Re: People are too dependant on calculators
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Re: People are too dependant on calculators
On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 23:30:17 -0400 Tim Brierley <brierley@erols.com>
writes:
> Why is it that everyone NEEDS to have programs on their
>calculators
>to do all the things that are more easily done by hand. Even the more
>advanced topics like derivatives that are only functions of the TI-93
>(yes the other calculators have nder(x), but the 92 gives you the
>exact
>answer) are faster when done by hand. When it comes time on a test to
>use your knowledge that you attained from doing your homework, if you
>are not allowed to use your calculator, or if there is a time limit,
>it
>is bennificial to have taken the quicker apporach and do it by hand.
>For example, take the derivative of:
>
>x^2 +2x -3
>
>on the calculator, you have press 14 buttons and wait for it to
>display
>the answer, then copy it down to paper, if you do it in your head, you
>press no buttons, and can copy it down as you do each part, and you
>can
>show your work (if there are many steps) both ways you get the answer
>of:
>
>2x +2
>
> Earlier on this newsgroup, people were panicing saying that they
>had
>no programs on their calculators to use on the SAT's. The topics on
>the
>SAT's are so simple that using a calculator makes is harder. If I
>remember correctly, the first problem was :
>
>x+x+x+x+x+1=x+x+x+x+2
>
>You could either type this into the solver on the 83, 85, or 86 (did i
>miss any?) or you could, oh i dont know, think for yourself, suctrack
>a
>few x's and get the answer of 1.
>
> I think that people are way to dependant on their calculator, but
>I
>am not saying that calculators shouldn't be used. For drawing graphs
>of
>parabolas and multiplying large numbers calculators are useful, but
>the
>next time you have to find the intersection of two lines, dont solve
>for
>y, type in the equations into y1 and y2, press graph, math,
>intersection, enter, enter, enter and copy the anwer off the
>calculator
>but make an equality and solve for x. See which way is quicker and
>which will give you the better grade ( and the more exact answer such
>as
>11/49 instead of .2244897) I am willing to bet that doing it by hand
>is
>better in all respects (and if it is slower by hand, you need to brush
>up on your algebra)
>
>Tim Brierley
>Brierley@erols.com
>
Why don't you try to calculate x^5+2x^4+3x^3-x^2+10x-90=0 on paper and
see how long it takes, it took me 13 SECONDS to do it on my TI-85. Or
remember 2 dozen formulas and know when to use them.
Donald McKay
donmckay@juno.com
"Carpe diem" - Horace
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