A chara, – Why is there a drop in students passing maths and tackling the subject at higher level? Does it come down to the syllabus and teaching methods, or could the root of this problem lie in the excessive use of calculators in secondary schools?
I wonder whether or not students spend more time exercising their fingers, and not their brains, today. From giving grinds, I have encountered, and am shocked at, students using calculators for very simple computations (such as 11 minus five).
Are calculators ironically stripping students of independent thinking and self-reliance, qualities essential for mathematics at honours level?
Instead of depending on calculators for painless problems, why not do away with this mental laziness and start using our neglected brain power.
In these recessionary times, rather than investing millions of euro in Project Maths, let’s be cost-effective and prohibit the excessive use of calculators in maths all the way up to fifth year. You can’t construct a building on a poor foundation. – Is mise,
AMY CROWLEY,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.