Re: Simple enough for every reader?

On 29.05.2025 02:46, Ben Bacarisse wrote:

WM <wolfgang.mueckenheim@tha.de> writes:
(AKA Dr. Wolfgang Mückenheim or Mueckenheim who teaches "Geschichte
des Unendlichen" and "Kleine Geschichte der Mathematik" at Technische
Hochschule Augsburg.)
 

On 28.05.2025 01:06, Ben Bacarisse wrote:

Mikko <mikko.levanto@iki.fi> writes:

>

Maybe the idea is that an exposure to nonsense helps students to learn
to identify nonsense when they see it.

They have to regurgitate the nonsense to get the marks.  I once asked WM
what would happen if a student presented real mathematics in the exam
and he said they would not get the marks.

>
No, you are lying.

 That's harsh.

Your statement.

 I may simply have misremembered what you said about this
before.  If so I apologise.  But I see you /don't/ in fact say they that
would get the marks.  You only say that they would need to be convinced
they were wrong.  What if they were not convinced and stuck by the
answer they had written in the exam?

That depends. What answer do you have in mind?

 

I would have asked him to explain his position

 In the UK (at least at the universities I am familiar with), exam papers
must be marked according to a pre-written mark scheme.  There is no
option to interview the student after they submit their paper.

Above I assumed a personal discussion. In the exam there are questions like these:
- Beschreiben Sie, was man unter der Abzählbarkeit aller positiven Brüche versteht und erörtern Sie ein Gegenargument.
- Beschreiben Sie, was man unter der Überabzählbarkeit der reellen Zahlen versteht, und erörtern Sie ein Gegenargument.
- Beschreiben Sie das Spiel "Wir erobern den Binären Baum" und die damit verknüpfte Aussage.
- Sehen Sie eine Parallele zwischen MacDuck und der Nummerierung aller Brüche? Wenn ja, welche?
- Was halten Sie vom wissenschaftlichen Wert der Mengenlehre unter Berücksichtigung von Banach-Tarski-Paradoxon und Verteilung der Brüche in (0, 1) und (1, oo).

Does
this really happen in Germany?  And if so, does the interview have only
one outcome -- agree or else?  Do you not have to write marking schemes
for your exams?  And if in fact you do, what do yours say about
alternative answers?

Try to answer. Then I will give you marks.
Regards, WM