Re: TI-89 virtue email needed
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Re: TI-89 virtue email needed
It's a very tough argument. In the real world, everyone uses calculators
to do things, and the 89 will quickly become common. However, in class,
how important is it that the students learn the CONCEPT behind the math,
thus making it necessary to deny them access to the calculator so they
can't have it do the work for them? I'm not sure myself. I would like
everyone to know how to take derivatives and integrals (simple ones, at
least) by hand, but if you need a calculator for the complex ones, why
not use the calculator for all of them?
In today's era of GPS satilite guidance systems, the U.S. Navy still teaches
navigation by the stars. This is so they can still find their way around
if the satilites fail. Something similar would be prudent for math classes,
but how to implement and enforce it?
Science fiction often depicts a society entirely dependend on computers, in
which the people themselves have forgotten everything. I can think of at
least two Star Trek episodes alone with this topic. So, how do we make things
convenient by allowing calculators, yet still ensure learning takes place?
And as the available technology increases, where do we draw the line, and how
do we know when to move it?
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