zlacker

>>lewisf+(OP)
Has math education actually improved with the introduction of calculators? Easy and equitable solution would be to remove them from classes and tests.

>>WillPo+li
Has introducing students to a programmable computer dedicated to math improved math education? Yes, yes it has. Writing a program to automate certain computations certainly helps your understanding better than performing said computations by rote multiple times.

>>knolax+Uo
How often do high school students actually use graphing calculators to write programs? If it's only one day a year, then they can do that by going to the computer lab. I have doubts that graphing calculators provide any educational value except in rare instances. Are those rare instances worth every student having such an expensive thing for several years?

>>lopmot+Os
> How often do high school students actually use graphing calculators to write programs?

In my experience that's where all the time saved by automating rote calculation went. Maybe this is a generational thing but for a lot of my peers Ti-84s were their first experience with programming. It's probably the only context where most students are exposed to computing that doesn't involve always connected data-harvesting.

> going to the computer lab

A student has no incentive to write programs if they aren't actually going to use them.

> Are those rare instances worth every student having such an expensive thing for several years?

I remember buying mine at a flea market for literally a quarter. TI-84s have been around for so long that they're really only expensive if you're hellbent on only buying new. Every garage sale and Goodwill in the country has at least one of these for cheap.