The controversial issue of students being able to use calculators on tests has been an ongoing debate. There is no proven fact that students who use calculators during tests have no mathematical concept of the criteria given to them. In order to make sure a math problem is sufficiently precise, a calculator is a common tool used to “double-check” the answer for the problem. On a math test, there may be several difficult problems that require several “steps” in order to achieve a solution; a calculator vastly reduces the amount of time required to meticulously solve a complex problem. Since calculators are incapable of showing the steps necessary for solving a problem, teachers can discern whether a student understands the mathematical concepts or not. The concern o
Several teachers require steps to be written down as students attempt to solve the math problems given to them. Since a calculator is incapable of showing the process of deriving the answer, teachers can easily determine a student’s understanding of a math problem if only an answer is placed without steps. It will not be difficult for a teacher to realize the level of a student’s knowledge of the mathematical concepts being tested, when the teacher examines a student’s steps in deriving an answer. Since calculators are lacking in showing work, the only way in determining a student’s understanding, is by a teacher’s scrutinizing examination.
Since tests are mostly based on precision, the calculator is a common tool used to demonstrate precision. Most students a
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