Re: Ethical Use

[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: Ethical Use

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I suppose that's pretty true...but it blurs what you can call
"ethical use".  My math teacher has said, on several occasions, that
you really only understand the presented material when you can write
a computer program that will do it, and I believe that that's true --
when you can translate mathematical symbols into IF/THEN, DO/LOOP,
FOR/NEXT, et cetera (or, even better, CP, JR/JP, LD, LDIR, ADD, et
cetera =D ).  However, what about the student that does not
understand the material, but catches hold of the program that will
take a few inputs and crank out the answer?  That student is unlikely
to analyze the program code to see what it does (and therefore
understand the mathematics behind it).

I suppose "ethical use" would include creating programs to do certain
mathematical functions that cannot be done with a single command on a
TI calculator, but to spread the use of such programs to those that
do not understand the mathematical procedure that the program cranks
through would be unethical, as it prohibits the "in-the-dark" student
from learning what's really going on.   A simple answer would be to
restrict the dissimination of the program to those that understand
the material, but that's nearly impossible to do -- if you've ever
witnessed the spread of a program throughout a school, you'll know
what I mean.  For example, I came in with SQRXZ loaded on to my
calculator, and transferred it to somebody who was interested in
TI-83 assembly programming but was unfortunate to have a
GRAPH-LINK...within two days 95% of the school had it.  And that's
only a game.  Think of what would happen with a program that
(*gasp!*) solves a particularly difficult mathematics construct.

The other simple answer would be to prohibit program creation of any
type whatsoever and require that students clear the calculator memory
on a regular basis, but that's equally futile due to the programs out
there that create a fake mem-clear and hide the programs.  Besides,
if that was to be done in the United States, it'd be, in a way,
stifling Constitutional rights (which I know that minors technically
only have a subset of, but those kinds of debates can go on
forever...)

So there's not much one can really do, but leave it up to the
student.  If the student understands the material and uses a program
to crank through the calculation, it's probably all right.  If they
don't understand the material but use a program anyway, they're not
hurting the class -- only themselves.

Wow, that didn't make any sense, did it? =D



- -----Original Message-----
From: Open discussion of TI Graphing Calculators
[mailto:CALC-TI@LISTS.PPP.TI.COM]On Behalf Of Kirk Lane
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 21:21
To: CALC-TI@LISTS.PPP.TI.COM
Subject: Re: Ethical Use


And another note:  When the calc doesn't support what I want it to do
directly, but can through a series of commands, I will sometimes make
a
program myself.  To do that takes an intimate knowledge of both what
you
need to do and how to make the calc do it.

Kirk Lane
snake64@geocities.com
snake64@yahoo.com
ICQ: 28171652
BRT #187

"Yeah you won't find me
I'm going MIA
Tonight I'm leaving
Going MIA
Getting lost in you again
Is better than being known"
                     -Foo Fighters, "MIA"
- ----- Original Message -----
From: Tony Meece <TMEEC@CI.SALISBURY.NC.US>
To: <CALC-TI@LISTS.PPP.TI.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 6:27 AM
Subject: Ethical Use


>         I am not a teacher, but have some teacher friends and would
> like
to
> pose a question for all those teachers out there:
>         The TI-8x & TI-92/92+ calculators contain a lot of
> programming 'power'. (There's a lot of free programs out there.)
> The 89/92/92+ can actually solve the problems for the students
> without the need for
> programming. [ a simple SOLVE(x^2=4,x) yields 'x=2 or x=-2'] How do
> you manage the responsible use of those calculators.
>
>         I just reciently re-took a precalc class (after being away
> from
math
> for half a lifetime). In that class, we could use anything from a
> TI-82 to
a
> TI-92+. The purpose was for graphing, but there was a lot of stuff
> I could have cheated on, because I knew the calculator could do the
> math. I did
use
> its features to check my homework, which I believe to be a
> responsible use of it's abilities.
>
>         So, I ask, "Do you police the students use of calculators &
> how? What liberties do you allow those that 'program' their own
> solutions vs. those that 'steal' others programs for class?"
>
>         Please forgive my liberty at using the word 'steal', but I
> am sure the authors of these programs never intended them to be
> used dishonestly.
>
> 7ony
>


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com

******************************************************************
* To UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email TO: listserv@lists.ppp.ti.com
* with a message (not the subject) that reads SIGNOFF CALC-TI
*
* Archives at http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/calc-ti.html
******************************************************************

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.2 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com>

iQA/AwUBOKJHZUfME/g8tiK8EQKVvACg1y4yODYdSbpWPeSTsf1qOukpVwMAoM7E
fCQ0gXnQ54JUvxGewiTd5yXa
=nuN6
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com

******************************************************************
* To UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email TO: listserv@lists.ppp.ti.com
* with a message (not the subject) that reads SIGNOFF CALC-TI
*
* Archives at http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/calc-ti.html
******************************************************************
References: