For young math students, there is a debate about how often they should be allowed to use a calculator. On one side of the argument, people say that handheld calculators should not be used at all until a certain age; at an arbitrary level, now students have “earned the right” or are Investment and Profitability “old enough” to use calculators for their math homework. Looking at the other extreme, some home school or classroom teachers let their students use calculators for everything. What is the proper way to use calculators when teaching (or learning) math?
There isn’t much debate about what can happen when Investment and Profitability Calculator kids to use the calculator too much, too early. They become dependent Calculator on it, and they get mathematically lazy. If allowed to grab the calculator for a simple operation: 13 X 3, students can get sloppy and after making a mistake, assume the answer on the screen is the correct one.
There are reasons, however, why math students
Investment calculator should use calculators. This can be enabled by classroom teachers or home school teachers correctly to enhance four aspects to the developmental learning of math.
Calculator Use Tip #1: Calculators can help in demonstrating concepts
Being able to key in complicated numbers and investment calculator online operations is sometimes an advantage to learning number patterns or rules. The calculator can be used to prove that larger answers result when multiplying by increasing numbers; smaller answers result when multiplying by amounts between zero and one. Teachers can show patterns to repeating decimals and their relationships to fractions. When exploring linear equation function graphs, students can input different slope values or coefficients to see how the graphs change. The speed of the tool greatly enhances the discovery of patterns or numeric rules. This will be an advantage in the study of Algebra, for example.
Calculator Use Tip #2: Calculators can help to apply real world applications
When students need measure dimensions and apply concepts of area and volume, for example, they can use a calculator. In the real world, things are not measured in whole numbers; dimensions are in reality messy to work with and inexact. In learning a concept, students should first work with simple numbers. Then they move on into decimals and fractions as they encounter examples of real measurements. Studying area, kids will have to work with rational amounts, and solving problems will force them to make calculations quickly and as accurately as possible. The calculator can help with this, and, as part of the learning, students will discover the value of decimal places and significant digits.
Calculator Use Tip #3: Calculators can help in estimation
When doing a measurement problem where the distances are inexact, the calculator can help with the answer, but how does the student know it is correct? This is an opportunity for estimation skills. If the rectangular board measures 12.67 inches by 3.14 inches and you need to find its area, how do you know that your answer cannot be the number showing on your calculator: 72.345? Estimate by rounding the dimensions to 13 by 3 inches, and realize that your answer should be slightly more than 39 square inches. Using calculators is a prime opportunity to reinforce the skill of estimating your answer first, then doing the calculation.