Obsolescence
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Obsolescence
Ivan Cibrario Bertolotti writes:
> My only concern is to rest assured that these powerful tools will be
> used to help students to learn, instead of merely assist them doing
> their homework and tests, as I see in italian schools.
It has been said that the importance of a book in mathematics or
science can be judged by the number of existing books that it makes
obsolete. This is also a criterion that can be used in judging the
importance of a piece of technology.
The fact is that the availability of the TI-92 at a price that is within
reach of most individuals has made most existing introductory and
intermediate mathematics textbooks obsolete. The assumptions
under which these books were written no longer hold, and the paradigms
they follow (homework assignments, for example) are no longer valid.
This is why students may seem not to be using their calculators to the
maximum potential.
Imagine that you had a time machine and were able to travel back,
in Europe say, to a time before pencil-and-paper algorithms had been
introduced, and all calculation was done on counting boards. If you
had a critical calculation to perform would you think it worth your
while to learn how to carry it out with this technology, or would you
just work out your "homework" on a scrap of parchment with pen
and ink?
I think we are in an analogous situation -- a lot of the homework
exercises in the traditional texts now seem like "make-work". That
doesn't mean that we should not all be learning mathematics! But
the nature of the assignments has to change. If I have a classroom
full of students all with TI-92's, I will find an assignment involving
algebraic calculation that will push their understanding to the limit
and lead them to see _beyond_ the key-pushing. It is going to take
quite a while -- maybe a whole generation, in fact -- before a critical
mass is reached in this respect. And there are going to be a lot of
people around with loud voices saying that students who do not
follow the old ways are not really learning mathematics.
Interesting times we live in!
RWW Taylor
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester NY 14623
>>>> The plural of mongoose begins with p. <<<<