![]() While standard procedures for the four operations (+, -, x, ÷) would still be taught and the basic facts of arithmetic would still need to be mastered, calculators could facilitate the study of number patterns and the absence of tedious calculations would free students up to pose, model and solve interesting and relevant problems. ![]() Teachers had high hopes that calculators would be used in enhancing and extending the learning of mathematics. Studies have found the use of calculators doesn’t reduce the ability to compute in our heads. An earlier US study had found the same: the calculator had no positive or negative effects on the attainment of basic maths skills. Research conducted in response to this found little difference in performance tests whether students used calculators or not. As recently as 2012, the UK government announced it intended to ban calculators from primary classrooms on the grounds that students use them too much and too soon. The controversy has not dissipated over time. Multiplication, basic facts, knowledge would disappear. The sceptics predicted students would not be able to compute even simple calculations mentally or on paper. Thirty years ago calculators promised immense opportunity – opportunity, alas, that brought considerable controversy. ![]() So does this ubiquitous access to calculators affect our ability to do maths in our heads like we used to? Today, we can include computers and smartphones – which are attached to our hip 24/7. Since the 1980s we have had access to calculators of various types.
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