Effect of Calculators on the Performance of Students

Keith Henrich Chua Harwin Maynard Chen Patrick Jason Isaac Jill Andrelene Li Miguel Paulo Maceda David Jonathan Ordonez De La Salle University Manila Term 1, SY 2009 2010 Soctec2

Introduction
From simple to complex, everything comes from the basics. Toddlers are first said to take it unhurriedly when it comes to solving their simple multiplications, taking the long-cut instead of the short for the purpose of honing and widening their understandings of the lessons being conferred. As students grow mature, they begin to see and uncover other ways of solving mathematical equations for the reason that they start to learn higher degree of mathematics, this is where the use of scientific calculators come into play. Scientific calculators were invented to aid its users to solve problems with accuracy and speed. However, this poses both negative and positive sides in affecting the learning capacity, behavior and outlook of its users. Consumers of this tool are somehow more focused in analyzing and solving higher degrees of calculation. Computer software is a good metaphor of scientific calculators because like scientific calculators, computer software does the basic calculations leaving the users to focus more on the analytic side of the equation. At the same time, the users can give out their full conviction for the device because it is programmed to have zero error. On the other hand, because of this advancement, consumers tend to put a massive amount of trust in this product that they somehow become dependent to it. Along with dependency comes the behavior of being indolent or lazy. Sometimes, consumers tend to forget how to solve manually thus turning this dependency into a necessity. Statement of Problem Does the use of scientific calculators have a more negative effect on students in terms of their behavior, physical and learning capacity? The group wants to know if the use of scientific calculators is more beneficial to students or if students are better off without it. It was stated earlier that the learning capacity can greatly be affected due to the dependency and laziness developed with its use. However, it was weighed out because of the said advantage on analytical focus for its users. Alongside the behavioral and mental sectors, the group also wishes to know if there are any physical pains experienced with its use. Hypothesis The group answers yes to the question above since the group believes that there can be more negative effect on students behavior, physical health and learning capacity by using the scientific calculator than vice versa.

I.

Objectives
At the end of the research, the group must complete the following objectives:

To know if students experience discomfort or physical pain in using scientific calculators. To know the negative and positive effects in using scientific calculators to students. To know the insights and perception of its users. To prove/disprove the hypothesis.

II.

Methodology
This research is a quantitative type of research. A qualitative and quantitative research

differs in the type of data that will be collected and the analysis of the data itself. The data collected in a quantitative research are actual numbers, percentages from the experience or observations of the people. Meanwhile, in a qualitative research, researchers, in some instances, should immerse with the subjects and experience their lifestyles in order to collect the data required. There are different ways of collecting data from the subjects. Some of these ways include: Observation, interviews, questionnaire surveys, internet surveys, participation of the researchers and others. The group chooses surveying as the way to collect data since the paper itself is a quantitative type of research and it is the most common and fastest way to collect data. This also ensures that all students answering the survey will be inside the limitation of our scope since the group members are the ones giving out the survey. One critical factor in gaining data from a large group of students is thru proper sampling technique. Different kinds of sampling technique includes: maximal variation sampling, homogenous sampling, critical sampling, according to reputation and according to theory sampling. These are some of the most common sampling techniques. According to reputation technique uses the data given by the experts since these data will be more accurate due to the experience of the experts and their knowledge. The group chooses according to reputation

sampling over the other sampling techniques assuming that most College of Engineering students use their scientific calculators more frequently that other colleges in De LaSalle University. Therefore, the group has limited the scope of study/research to the different engineering courses of the College of Engineering as a result of sampling technique stated earlier. After the data of the surveys are collected, pie charts will be made using Microsoft Word 2007 to show the distribution of answers as stated in the surveys.

III. Results
Survey Questions 1.) Do you possess a scientific calculator? 2.) Do you still use your calculator for simple equations? (Such as x / + -) 3.) Do you think people have gotten lazy because calculators are being used? 4.) Do you experience any pain in using your calculator? 5.) Do you think that a calculator can be used to cheat? 6.) Have you ever cheated on a particular test using your calculators? 7.) Do you think you can survive your course without a scientific calculator? 8.) Do you think having a scientific calculator which has multiple functions greatly increases your learning capacity? 9.) Do you feel envious of someone who has a more advance calculator than your own? 10.) Are you satisfied with the current functions of the calculator? 11.) Do you want a scientific calculator that has a higher quality? Response Yes No 30 25 13 2 25 10 2 20 0 5 17 28 5 20 28 10

5 24 21

25 6 9

IV. Discussion
Impact Assessment Instrument Personal + 1.) Physical Enhances brain activity due to critical thinking when solving problems The brain is exercised and the muscles for the fingers are being utilized Increases the time allotted for studying since time for calculations are significantly reduced to a minimum Contributes to different kinds of stress to the user especially when the calculator cannot give the correct answer because it has exceeded its limitations Some may experience physical pain due to excessive usage for extended periods of time Time for co-curricular activities is lessened because there is much greater schoolwork to be done which involves usage of calculator excessively + Communal -

