Many people agree with the use of calculators in the mathematics classroom. I cannot say that I am one of them. Calculators cause many students who are not strong in math to become dependent on them. This causes students to forget, or never fully learn multiplication and division, and many other mathematical concepts that the calculator can compute for you. I am not fully against calculators because they can calculate things faster and more conveniently than a person can, but I do think that there needs to be full understanding of a concept before they are introduced.
Since calculators are being allowed in middle school, students are entering high school not knowing how to do long division, add/subtract/multiply/divide fractions, multiply, and other basic mathematical concepts that should be known. I can say this because I have seen it first hand from substituting and talking with my cooperating teacher. She told me that each year since calculators were introduced in the local middle school, her math students remembered less and less of their basic skills. Therefore, she has to spend more time on the basics rather than moving on to what is actually in that years curriculum.
Another downfall of calculators in middle schools is that many students do not yet fully understand the meaning of certain concepts and they enter the calculation incorrectly in the calculator. For example, I was substituting this past week and a sixth grade student wanted to calculate 125/4 and he entered it into his calculator as 4/125, giving him the completely wrong answer. He did not know that this was wrong until I showed him the correct way to do it. Calculators will give young students misconceptions about mathematics because they have not yet mastered all the skills they need. If this student was more skilled in division he would have realized on his own that that answer could not possibly be correct.
Although, I do not think that calculators should be eliminated all together. Calculators should be introduced in high school, only after students fully understand the methods of a problem on paper. Graphing calculators can show students what graphs of different functions may look like that you can not accurately graph on paper. They can also speed up the process of calculating basic solutions to a long problem. Teachers should not allow their students to become dependent on calculators and they should monitor their use in the classroom.
Calculators are a tool that should only be used when needed. Students should not be able to use them for simple computations such as add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Calculators are serving as a safety net for students today. Instead of taking an extra thirty seconds or minute to solve a problem free hand, students grab their calculators and within seconds obtain the answer. This may not seem like a problem in younger grades such as elementary or middle school, but when they get to high school it will be an issue. Like you said, teachers are spending more time reviewing concepts that students should have mastered in the past grades instead of teaching the material they need currently. In the end, I believe it is the school district and teachers' responsibility to agree to provide calculators to students at a later grade so they do not become dependent on them at a younger age.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post. Students are very dependent on their calculators doing simple mathematics. I like the paragraph that you said how calculators can also give error easily. Your example of plugging in 125/4 into the calculator backwards was great. If a student had knowledge of basic division, they would easily know that the answer should be a high number (25). But plugging it in opposite would give a decimal. Calculators should be introduced in high school when students are confident in their basic math. Then calculators can be used to compute radicals, exponents, make graphs, and much more that can't easily be done by hand.
ReplyDeleteI understand your arguments and find them very valid. However, if I may, respectfully disagree. As a fellow math education major, I cannot say math was not an initial struggle. I am for, the use of calculators because is it not the calculator that teach methods and concepts but the instructor. I would like to touch on your example with a student you observed that initially had trouble-inputting 125 divided by 4. Can’t we use this example as a learning tool? I encountered the same issue when observing a 6th grade math class. I too had to show the student why her computation was inputted incorrectly. However, I am sure she will not forget this and consciously try to not make this mistake again. Is it the use of technology that hinders children or the bad habits developed over the years? I understand how calculators can be a crutch, but if implemented correctly, I believe that it could be a great tool to use. Not every student learns at the same pace. The use of this technology will allow the class to progress in a fluent manor. Those struggling can receive extra help before school, after school, or during a lunch period. Nonetheless, implementing proper use of calculators, (i.e. students acknowledgement of simple answer will not suffice a correct answer but the work that led up it) allows struggling students to continue learning new content as they improve the skills needed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument, Michelle. Although I am English major, I have taken many mathematics classes and found that I became dependent on calculators in those classes. This really put me at a disadvantage for the MCAT, which has sections that require making difficult calculations, and, of course, does not allow calculators. Preparing for the MCAT and getting used to doing math without using a calculator, however, really improved my comfort level with mathematics and ended up serving me very well when I took the test. In my classes subsequent to the MCAT, I ended up only using a calculator as supplemental tool, because at that point I was able to come up with answer before using a calculator, which allowed me to use that answer as a basis for comparison to the answer I would get from my calculator. If you can teach your children that method of doing math, they will have a much higher chance of scoring better on their tests or assignments because it gives them a way to check their answers mid-test or mid-assignment. This is a way of making technology actually work for our benefit instead of using it as a crutch.
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