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Students are failing AP tests because the College Board can’t handle HEIC images

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669 points danso | 2 comments | 20 May 20 19:36 UTC | HN request time: 0.428s | source
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nmstoker ◴[21 May 20 17:57 UTC] No.23262122[source]▶
Clearly needs to be solved and fast, and I have huge sympathy for those affected.

However to me the more interesting point is why anyone would want to submit a handwritten script when they could type it. Not to sound like an old foggey, but in my day the only people who got to type were dyslexic and it gave them a huge advantage (no doubt why so many parents were having their children tested). Even if you could write fast, why take the chance that your exam efforts could be rejected based on a marker not being able to read your writing. Add to that the ability to compose text far more easily when typing and for those with a modest amount of practice the dramatically faster rate of output and it seems really strange that everyone doesn't type them and they just avoid this problem entirely.

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vaidhy ◴[21 May 20 18:21 UTC] No.23262600[source]▶
AP stat/ AP Chem/ AP Phys etc are about math formulae and explaining the calculation. I do not want my kids to learn TeX or figure out word formula editor just before the AP exams.
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Mirioron ◴[21 May 20 18:45 UTC] No.23263040[source]▶
This brings up an interesting point: how come math input is so difficult on a computer? Even TeX seems like an awful solution for this.
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Jach ◴[21 May 20 19:28 UTC] No.23263765[source]▶
It's not though? $x=\frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$. If you have a visualizer hooked up while you're typing, even easier.

And then there's Mathematica.

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ativzzz ◴[21 May 20 19:43 UTC] No.23263960[source]▶
I mean you essentially need to learn a pseudo language on top of math to be able to do that. The barrier to entry compared to writing pen and paper is much higher, and math is hard enough for a vast number of Americans.
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1. Jach ◴[21 May 20 20:12 UTC] No.23264400[source]▶
The context here isn't the average American, but a high school student taking an AP test involving writing math -- where scoring well counts for the same credit as having passed the equivalent entry level course(s) in college.

Besides, math is already pseudo language on top of pseudo language. Learning notation is part of math, I'll concede learning to type an expression on a computer is a different notation than writing it with pen, but if you can't learn that, why learn math? Each domain does its own thing too and isn't even necessarily consistent. Guy Steele gave a great talk a few years ago on "Computer Science Metanotation", and that's just one area of math: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCuZkaaou0Q (Edit: And to conclude here, learning to read and write with some notation tends to be easy, it's learning what the math actually means that is the hard part.)

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2. Mirioron ◴[21 May 20 23:23 UTC] No.23266814[source]▶
>but if you can't learn that, why learn math?

You can say this, but you won't like the response. The response is probably "okay" and they just won't learn math. I don't think the world is better off when that happens. It's not a question of whether people are capable of doing this, it's a question of whether this is worthwhile.