Mistakes in study.com lessons/quizzes

[cookderosa]

Hey there,
I was going over one of my practice final exams for the MAT 102 course and I found a mistake in the practice final.  The question reads:

17. A four-sided shape has all right angles and sides of equal length. That means the shape is both a _____
Incorrect
Topic: Geometry
Both of these options are correct
Watch correct answer

square and a rectangle

square and a rhombus

Neither of these options are correct

Study.com says that the correct answer is BOTH OF THESE OPTIONS ARE CORRECT which that isn't true.  A rhombus does NOT 4 right angles. I just confirmed this with TWO math teachers =)

A rhombus CAN have 4 right angles (a square is a rhombus), but it doesn't necessarily have 4 right angles.  So the question is not a good one, even if the answer COULD be correct.

I think with math questions, the answer has to be exactly, 100% correct.  There can't be ambiguity.

But technically, a square and a rhombus is the correct answer.

I appreciate all the responses.  But, a square ALWAYS has 4 right angles.  A rhombus doesn't necessarily have to have 4 right angles.  Usually, a rhombus does not have 4 right angles.  So I agree with you dfrecore - this question is not credible and wayyyyy too ambiguous.    I asked to high school state-certified math teachers and they both said a rhombus doesn't always have 4 right angles and thought the question wasn't a good one..

This is why there will continue to be errors. First of all, you can argue questions to death. I've had students argue questions with me. To address a reported error, the course provider first needs one or more content experts in place to review the question and the error. Content experts are not cheap - and students getting PAID to report errors? OMG never happen. You could *literally* report errors on every test (cuz ya never know cha-ching!!) and the number of man-hours needed to just investigate would be ridiculous. I imagine a scene out of Law and Order where a room full of phones are ringing off the hook and everyone is chasing their tale looking for a needle in a haystack.
Best case, they've saved the emails and may give a batch of them to the team/content experts when its time for a content review - so I'm thinking maybe every 3 years or when their ACE eval is up for renewal.

[randomatom]

Hey there,
I was going over one of my practice final exams for the MAT 102 course and I found a mistake in the practice final.  The question reads:

17. A four-sided shape has all right angles and sides of equal length. That means the shape is both a _____
Incorrect
Topic: Geometry
Both of these options are correct
Watch correct answer

square and a rectangle

square and a rhombus

Neither of these options are correct

Study.com says that the correct answer is BOTH OF THESE OPTIONS ARE CORRECT which that isn't true.  A rhombus does NOT 4 right angles. I just confirmed this with TWO math teachers =)

A rhombus CAN have 4 right angles (a square is a rhombus), but it doesn't necessarily have 4 right angles.  So the question is not a good one, even if the answer COULD be correct.

I think with math questions, the answer has to be exactly, 100% correct.  There can't be ambiguity.

But technically, a square and a rhombus is the correct answer.

I appreciate all the responses.  But, a square ALWAYS has 4 right angles.  A rhombus doesn't necessarily have to have 4 right angles.  Usually, a rhombus does not have 4 right angles.  So I agree with you dfrecore - this question is not credible and wayyyyy too ambiguous.    I asked to high school state-certified math teachers and they both said a rhombus doesn't always have 4 right angles and thought the question wasn't a good one..

If you want ambiguity, try the soft sciences on study.com.  This math at least is unambiguous.  A four sided shape with all right angles and sides of equal length is unambiguously a rectangle, a paralellogram, a rhombus, and a square.  Each is a more special case of the previous.

[fork]

Hey there,
I was going over one of my practice final exams for the MAT 102 course and I found a mistake in the practice final.  The question reads:

17. A four-sided shape has all right angles and sides of equal length. That means the shape is both a _____
Incorrect
Topic: Geometry
Both of these options are correct
Watch correct answer

square and a rectangle

square and a rhombus

Neither of these options are correct

Study.com says that the correct answer is BOTH OF THESE OPTIONS ARE CORRECT which that isn't true.  A rhombus does NOT 4 right angles. I just confirmed this with TWO math teachers =)

A rhombus CAN have 4 right angles (a square is a rhombus), but it doesn't necessarily have 4 right angles.  So the question is not a good one, even if the answer COULD be correct.

I think with math questions, the answer has to be exactly, 100% correct.  There can't be ambiguity.

But technically, a square and a rhombus is the correct answer.

I appreciate all the responses.  But, a square ALWAYS has 4 right angles.  A rhombus doesn't necessarily have to have 4 right angles.  Usually, a rhombus does not have 4 right angles.  So I agree with you dfrecore - this question is not credible and wayyyyy too ambiguous.    I asked to high school state-certified math teachers and they both said a rhombus doesn't always have 4 right angles and thought the question wasn't a good one..

This is why there will continue to be errors.  First of all, you can argue questions to death.  I've had students argue questions with me.  To address a reported error, the course provider first needs one or more content experts in place to review the question and the error.  Content experts are not cheap - and students getting PAID to report errors?  OMG never happen.  You could *literally* report errors on every test (cuz ya never know cha-ching!!) and the number of man-hours needed to just investigate would be ridiculous.   I imagine a scene out of Law and Order where a room full of phones are ringing off the hook and everyone is chasing their tale looking for a needle in a haystack.  
Best case, they've saved the emails and may give a batch of them to the team/content experts when its time for a content review - so I'm thinking maybe every 3 years or when their ACE eval is up for renewal.

This is one advantage of a B&M school classroom. When I was in school at the B&M, the students would argue the test questions/answers after getting an exam back and, if the instructor was convinced, he or she would change it. Most instructors would do it.

[rlw74]

I didn't find too many errors in the courses I took, but they were mainly psychology courses. I'm thinking math is a little more obvious.