A calculator is a great tool that allows for mathematical exploration and experimentation and thus enhances students’ understanding of concepts. Before I get into the benefits of using calculators in education and how to use them efficiently, I would first like to outline the types of calculators available today.
We can classify calculators into two types. The fist type is a calculator that evaluates expressions. This type is used to replace tedious manual arithmetic with paper and pencil. The second type of calculator is the special function calculator, for example, the graphing calculator, the algebra calculator, the matrix calculator…etc. These calculators are used for concept exploration. Each type of calculator can fit into math education in a unique way and needs syllabi to be specially written to incorporate it into education.
Recent studies show that calculators are valuable tools for mathematics education. Instead of the student spending her time on tedious arithmetic calculations, she can spend her time developing and understanding concepts. Many students in the past have turned away from math because of the long and tedious calculations and the students who were proficient in these calculations were considered good at math. Little attention was paid to the dissolution of concepts. They barely had time to concentrate on the concepts. Today, with the use of calculators, students spend all of their time understanding the concepts and logic behind math. They can relate the concepts to the real life application. The overall educational experience was enriched. That’s why calculators are recommended for all education classes, from kindergarten to college.
Some may argue that in this way the student can become lazy. The answer to this question is to consider that you are giving a problem to an elementary school student who has 100 dollars and went to the market and bought five items of one item for a certain price and three items of another item for another price and paid the 100 dollars then what is the rest you will receive. Now, what is the mathematical quest for this problem? The question here is how to do arithmetic multiplication, addition and then subtraction? Or the question is that the student must know what is going to be multiplied by what and what is going to be added to what and in the end what is going to be subtracted from what? Of course, the math of this problem is the procedure you are going to follow to find the remainder and not the arithmetic process itself. In the past, overwhelming the student with arithmetic operations caused many students to lose the idea and concept behind the problem. Some others did not miss the concept, but were completely disconnected from mathematics due to arithmetic operations.
Here I must emphasize that it is true that calculators are good for education, but still one must know how to make them fit well in the educational process. Students need to know arithmetic hand calculations. They must study how to do it manually. When the main concern of the math problem is how to do the arithmetic, students should only use the calculator to check the answer, that is, to see if it matches their hand calculation.
So the rule for using calculators is that the teacher needs to verify the point of the math problem and the concept that they are teaching. If the calculator is doing lower level work than the concept behind the math exercise, then that’s fine. However, if the calculator is doing the intended job of the exercise, then it should be used only to check the correct answer.
Also, education books should write examples that use calculators to investigate concepts and teachers should guide students in classrooms to show them how to use these examples with calculators to dissolve concepts.