I wrote this question ( In its earliest usage, did the notation "5 x 3" mean "five groups of three" or "five, placed into each of three groups"? ) without realizing that there is a History of Sciences and Mathematics stackexchange site. I'm wondering if my question is more appropriate for that site, and if so, if a moderator could migrate it for me?
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$\begingroup$ Instead of HSM the question may be better addressed by people specializing in math education, that is MESE. Judging from the local experts in math pedagogy the various phrasings and interpretations of multiplication are very relevant when teaching the concept to children. To more educated practitioners those interpretations have coalesced into just multiplication. $\endgroup$– Jyrki LahtonenOct 13, 2022 at 5:52
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$\begingroup$ (cont'd) However, I'm not sure that was the best advice to you. You can think that I interpreted earliest a bit differently :-). My guess would be that the question is "more answerable" in that form as opposed to trying to put historical dates on the various interpretations. $\endgroup$– Jyrki LahtonenOct 13, 2022 at 5:53
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$\begingroup$ @JyrkiLahtonen the /actual/ question i wanted to ask was too broad to be acceptable on SE; roughly, i wanted to ask: "what did 5x3 mean in the past, and how did that meaning shift over time (if it did indeed shift)?". so i artificially inserted the historical bit about "earliest use" to make it an acceptable SE question. having the question be answered from a perspective of education in the past century (for example) would also be useful to me, if that is question is more easily answerable! $\endgroup$– silphOct 13, 2022 at 13:52
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$\begingroup$ so having the question migrated to MESE [with me trying to edit the question to reflect that site] would be ok for me! $\endgroup$– silphOct 13, 2022 at 13:52
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1$\begingroup$ Isn't it better to delete the Question yourself and repost, with improvements, on another site? Having a moderator do something of the sort takes up a scarce resource and reduces your agency. $\endgroup$– hardmathOct 13, 2022 at 14:07
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$\begingroup$ @hardmath i saw that "migration" was a possibility for questions that need to be closed. i don't know if it's more appropriate to ask for migration, or to delete my question, given that migration is a feature that exists. (also, i'm getting guidance on where my question is a best fit -- if it's even a fit for any SE site) $\endgroup$– silphOct 13, 2022 at 15:46
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$\begingroup$ I think the "artificial insertion" you mention above clouds the purpose of your Question. Is it about the notation for multiplication, or about the concept of repetitive grouping, or about language for multiplication? I'm sure it seems clear to you ("answerable and specific"), but as Readers we don't know what's on your mind. $\endgroup$– hardmathOct 13, 2022 at 17:08
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I think a version of this question could fit on MathEducators.stackexchange or HSM.stackexchange, but I don't think it's a good fit in its current form for either. Moderators try to only migrate questions that would be well received on the destination network --- otherwise it feels like one is just adding to the workload of other mods.
I suggest that you
- close/delete your question,
- choose the site where you would want it to be,
- read several questions and answers on that site to get a feel for what things work well in that community, and
- ask a version of your question there.
answered Oct 13, 2022 at 15:03
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1$\begingroup$ can you elaborate on why you think why my question would not be a good fit, in its current form, for HSM.SE? i thought that the question is answerable and specific, so i thought it would have been suited to that site. can you help me understand why it would not be a good fit for that site? $\endgroup$– silphOct 13, 2022 at 15:48