Perceptual Intuition

There was an article in the New York Times yesterday about perceptual learning.

Most American middle school students, though they understand what fractions represent, don’t do so well when tested on their ability to change one fraction, like 4/3, to another, like 7/3, by adding or subtracting (many high school students bomb these tests, too).

I nearly blurted out, "Me too!"

I had a breakthrough moment a few weeks ago when my friend Catherine told me to try using a number line.  Turns out that visualizing a problem on a number line can clarify the answer (even if it does feel like counting on my fingers).

Try it:   -4/3  +  5/7 =  ?

Hard, right?  Put it on a number line and it's easier to see the answer.

Elizabeth King's book, Outsmarting the SAT, has some great examples of when to call in the number line.

Next time you have an SAT problem that look something like this:

DON'T PANIC! Go directly to page 169 of Outsmarting the SAT, and read a game-changing explanation of how to visualize Absolute Value on a number line.

Illustrations by Jennifer Orkin Lewis