Here is a 20-year-old report from Texas Instruments about the role of the calculator in math education. The report was put out by the same company that has had a near monopoly on calculators in classrooms for years…so it’s not exactly unbiased. However, the report discusses some themes we’ve been discussing this semester.

Read the report, with special attention to the sections:

  • Dispelling the myths
  • Calculators: Elementary School Teachers’ Concerns
  • Graphing Calculators: Issues Affecting Secondary School Teachers and University Professors

Here is an article about some perils of using calculators in the classroom. Read the article with the report in mind.

Write a 5-7 paragraph OpenLab post with the category Graphing Calculator Homework reflecting on the following questions:

  1. Summarize the main points in the report. Summarize the main points in the article.
  2. Do you agree more with the report or with the article? Are you more skeptical of one or the other? Select a few points from each that you agree with or disagree with to support your answer.
  3. Select one of the five myths discussed in the report. Does the article address this myth? How do? If the article does not address this myth, guess how the author of the article would address this myth.