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Article: Calculators in class: freedom from scratch paper or 'crutch'?(Features)(Learning)(Reform+Technology=)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- May 23, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It's just after 8 a.m., and Jacqueline Stewart is closely monitoring calculator use in her first-hour math class at Okemos High School.
Students are graphing: y=(x-3)n.
"Alright, you can use calculators on this problem," she says with a light Scottish lilt, "but I want you to conjecture about the expected shape [first]."
This isn't just any math class. It is Core-Plus Mathematics, one of only five math programs designated as "exemplary" by the US Department of Education. The course emphasizes real-life problems, group learning, and weaving together subjects from algebra to trigonometry. It also uses calculators. A lot.
Ms. Stewart and ...