The Graphing Calculator concern

[Chergarj]

Interesting about this discussion of the TI-92 calculator. In the old days
(only about 15 years ago), you did not need a graphing calculator for Math and
Science courses. You did need something, usually a scientific calculator, or
if you were still primitive, maybe a table of logarithms and a simple
arithmetic hand calculator. In those times, students had to learn the concepts
and the skills. If you had them, then whatever devices you were allowed were
good, since it was the concepts and skills that you had to show.

Currently today if a student does not have the concepts and skills well
learned, any device, scientific or graphing calculator, is of no use since he
who lacks the required knowledge will be unable to apply the calculator for his
work; the skills and concepts are really what count. The calculator, even if
for graphing purposes, will often be needed for the simplest of its features,
and so using the calculator becomes trivial compared to the problem being
studied or needing to be solved.

This has been a description, but certainly not a complete opinion.

G C

[Ktulwxwatcher]

I am a mathematics student and use mathematics at work. My feeling is that
calculators are nice to have, but you need to understand the background of how
the calculator arrives at that answer. Many times people use a calculator and
they usually do not assume they might not have entered their data correctly. If
someone who wasn't familiar with trig got their hands on a scientific
calculator and entered sin 90 and got .894, if they didn't know trigonometry,
they might not think "Am I in the right mode?" I think if someone uses a
calculator, they should have enough sense to interpret their result and think
"Is this right?" or "Is this reasonable?". I have a brother who is in 5th grade
and if I told him to do a long division problem, he'd go right for a
calculator. Personally, I don't think calculators should be used in school
until algebra. This way students are familiar with the concepts of basic
arithmetic. When I took Algebra 2 last year, there were several kids who
couldn't add two fractions because they were so dependent on the calculator.

David

[Adviolin]

I agree exactly with what you're saying. You should know the underlying
concepts, but there comes a point where multiplying

243
X 16
--------
becomes pointless. In any algebra class, you would use a calculator, but
should know how to do it by hand. But then again, in algebra, you probably
spend a whole chapter on systems, and so in calculus, if you have a system of
equations, what's wrong with using a calculator. It's required on the AP exam,
and you already know how, you're just saving time, and why use more time than
you have to?

[.]

at my school, the teachers requires you to do "show all work"
that means you need to understand how to do it.

to the teacher, her meaning of it for now is to check your answer, or to
graph equations. In business, you can use a calculator to do all the work,
and need not to show it, unless if asked. which makes it faster. but still
requires to know how to do it by hand
only knowing how to enter the numbers for the problem and letting the
calculator do the work means knowledgeless, and empty minded.

"Adviolin" <advi...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020226202408...@mb-fw.aol.com...

[Chergarj]

>at my school, the teachers requires you to do "show all work"
>that means you need to understand how to do it.
>

GOOD for your teacher. That is as Math study should be. Even in the real
world of work, much mathematical steps must be stepped first, BEFORE results
are obtained.

G C