The use of calculators in schools has done little to improve students' problem-solving abilities, according to a new report by the Department of Education and Science.
According to the report, while calculator availability improves student performance in some lower-order mathematical processes, in tests to assess the effectiveness of calculators in schools, students who never used calculators for mathematics homework significantly outscored those who did.
This may be because students of high ability have little need to use a calculator for the types of mathematics homework they are currently required to do.
The report was undertaken by a team from the educational research centre at St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, and the school of education at TCD.
It represents the first phase of a two-part study into the effects of calculator availability on the performance of students in different aspects of mathematics, and on their performance in the Junior Certificate mathematics examinations.
It reveals that students who reported regular usage of calculators in Business Studies schoolwork and homework scored significantly higher than those who did not use calculators.
This suggests that familiarity with calculators plays a significant role in determining their usefulness to students engaged in mathematical tasks.
The report also shows that, while most teachers are not opposed to the introduction of calculators in mathematics work, there remains a small core of mathematics teachers who feel they should not be used in primary or secondary school at all.
The first phase of the report administered mathematics tests to students who had studied the pre-2000 Junior Certificate mathematics syllabus. These students would not have had access to a calculator during their Junior Certificate examination.
In the second phase of the study, due to take place in 2003 and 2004, a sample of third-year students who have studied the revised Junior Certificate syllabus will be tested. By contrast, these students would expect to have access to calculators in their mathematics examination.