Stopping Skynet!

Author

Neil Almond
September 17, 2024

Greeting and salutations human,

I hope you are week is going well. The AI world is certainly heating up and accelerating quickly. Let’s dive in!

📚 Knowledge builders

  • Craig Barton on AI and Maths Education → Educator extraordinaire, Craig Barton, through his Eedi substack, is putting the big 4 (Gemini, Copilot, Clause and ChatGPT-4) through their paces. He will be looking at how these chatbots perform in three areas:

    1. Anticipating misconceptions.

    2. Writing high-quality MCQs.

    3. If they can plan maths lessons.

    Craig will revisit these every 12 months to see how much better they get. The first two are available to read and well worth it.

  • Why can’t AI tell me how many ‘r’s are in ‘Strawberry? → This brief video provides a comprehensive overview as to why some questions, such as spelling, are hard for LLMs. It all comes to down to ‘tolkenisation’, which is how LLMs ‘see’ the text you have written.

🤖 Industry updates

  • Italy Trials AI in Schools for an ‘Increasingly Bespoke Education’ → In fifteen classrooms across four regions, AI software on tablets and PCs has been launched to support pupils in their learning. Interestingly, the role out is being evaluated by the Fondazione Agnelli educational think tank. This means we may get some data about what works and what does not work in rolling out AI in schools.

  • Stopping Skynet → You cannot separate aspects of safety and ethics when it comes to the use of AI. In a bid to prevent scenes from Terminator, Open AI, the company behind ChatGPT, has created an ‘independent’ board which has the power to prevent OpenAI from releasing models to the world.

✨ Fresh prompts

  1. Reasoning Problems → This prompt creates mathematical puzzles that allow pupils to demonstrate ‘mastery’ of a concept. Simply adapt the year group and and the concept that you want the problem to be about to tailor it to your needs. It provides some reasoning as to why this particular puzzle demonstrates mastery and some advice on how you may scaffold the task.

    You are an expert at creating mathematical puzzle that demonstrates mastery of a concept. Create such a puzzle that could be used in a [Year group] maths class that students can use to demonstrate mastery of [concept]. You need to explain why this problem demonstrates mastery of the concept as well as provide some advice on how a teacher can scaffold using manipulative where appropriate, but also how it can be used to stretch pupils thinking even further. 

You are an expert at creating mathematical puzzle that demonstrates mastery of a concept. 

Create such a puzzle that could be used in a Year 3 maths class that students can use to demonstrate mastery of place value up to 3-digit numbers. You need to explain why this problem demonstrates mastery of the concept as well as provide some advice on how a teacher can scaffold using manipulative where appropriate, but also how it can be used to stretch pupils thinking even further.

Here is the output:

Puzzle: The Magic Number Vault

Scenario:

A mysterious vault is locked with a secret code. The code is a 3-digit number, but the digits follow these clues:

1. The hundreds digit is 3 more than the tens digit.

2. The tens digit is double the ones digit.

3. The sum of all three digits is 18.

Can you crack the code and unlock the vault?

Solution Explanation:

This puzzle demonstrates mastery of place value in several key ways:

1. Hundreds, tens, and ones understanding: Students need to understand that each digit represents different place values, and those digits influence the total value differently.

2. Numerical relationships: The clues establish relationships between the digits across place values (hundreds vs. tens vs. ones).

3. Addition and reasoning: Solving the puzzle involves reasoning about the relationship between the digits, using addition to confirm the total.

The correct solution is 963:

- Hundreds digit: 9

- Tens digit: 6

- Ones digit: 3

This satisfies all the clues and demonstrates a deep understanding of place value concepts.

 Why It Demonstrates Mastery:

This puzzle requires students to:

- Grasp the individual value of each place (hundreds, tens, ones) and see how changes in one place affect the overall number.

- Apply logical reasoning to decipher numerical relationships, ensuring they understand not just how to read numbers but how to manipulate and analyze them.

- Utilize addition, subtraction, and multiplication in the context of place value.

Mastery is demonstrated when students can juggle these concepts and arrive at a solution that meets all the given criteria.

Scaffolding Advice for Teachers:

1. Manipulatives: Use place value blocks (e.g., Base 10 blocks) to represent each digit. Provide students with hundreds, tens, and ones blocks and guide them to construct numbers based on the clues.

- Example: Start with blocks for smaller numbers (e.g., 123) and progressively build up to the 3-digit puzzle.

Encourage students to use the blocks to test different digit combinations. This tangible exploration can support their understanding of how place values work together.

2. Scaffold the Problem:

- Break the clues down one at a time. Start by finding the tens and ones relationship (since the tens digit is double the ones).

- Once they grasp that relationship, they can focus on the hundreds and tens relationship, slowly piecing the puzzle together.

- Provide simpler examples with fewer clues before giving the full problem.

Stretching Further:

1. Reverse Puzzle: Ask students to create their own 3-digit "vault" number with a new set of clues. This challenges them to think in reverse, testing their deeper understanding of place value relationships.

2. Extend to 4-Digit Numbers: Modify the puzzle for 4-digit numbers, introducing thousands. New clues could involve the thousands and hundreds digits, adding complexity while reinforcing place value understanding across a larger range.

3. Abstract Reasoning: Remove manipulatives and ask students to solve the puzzle purely through mental calculations or using pencil and paper, pushing them to abstract their understanding of place value relationships.

This puzzle allows for a clear demonstration of mastery while providing opportunities for scaffolding and extending student thinking.

As ever, thanks for reading and keep on prompting! Mr A 🦾