Quote:
Originally posted by gavinlit
Yes I say ban all calculators in maths class. They're clearly the problem. I know I lost all ability to do mental or pen and paper computations after I'd been introduced to a calculator in first year of high school.
Those that can't add or do mental computations may be able to use a calculator but I can't see how it's a causal link. Same as using a keyboard really - I'm sure most of you don't have any problems writing on paper even though you may be proficient on a computer.
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Yeah, I took the GRE by computer last week. It only covered maybe 10th grade math (geometry but no trig) but there were _no_ calculators allowed! Miraculously I remembered factorials and long division. Looking back on it, it was fun not to use a machine to solve easy calculations.
I had a chemistry professor make us do equilibrium constant calculations without a calculator (quick, what's 6x10^-12 to the -1/2 power?). OK, maybe not so quick, but you can get pretty close in a minute or so on paper... Seemed painful at the time but it's a cool party trick now - good for impressing the chicks!
Maybe I need to get to better parties?
mike
'78 SC