Two students were working on an assignment. They hovered over the handout, holding yellow pencils and talking in hushed voices.
“See, you divide by a fraction right here,” one said.
“But that’s the hard way,” the other replied after a moment’s delay.
You see, fractions are a mystery to most of them. Their understanding of numbers consists of three categories: integers, decimals, and fractions, and they seem to think these are distinct concepts.
The sight of fractions causes many of them give up. And division by fractions is a flagrant abomination.
“That really is the hard way,” the second student repeated.
“Yes,” the first conceded, “but I like to do things the hard way.”
Correction: division by fractions is an abomination to most of them.