[UEB Maths] Second maths sample image

[Janet Reynolds]

Thanks Stephen, that came through fine. I've had a good read of both
samples, they're good choices and large enough to bring up lots of
issues. Mathematically I like the word indicator sign, but it needs a
lot of human intervention and rule following if it is to be used well
and I have worries about its being overused. With the word spacing
alternative I still don't like that preceding space though I understand
the arguments for it. For simple usability at the school level I still
prefer my original draft but I can see how that can cause increasing
ambiguity at higher levels. I think we've got four alternatives on the
table at the moment:

1. Word indicator with abbreviations for sin, cos and tan (first version
of Stephen's sample 1 and 2)
2. Word indicator without abbreviations (spelling out sin, cos and tan
in the first version of sample 1)
3. Spaces before and after word fragments such as function names (second
version of Stephen's sample 1 and 2)
4. Spaces only between word fragments and following roman letters (as
currently in the draft rule)

Is everyone able to look at the samples this week and respond on which
of the options above they prefer and which they could live with? We
might be able to whittle it down to two options and then have a vote. If
we decide to recommend the ch symbol then we will need to get that
request moving through the various committees as soon as possible.
Janet=20


-----Original Message-----
From: uebmaths-admin@nbp.org [mailto:uebmaths-admin@nbp.org] On Behalf
Of Phippen, Stephen
Sent: Tuesday, 4 October 2005 2:47 a.m.
To: uebmaths@nbp.org
Subject: RE: [UEB Maths] Second maths sample image


To: UEB Maths Committee
From: Stephen Phippen
Date: 3 October 2005

Here (attached) is the print image of the second sample I sent, as
requested.

Just to correct myself, when I said in my previous message that I
thought the example comes out just the same using the spacing method
rather than the word indicator method, I of course meant "just the same
apart from the presence of the word indicator sign itself".

One more comment I might make is that when looking for samples which
might be suitable, there were many cases which were less clear-cut as
regards transcription, e.g. where words are used on one side of an
equals sign, but algebraic letters on the other, such as "gradient =3D
h/d". I avoided these! You might be happy enough not using the word
indicator in such cases, even though you were using the indicator for
functions. If so, a transcription editorial decision would need to be
made as to which method to use. Something to be said for only having the
spacing method is that it avoids this situation.

However, my original wording was meant to suggest that there could be
editorial discretion on this issue:

"The word indicator method is generally recommended for functions, such
as trigonometric fuctions, log, etc., as it is normally more compact,
and by avoiding the need for extra spaces provides a better presentation
of mathematical expressions. This method is also more secure in avoiding
ambiguity as it provides a direct distinction between such functions and
algebraic letters, as opposed to only a partially implied distinction,
as when spacing is used."


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