Health

Same as personal

Same as personal

Fitness

Same as personal

Same as personal

2.) Social An unjust division of Because computations labor for groups for problems are done would exist since much efficiently group some individuals tend studying is encouraged to slack off and let this in turn strengthens other group mates do the bond among peers all the computations Cheating with the use of calculators among peers is easier to do since a calculator is legal to be used in exams, the answer can be transmitted in calculator screens and can be distributed with great ease

Social Interaction

3.) Behavioral Increases the learning capacity of Due to the increased a student since Cheating with the use of capacity to learn getting an answer calculators would come students are inclined to with the calculator into being since it is easy build a foundation in makes an individual to store data for future order to learn as a enthusiastic to use community and not continue on with just individually the work

Student Behavior

Work Efficiency

A faster rate of doing work will be developed since using the calculator is very easy

The dependency on calculators would ensue and without it working through problems would be a very hard task for the student The more advanced functions have been transformed into buttons and the logic behind these functions are taken over and the foundation and essence of learning are disrupted ANALYSIS OF SURVEY

Same as personal

The competency of the community will be lessened since all the manual labor is solved by the calculator

4.) Technological The technological advancement of calculators help the students much more because advanced functions are readily available

Technological Advancements

Same as personal

Same as personal

In the survey given by the group to the engineering students, each question made has its own unique characteristic and it tackles 1 of the 4 aspects of technology on society namely, physical aspect, social aspect, behavioral aspect and the technological aspect. The survey consists of 11 questions and answerable by a Yes or No because the group decided on using a qualitative approach for gathering the data needed. Using a pie graph to show the results of the data per question with its corresponding percentage is enough to know what the engineering students think of scientific calculators.

D you posessa scientific o calculator?

0% Yes No 100%

In question # 1, the purpose of asking this type of question is that to whether know the people asked by the group to answer the survey are truly using the calculator and if such would

be viable for the group to use the data to prove the hypothesis true. Based on the pie graph and its percentage, it shows that 30 out of 30 students are using the calculator in school and that all answers for the succeeding questions are qualified to be used in the research.

D you still useyour calculator o for sim equations? ple (S asx/ +-) uch
17% Yes No 83%

In question # 2, this question was conducted in order to know if whether the people have become too dependent on calculators, an example of which wherein they would use a calculator to solve a mathematical problem that is easy and could be solvable by mental means. Based on the data, it shows that about 83% of the people use a calculator just to compute simple mathematical equations and from that the group concluded that being exposed to the use of calculators for a long period could have an effect on the students ability to do compute mental equations easily.

Do you think people have gotten lazy because calculators are being used?
43% 57% Yes No

In question # 3, the reason behind why this question was asked was that the group wants to know the effects of technology on the behavioral aspect. Knowing what people think about

themselves and about others when they are used to having scientific calculators as their aid in surviving engineering life. It clearly shows from the statistics above that 43% said yes and 57% said no from the survey conducted. Based from that, the group can conclude that people do not get lazy when calculators are used, though it does not mean that people do not get lazy when they are using calculators because it shows that 43% said yes that people are getting lazy because of calculators.

D you experience anypain in o usingyour calculator?

7% Yes No 93%

In question # 4, the wants to know whether the frequent use of calculators have an effect on the students on the physical aspect. Knowing if people are experiencing any pain or have developed any syndromes would be helpful in making conclusions and recommendations to prevent such. Though it shows that 93% said no that they do not feel any physical or emotional pain thus could be concluded that no syndromes could be developed and that it would take more than frequent use of calculators for a student to experience any pain from using it.

In question # 5, the group targeted on knowing also the behavioral aspect of its effects on students. The group wants to know if whether the student would have knowledge or insight about their calculators could be used as a tool in any cheating related activities. In the survey results, 83% said yes that it is possible for students to cheat and because of which the group concluded that having scientific calculators during an exam or any other it is possible to cheat using such means and could have an effect on the academic performance of a student.

Have you ever cheated on a particular test using your calculator?

33% Yes 67% No

For question # 6 it is a follow up question from question # 5, which also tackles the behavioral aspect. Knowing that it is possible to cheat in an activity or not, would the student be willing or have done it. Only around 1/3 of the survey said yes, and the remaining 2/3 said no. This is somewhat the opposite of the previous question related to cheating. It shows that knowing the there is a way to cheat in any activity, engineering students refuse to stoop to such activity and risk getting caught which would have a negative effect on them for their college life.

