Quote:
Originally Posted by Daradon
To be fair the curriculum has changed quite a bit since then. I remember having to get a graphing calculator for high school. The teachers aren't worried if you know your basic facts, because you already should. They just want to see if you can properly work through problems. If you don't know the equations you should use, or how to simplify them it doesn't matter what you plug into your calculator, your still wrong.
Not to say you guys didn't have to do algebra or trig like that, just that math courses have changed, and I dare say, gotten more complex in 50 years.
Sadly, I will agree there are still some kids (and adults)who can't do their basic facts. I always had fun with those. But like spell check, I guess it's something that machines have taken over.
Anyone who is serious about math will know their basic facts. Just like
anyone who is serious about writing will know how to spell.
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Math has not gotten more complicated in the last 300 years. At least until you are in your 3rd year of a math degree at Universitiy. High School math is roughly 2000 years since the last major advancement.
In my opinion allowing calulators into a Math class is one of the worst things you can do. You don't need a graphing calculator to graph Hyperbolic and Parabolic equations. You don't need a calculator to do Trig (provided carefully chosen questions are used).
When I was in university (10 years ago) the prof gave out a grade 10 math test from the 60's. 70% of the students failed it.