http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=35&objectid=10439403
The New Zealand Herald: nzherald.co.nz
Calculators don't add up
Sunday May 13, 2007
By Catherine Woulfe
NZQA IS taking the first step to phase in controversial "super-
calculators" - maths machines that some experts warn will dumb down
students' understanding of the subject - despite them being previously
banned from all exams.

Computer Algebra System (CAS) calculators can do complex equations in
a fraction of the time it takes on paper. One calculus expert, Vaughan
Mitchell, said it took under a minute to complete an equation on the
calculator that longhand had taken about two or three minutes.
Students would take twice as long, he said.

The devices can also download games; they cost up to $475 - almost six
times more than the most popular current calculators.

The Ministry of Education is two years into a pilot study involving 22
schools. This year, the first batch of students will do a level one
NCEA standard using the calculators. By 2008 and 2009, the exams are
to be extended into levels two and three; and by 2010, the calculators
will be allowed in all NCEA exams.
The ministry's report also noted that the price of CAS calculators
would be "a significant barrier" for some families but suggested
parents' spending priorities were wrong.
During the study, some students downloaded so many games that there
was not enough memory left for the calculator to do maths in class.

The Casio website said many countries were already using the
technology, but New Zealand would be the first to let 13- and 14-year-
olds use it.
Katherine Rich, National's education spokesperson, said the minister
needed to explain how the price barrier would be overcome for parents.
"No one wants to be a technology Luddite, but there would have to be
very good reasons for introducing such technology. There are some
families who are not able to [pay for] opportunities for their
children already... I would hate to think that a bright calculus
student would be disadvantaged simply because they came from a poor
family."

Bali Haque, NZQA's deputy chief executive of qualifications, said the
issue of cost would be addressed "when a decision is made on the final
outcome of the pilot".
"It is important that learning and assessment reflect the realities of
modern life. If calculators are to be used in professional life, it is
important that ways to address this are considered."
Rory Barrett, head of mathematics at Maclean's College in Auckland,
said the new calculators would make the subject "ridiculously easy".

He expressed concern about how long it would take teachers to learn
how to use the calculators, let alone teach with them effectively.
Chris King, a senior mathematics lecturer at Auckland University, said
the calculators let students move on to understanding maths, rather
than slaving over the basics.

He was surprised they had been introduced at NCEA level, but said the
world was becoming more complicated, and students' learning needed to
evolve to keep up.
Mitchell, a former teacher and calculus and physics expert, said: "Ask
almost any secondary math teacher what they feel the important part of
a solution is, and not many will say the answer itself, but in fact
the series of distinct logical steps the student has used to arrive at
their answer. As a learning tool these are very useful, but as an
assessment tool, they are of no use to secondary mathematics as it
stands today."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=35&objectid=10439403

The New Zealand Herald: nzherald.co.nz

Calculators don't add up
Sunday May 13, 2007
By Catherine Woulfe

NZQA IS taking the first step to phase in controversial "super-
calculators" - maths machines that some experts warn will dumb down
students' understanding of the subject - despite them being previously
banned from all exams.

Computer Algebra System (CAS) calculators can do complex equations in
a fraction of the time it takes on paper. One calculus expert, Vaughan
Mitchell, .....