38
votes
Why are calculators not allowed in post-secondary exams?
As a professor/teacher I have some insight. You just answered your own question:
"my level of math right now is not basic. So, like many, I tend to forget the basics of math, like adding fractions, ...
- 806
21
votes
Is it a bad idea to offer variants of a final exam based on the type of allowed calculators?
Let's start by saying that I strongly advice against such a dual-exam. Even if you and everyone involved in the planning think it is fair, students might think differently. In this way, you open up ...
- 1,308
21
votes
Why are calculators not allowed in post-secondary exams?
In addition to @BobaFret's answer I'd like like to point out following:
You said:
Before you downvote this question, I actually want an answer to this. Is the calculator going to give me my ...
- 379
17
votes
Why are calculators not allowed in post-secondary exams?
One thing that really freaks me out about students on this site is an apparent inability, at least an unwillingness, to draw ordinary graphs on graph paper, maybe $y = x^3 - 3 x + 2$ or the like. If I ...
- 397
10
votes
A study comparing effects of calculator usage on later math skills?
Studies such as Suydam (1979) indicate that there is not an adverse effect. However, most of the cited studies on the effects go back to the late 70's or early 80's. Anecdotally, as a high school ...
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9
votes
Is it a bad idea to offer variants of a final exam based on the type of allowed calculators?
I think this is a bad idea, because it invites students to try to game the system: those who own a fancy calculator suddenly have to decide if they’re better off using it and taking an exam they think ...
- 11.6k
8
votes
Loaning students calculators during exams
To summarize what I arrived at, based on the top answer on my prior parallel question on SE Academia, OP's #2 is the way to go -- keep a small supply of calculators on hand, but assess a usage penalty ...
- 24.3k
8
votes
Why are calculators not allowed in post-secondary exams?
I very much agree with already posted great answers (I do share most of the same opinions), but I'd like to add something else. Talking about math instruction we're not talking about math only — ...
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7
votes
Rational Powers of Negative Numbers on Basic Calculators
Answer: The calculators are fine, it is the question's premise "$(-8)^{2/3} = 4$" that needs to be fixed.
Now this was a bit polemic, of course. Here's a more detailed description of what I ...
- 1,695
6
votes
If a computer could be programmed to do a math test, then should those tests be changed?
No.
There is a sort of magical thinking implicit here that something needs to stay, be different between computers and people. At the end of the day, we are "meat" computers. And the ...
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4
votes
Why are calculators not allowed in post-secondary exams?
When I taught, we permitted students to have a symbolic calculator at all times. The implication for students of this is that the questions in the exam take this fact into account. When such a ...
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3
votes
Do electronic calculators inhibit mathematical thinking?
I am going to venture an answer here:
Try the calculator. I have had students whose minds were opened by less likely tools, and you never know. You shouldn't be restricted by thinking logically and ...
- 141
3
votes
Best Free Direction Field Plotter?
I found a good example on Desmos: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/jkjgxemmkj
And another on Geogebra: https://www.geogebra.org/m/W7dAdgqc
- 3,927
3
votes
Is it a bad idea to offer variants of a final exam based on the type of allowed calculators?
Wanting your students to learn how to solve problems, instead of having them memorize some formulas and do basic arithmetic by for two hours, is a great goal imo.
The first step towards that goal is ...
- 131
3
votes
Loaning students calculators during exams
Allow the students to use Desmos Test Mode.
The app allows students to lock a phone or other android/iOS device in single-app mode and use the Desmos graphing calculator that we know and love in an ...
- 21.2k
2
votes
Loaning students calculators during exams
In my opinion, all of your decisions should be based on the following question: What is the pedagogical goal?
In my classes, I generally try to focus on the mathematics and on basic (basic) "how ...
- 7,512
2
votes
Loaning students calculators during exams
My intuition is that further penalizing already disengaged students will likely lead them to become even less engaged.
It also sounds like some of these students might not know how to use scientific ...
- 3,927
2
votes
Statistics students lack calculator skills, how to help them?
The answer might be simpler than this. For whatever reason, their prior teachers may have required them the produce "exact" answers, leaving pi or square roots. I'm not going to contradict student's ...
2
votes
Student: Why not use a calculator?
Everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal.
Anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you ...
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2
votes
Is it a bad idea to offer variants of a final exam based on the type of allowed calculators?
Ugh.
There are few things worse than having to prepare different versions of an exam for different cohorts. It's almost impossible to make the exams comparable.
A better solution is to make the ...
- 182
2
votes
Is it a bad idea to offer variants of a final exam based on the type of allowed calculators?
There are already answers suggesting you to make an exam that doesn't require a calculator at all, so I won't elaborate it here.
But if you are concerned about students with different backgrounds and ...
- 21
1
vote
Why are calculators not allowed in post-secondary exams?
In a perfect world, after students learn some new technique they would program themselves how to do it into a computer and then they would be allowed to that computer program to solve problems. The ...
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1
vote
Are there examples of countries where the use of CAS systems or graphing calculators was deemphasized or discontinued?
A small example:
Calculators were allowed on the 1983 (I took it) AP Calculus tests. There had been a long semi-political push to "get technology in". However, students using calculators ...
- 21
1
vote
Are there examples of countries where the use of CAS systems or graphing calculators was deemphasized or discontinued?
New Zealand used to have a CAS version of calculus exams.
old exam example:
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nqfdocs/ncea-resource/exams/2010/90834-exm-2010.pdf
It was actually much harder than the non-CAS ...
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