Do you think you can survive your course without a scientific calculator? 7%
Yes No 93%

In question # 7, a different aspect was targeted and this was the effects of technology to society on a psychological aspect. Knowing what people think about certain objects and how they perceive it to be in their life would be an aid for the group to fully understand the effects of a certain technological device to society. As shown in the pie graph, it clearly shows that 93% said no that they could not survive their course without any calculator does could be said that there is an attachment developed between technology and society and that one could not survive without the other. Though on an educational perspective, it shows that calculators are essential in for the academic survival of a student especially in Engineering.

In question # 8, the group decided to know whether having not just a normal calculator that could do functions such as add, subtract, divide and multiply is enough to enhance their learning capacity or otherwise. From the data gathered and represented as a pie graph, it shows that around 80% of the people who answered the survey said yes that having multiple functions for a calculator would increase their learning capacity. With the knowledge that students from the College of Engineering require calculators that has multiple functions, the group can conclude that most students prefer calculators that has many capabilities as to that of a normal calculator that has limited functions. It could be also said that students have become so dependent on calculators that they would require it for them to increase their learning capacity.

In question # 9, the group surveyed students on what their insights on how would they feel if they would see someone who has a better calculator than them. The group would like to see this from a psychological perspective, and based from the results it shows that people are not envious of other people who have better calculator. The group concluded that students are contented with what they have now and does not seek for more.

For question # 10, it is just a follow up question from question # 9 on whether they are satisfied with their current model/brand of calculator. The results from question # 10 should be similar from that of question # 9, and it clearly shows true. People are satisfied with what their current calculators have in terms of functionality.

The last one, which question # 11 talks about the technological aspect wherein knowing if whether people would desire an even more sophisticated model that has almost the same functions as that of a computer. Based from the results, 70% said yes thus could be concluded that people would even want a better quality for a calculator for reasons unknown.

Calculators
Calculator is defined as an electronic/mechanical device utilized performing mathematical computations. The numerical tool called calculator was invented in the early 1980s and began to appear in elementary arithmetic classrooms. Its overture began to spread a controversy that questioned its effect on the learning capacity of the students. It was invented by a development panel organized at Texas in 1996, introducing the very first calculator that was said to later help alter to betterment the lives of the massive population. This invention paved the way for the ease in performing simple mathematical computations quickly and accurately than calculating manually. This tool helped develop the mathematical capabilities of students, businesspersons, etc. Because of this innovation, interest in calculators grew swiftly over the past twenty-five years. Hand-held calculators instantly became the fastest & most effective way in solving mathematical problems, perceived by many as a device that can compute and formulate solutions with ease.. It was stated in an encyclopedia that a calculator is a piece of equipment that is utilized for performing mathematical computations. This tool has a limited problem solving capability and an interface optimized for interactive calculation rather than

programming, compared to the computer which specializes in programming and performing different tasks other than calculating. Calculators can be seen as a hardware or software, mechanical or electronic, and are often built into devices such as PDAs or phones. It was also stated that up to date electronic calculators are generally small, digital, and usually inexpensive. In addition to general purpose calculators, there are those designed for specific markets; for example, there are scientific calculators which focus on operations slightly more complex than those specific to arithmetic examples are trigonometric, statistical and iterative calculations. Another type of calculator is the graphing calculator, it can be used to graph functions defined on the real line, or higher dimensional Euclidean space. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, although most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators. This tool of ease did not manage to get the approval of the members of the National Council of the Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), NCTM reasoned out & stated that Technology should not be used as a replacement for basic understandings and intuitions; rather, it can and should be used to foster those understandings and intuitions. .Many organizations appeal to the aid of using calculators at all levels in algorithmic instructions, supporting concept development, reducing demand for memorization, enlarging the scope of problem solving, providing motivation, and encouraging discovery, exploration and creativity. Today, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has decided to take the side of the calculator-based instruction and stated that the calculator can and should be used in all arithmetic classrooms, as long as they are implemented appropriately. Proper management of calculator-based instructions can pave the way for the further lengthening of the students understandings in math topics. This can also provide the students supplementary access to substantially rich problems Most problems do not require the utilization of graphing capabilities from a calculator because graphing calculators are generally used by specialty courses with relations to this kind of function. For example, graphing calculators are only used in AP Calculus courses and some college courses. Scientists and Engineers do not use calculators but rather their software in computers. They excel in picturing out a much larger scale in computing data using a computer rather than calculators. The basic fact is that the calculators are limited only to small-scale computations and iterations.

Scientific calculator is a calculator with the following abilities:

Raising numbers to arbitrary powers (usually via a y^x button); Taking arbitrary roots; Calculator the log base 10 and the natural logarithm; Raising the number e to a power; Doing trigonometric and inverse trig functions; Doing basic statistical calculations (mean, standard deviation) Doing multi-level calculations using parentheses.

