The Importance Of Calculator In Education

Instead of learning the concept, students comprehend what buttons to press; calculators have taken over student actually learning a concept the traditional way. For example, “Korean 13-year-olds are twice as successful as their American peers as solving two-step arithmetical problems [by hand]” (Fisher). Although the arithmetical problems presented were calculating simple averages, the American students were unable to work it out by hand since they would normally plug the numbers into a calculator. If the students are always plugging the numbers into a calculator, they will never be able to perform the concepts mentally. With the reliance on doing the work on a calculator instead of the tradition way, students have lost the appreciation …show more content…
When they do not learn the concept the traditional way first, the students will accept the answer the calculator gives them; they will not know if it is an absurd answer since they have not performed the functions by hand. Also, doing it by hand teaches them what functions should be performed first incase they type digits incorrectly or are missing parenthesis. Not knowing the paper way to perform the problem may allow them look over their mistake and accept the incorrect answer. According to Diane Hunsaker, mathematics tutor and adult-education teacher in Santa Clara, California, found her students who do not see the relation of addition to multiplication have much more difficulty in math than those who do; calculators make this pattern more difficult to see (Hunsaker). Calculator-reliant students are seen to struggle more due to the fact that they are unable to see the patterns that math presents. When students complete their problems solely on a calculator, they struggle to learn the concepts behind the math since the calculator is doing the majority of …show more content…
Their argument is that calculators are at our fingertips constantly, so there is no point solving problems the long way. Although it is a true statement that calculators are constantly available, students should still have the skills to solve the problems the long way. Having the ability to solve the problems the traditional way shows true understanding instead of pressing buttons mindlessly. Another argument is that calculators level the playing field for the students who do not possess the natural skills with math. The issue with this argument is that the students who struggle should not rely on a calculator since doing the problems on a calculator is partially impairing their learning; they may be able to learn the material better if they studied the material without the calculator doing the hard