Comment Re:Both are bad for learning (Score 1) 550
Mountains are being made out of molehills here. . .
Thinking back to high school chemistry, I can recall one test to which I forgot to bring my calculator and was, for whatever reason, unable to borrow one. I went through the test doing long division and multiplication out by hand. Did I gain any greater understanding of the nature of moles from doing that? No.
I can recall a later test to which I did bring my calculator with all of my formulas neatly typed in. I went through the test plugging numbers into the calculator prompt. Did I gain any lesser understanding of the nature of gasses from doing that? No. (What purpose does memorizing PV = nrt or however it goes serve when I can, should the unlikely circumstances of me having to refer to the formula ever occur, look it up in a reference book in a minute or two? Being able to store formulae is a -good- use of calculators and PDAs.)
Were the grades on the two tests appreciably different? No. I understood the material.
Did other students do poorly doing it without a calculator, or even with a calculator? Yes. They didn't understand the material. Blaming their lack of understanding on calculators is a bit like blaming Columbine on video games -- a convenient scapegoat when the real issue is the people (parents, teachers, etc.).
Of course, I also once lost 10% of the grade on a (no calculator allowed) calculus test because I decided that 2 + 3 equaled 6 . . . so maybe I do rely on calculators as too much of a crutch after all :-).
Thinking back to high school chemistry, I can recall one test to which I forgot to bring my calculator and was, for whatever reason, unable to borrow one. I went through the test doing long division and multiplication out by hand. Did I gain any greater understanding of the nature of moles from doing that? No.
I can recall a later test to which I did bring my calculator with all of my formulas neatly typed in. I went through the test plugging numbers into the calculator prompt. Did I gain any lesser understanding of the nature of gasses from doing that? No. (What purpose does memorizing PV = nrt or however it goes serve when I can, should the unlikely circumstances of me having to refer to the formula ever occur, look it up in a reference book in a minute or two? Being able to store formulae is a -good- use of calculators and PDAs.)
Were the grades on the two tests appreciably different? No. I understood the material.
Did other students do poorly doing it without a calculator, or even with a calculator? Yes. They didn't understand the material. Blaming their lack of understanding on calculators is a bit like blaming Columbine on video games -- a convenient scapegoat when the real issue is the people (parents, teachers, etc.).
Of course, I also once lost 10% of the grade on a (no calculator allowed) calculus test because I decided that 2 + 3 equaled 6 . . . so maybe I do rely on calculators as too much of a crutch after all
