractions? MANY. But they never got any kind of mental model... I know a person who is brilliant at carpentry math that involves fractions but struggles with using fractions in other domains. It seems odd on the surface, but I suspect that something is missing in their mental model of fractions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 28 minutes ago, ChickaDeeDeeDee said: I know a person who is brilliant at carpentry math that involves fractions but struggles with using fractions in other domains. It seems odd on the surface, but I suspect that something is missing in their mental model of fractions. Yeah, I bet they came up with some model that only works in carpentry and doesn't work for anything else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 I wonder if they would have made the same mistake if it was a half pound. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 10 minutes ago, EKS said: I wonder if they would have made the same mistake if it was a half pound. Now THAT is an interesting question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 2 hours ago, Not_a_Number said: Now THAT is an interesting question. And a BIG burger! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 4 minutes ago, lewelma said: And a BIG burger! That, too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 Stories like this make me really smug about how I taught fractions. Just saying. Homeschooling is the bomb! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 10 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said: Stories like this make me really smug about how I taught fractions. Just saying. Homeschooling is the bomb! I know, right?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulalu Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 Goodness! It is sad how many people don't have basic math skills needed for daily life. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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