Argument for Calculators

Posted by Beth Lynne Mar 4, 2007

Mathematics is not just finding 2 times 4 anymore. Our students are expected to know how to apply these facts to real-life problems, not just how to find an “answer.” Rote memorization is no longer synonymous with learning. Having students memorize facts and master long division is no longer part of a competent math teacher’s lesson plans. The order of the day is Whole Math, Discovery Learning, and Investigational Learning, in which increased calculator use is prescribed. This sort of thinking more closely mirrors the content on the open-ended problems on the state tests that the students take. Having to memorize facts gets in the way of the higher-order thinking skills that our students need. How can they develop higher-order skills when they don’t have the basic ones? Hand the kids a calculator already and stop torturing them! Memorization is boring! Using machinery is not. Students love using these gadgets, and the more buttons the better!

I teach special education students. They need adaptive aids to “times” a number. Every one of the kids comes in and picks up a scientific calculator, whether we are going to use them or not. Not one student would dream of coming in and starting his/her class work without it. In the beginning of the year, I show them a few basic functions that are necessary to get started for at least a sixth-grade curriculum. Then, we get started. My students, in the course of the year, complete units involving data analysis (bar graphs, line graphs, picto-graphs, stem and leaf plots, line plots, range, median, mode, mean), geometry (area, perimeter, volume, types of polygons, geometry terms, metric and customary measurement), numeration (fractional operations, decimals, per cent, integers), and simple introductory algebra. Do these units look familiar? Maybe in line with the National Standards? Many special needs teachers only cover the first Standard—Numerical Operations. My students are engaged and active in the process of learning. With their calculators.