I'm an instructor of a College Algebra course and I noticed a problem with one of the computerized questions. I was going to ask for opinions here, but then I wasn't sure what was the proper forum for it....math.stackexchange.com? education? English? I'll put the question I was going to ask for context below in spoiler, please do not answer the actual question here, I'm just looking for advice on the proper forum to post it in the first place!
Computer question: Write the corresponding algebraic expression or equation for the verbal statement. Let x represent the unknown number. The quotient of one and five times a number.
The problem is where does one put in the pause in the English language. You could parse this as either "The quotient of one and five" "times a number" which gives you the answer of 1/5 * x, or the way the computer wants, "The quotient of one and" "five times a number", which gives 1/(5x). The computer only accepts the second interpretation, but according to my reading of the English language, either reading should be acceptable
From the comments, I decided English was the right place. In case anyone wants to participate in the discussion over there, here's the link. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/496210/parsing-an-english-to-math-expression-question-is-this-ambiguous