If a calculator is not portable then it is possible that its not easy to utilize, this implies that one must buy calculators which can easily be used and can easily be knowledgeable of. A good calculator is a tool that can prove its usefulness for a long period of time. It is possible to spend much and get a calculator that may be extra bulky or complicated that one could not make use of it; just as it is possible to spend a small amount of money and get one that does not do what it was made to do. One must learn how to spend money on buying a calculator and how to analyze on what kind of calculator one should invest on. It was stated in an article by the Eisenhower Southwest Consortium for the Improvement of Mathematics and Science Teaching, that calculators should be used in the classroom for many reasons: Calculators assist students at all levels learn mathematically complicated material. Even young children can use calculators to focus on the ideas behind computation rather than on the act of calculating. Rather than hindering ones mathematical learning capacity, calculator use can actually improve student achievement in mathematics, according to research. Students are now allowed to use calculators in national examinations for college assessment.

Figure III (Reys & Reys, 1998)

Computational Tool Mental Computation

Written Computation

Estimation

Calculator

Primary (Gr. K-2) Intermediate (Gr. 3-5) Middle Grades (Gr. 6-8) Students are Students are encouraged to use mental encouraged to develop computation when efficient for whole number, and use invented fraction, and decimal computation. computational strategies and to record work, as needed. Students develop Students develop efficient algorithms for efficient algorithms for whole number fraction and decimal computation. Standard computation. Standard algorithms are algorithms are introduced as introduced as one one method. method. Students are Students develop and share a variety of encouraged to make strategies to produce computational estimates and to sense of data and answers judge the reasonableness of answers. and to develop strategies for estimating in measurement settings. Students use a calculator to explore patterns and relationships with numbers and operations and as an efficient tool to do complex computations associated with solving problems.

V.

Conclusion & Recommendations

The research analysis was carried out to determine the effects of the calculators on

students acquisitions of operational and problem-solving skills, as well as the students attitude towards the subject being learned. The research conducted may not fully address to the inquiries that have been raised by arithmetic instructors so further calculator-based research is recommended. Having to consider the different grade distributions for different grade levels, length of calculator availability should increase directly proportional with respect to the increase of their grade levels. Calculators should especially be emphasized during the instructions in schools to increase students success in problem solving as well as more positive attitudes toward mathematics because students abilities to select the appropriate problem solving strategies were not hindered by the calculators role in the testing operations and instruction. The problem solving skills of the students can further be optimized under conditions where special curriculum/teaching materials of the professor integrates the use of the scientific calculators inside the classroom instructions and when there is a use of special graphing calculators. Permitting the students to use scientific calculators in mathematics may result in better attitudes towards the subject matter, because these factors were not obstructed by the usage of scientific calculators. In order for this technology to have supporting positive impacts on students mathematical learning capacities, the instructors must mandatorily be knowledgeable as to how to put the calculator into practice. The calculator should be used as a supplement to learning, not as a replacement for learning computational algorithms. When comparing students who has and does not have a calculator, these conclusions were made: The calculator had no significant effects on students conceptual knowledge of mathematics; the calculator had a positive influence on students attitudes towards mathematics, when calculators were part of the

assessment process, the computational and problem-solving skills of students of low and average ability improved. In the survey conducted during the experiment, the group discovered how people looked at the view of developing technology with respect to calculators. The groups finding demonstrated that the chosen students were particularly generally dependent to the scientific calculator with respect to their courses. The survey also put in to picture how the calculator satisfied the students learning capacity because 80% of the surveyed individuals confessed that they learned more when the calculator was introduced to them. This innovation also sadly altered the behavior of some (83% of the surveyed individuals) and led them into thinking that this innovation can be used in cheating, and others (33.33% of the surveyed individuals) actually used their calculators as a medium of dishonesty in testing and in quizzes. The group also discovered that almost half of the surveyed individuals thought that they became lazy because of their use of the calculator. According to an article by Hembree & Dessart in 1992, it was stated that calculators, though generally beneficial, may not be appropriate for use at all times, in all places, and for all subject matter. This informs us that calculators should not be used in each and every calculation or subject matter, although the number of classrooms not incorporating calculators has diminished significantly over the past few years.

VI. Reference
A Meta - Analysis of the Effects of Calculators on Students Achievements and Attitude Level in Precollege Mathematical Classes. Retrieved July 14, 2009 from http://www.cited.org/library/site/ellington%2003%20metaanalysis%20calculator %20use.pdf Methodology Tutorial Qualitative Data Acquisition Methods (n.d.) Edutech Wiki. Retrieved July 14, 2009 from http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Methodology_tutorial__qualitative_data_acquisition_methods#Qualitative_data_acquisition_methods Calculator (n.d.). Wikipedia-The Free Encyclopedia Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculators Calculators in the Classroom (n.d.). Eisenhower Southwest Consortium for the Improvement of Mathematics and Science Teaching Retrieved July 15, 2009, from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/quick-takes/qt_calculators.pdf