Timeline for Is there a virtue to learning how to compute by hand?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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| Oct 8, 2023 at 7:37 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 29, 2023 at 18:57 | comment | added | Timothy Chow | @The_Sympathizer Yes, I agree. I think that for the vast majority of people, it's nearly impossible to gain a conceptual understanding of a computation without acquiring the ability to carry out the computation by hand. This applies not just to basic arithmetic, but to all levels of mathematics and computer science. Confronted with a new algorithm, even a professional mathematician or computer scientist will often work through a simple example by hand, just to make sure they have a full understanding of it. If you can't work out simple instances by hand, then you must not fully understand it. | |
| Apr 22, 2023 at 6:43 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 21, 2023 at 22:06 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 21, 2023 at 21:43 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 2, 2021 at 15:41 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 7, 2021 at 3:32 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 5, 2021 at 1:45 | comment | added | The_Sympathizer | This is very much what I thought. I was appalled when I heard that they were phasing out hand arithmetic in favor of calculators because "you need to emphasize conceptual reasoning". Yes, you do, "but dammit, you don't get it - it's both/AND! not either/XOR!" The most headpoppish thing and I'm not at all surprised at what the results of this have been. Seriously, if you can't even multiply one-digit numbers ... sheesh. | |
| Mar 3, 2021 at 20:50 | comment | added | Wowfunhappy | I wish that when I was in grade school, I'd been made to practice much more mental math and much less how to solve things with a pencil and paper. As an adult, it is much easier for me to grab a calculator than to sheet of paper, but doing a calculation in my head (even if it's an approximation) is easier than both. I also think it would have helped my "number sense" way more; I'm not really convinced e.g. long division helps with that at all. | |
| Mar 3, 2021 at 14:55 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 3, 2021 at 9:50 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 3, 2021 at 7:35 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 3, 2021 at 6:38 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 2, 2021 at 22:29 | comment | added | Greenstick | This is a great answer. Though I think you hinted at it, I’d like to make it explicit that, in my mind, there’s an element of psychological stance around how you engage with any problem mathematical or otherwise. Do you try and solve it yourself, or do you immediately reach for the person or tool closest that you think can solve it for you? When you’re young and learning, an emphasis on the former is crucial; placed on the exploration versus exploitation axis (often discussed in the context of learning systems), a student should seek to explore what they can do, not exploit the nearest tool. | |
| Mar 2, 2021 at 16:38 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 2, 2021 at 14:45 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 2, 2021 at 12:34 | comment | added | Austin Hemmelgarn | I strongly second this, and am distinctly reminded of a high school math class where my peers were dumbfounded that I could do 2x2 matrix multiplication with small integers faster in my head than they could on a calculator (and for that matter that I could do trig problems on a slide rule faster than they could on a calculator). | |
| Mar 2, 2021 at 8:01 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 2, 2021 at 7:38 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 2, 2021 at 6:31 | history | edited | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 2, 2021 at 6:22 | history | answered | ryang | CC BY-SA 4.0 |