argument essay

Jessica Swanson

Holly Pappas

English 101

April 24, 2012

Argument Essay   

 Are you someone who has always struggled developing basic math skills? Well you are not the only one, suffering from this because this has been stated that it has been a worldwide issue for many years.  Many people are not taught right in basic math and this is when technology affects the teaching of obtaining basic math skills. A lot of people now a days use calculators to figure out the sales price and tax on clothing and other items.  Elementary school students should not be able to use calculators in school until they have thoroughly mastered arithmetic skills.

                I am one that has always struggled in basic math because I was given a calculator at a young age before I even knew how to solve basic math problems like multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.  Since elementary school they would give me a calculator to solve these basic math problems and continued throughout high school.  This problem affected me so much because when it came to taking state tests I couldn’t use a calculator on most of the problems and didn’t know how to divide or multiply on my own which caused me to obtain a low grade. Then when I got to college I had to take a basic math class and heard that I couldn’t use a calculator for most of the chapters.  When I heard I couldn’t use a calculator I got so scared that I wouldn’t be able to pass without the help of a calculator. I was so frustrated that I had to learn arithmetic’s in college when I could have learned it when I was younger.  Knowing that this has been an issue for a long time helps me know that I am not the only one.

            Some may argue that calculators are okay to use before students in elementary school have thoroughly mastered arithmetic skills.  Some may say that students can get more practice on solving problems with the use of calculator using whatever operation that is presented in the problem.  Yes students can get more practice with math problems but they don’t learn the steps of solving the operation in the problem.  Also some may believe that students gain confidence in their mathematical skills by using a calculator. (“Erin McCauliff”)  I agree that students gain confidence in math by using a calculator because I felt the same way in school.  However I relied on it too much, therefore when it came to solving math problems without a calculator my confidence in math went down a lot.  Therefore students should not be able to use a calculator until they have thoroughly mastered their arithmetic skills.                    

 There are many concerns that teachers and parents have when a calculator is introduced to a child before having basic math skills.  Teachers and parents panic that students will lack simple math problems and effect them from solving everyday math problems without a calculator if they introduce calculators into the program.  Parents and teachers state the concern and question of the use of calculators: “We don’t see how that is going to strengthen students’ ability to do any mathematical operations.  Indeed, why should the student bother to learn any mathematics at all, so as long as he can get a machine to think for him?”  (“Calculators”).  I have always had that question in my head as I went through my math classes in elementary through high school.  Therefore I believe in everyone’s concern in the use of calculators.  Also students can lose confidence in solving math problems on their own when they are given a calculator even when they are just checking answers.  I believe in this 100% because this happened to me when I was given a calculator and I got lazy and too attached to the calculator that I relied on it too much. Then when I had to take a math class in college without a calculator I didn’t have confidence in myself.

           Also using calculators in school before learning arithmetic can affect your future.  It can affect students when they move on into college.  In most classes for basic math students are not allowed to use calculators.  That was the position I was in and don’t want to see other kids go through that because it was very frustrating.  There are schools that made a prerequisite for students to know basic math before enrolling in the school.  For example, in 1745 Yale College was the first American school that made a prerequisite for students to be able to add, multiply, divide, and subtract before applying for any classes.  Not only does it affect your education but it can also affect you when dealing with money and paying bills. “The 1972-73 National Assessment of Mathematics, part of a nationwide educational testing program conducted every five years, found that 92 percent of 17 year-olds and 86 percent of adults could correctly add a series of dollar-and-cents figures.  At the same time, a three-digit decimal subtraction problem was computed correctly by 78 percent of teenagers and 74 percent of the adults. Yet only one percent of the 17 year-olds and 16 percent of the adults could solve a moderately complicated checkbook balancing problem.”  (“Calculators”)  This shows that not learning properly can affect teenagers and adults later on in their life.  Also in the article that was written in 2011 it says that, “Almost 17 million adults have the math skills of a nine year old.” Also, “at least two million have the math and literacy skills of a five year old.  According to the Skills for Life survey, which questioned 7,000 adults, the problem is getting worse.” (“Calculator ban on young pupils”)  It seems as though the usage of calculators has been going on for a long time and the problem is still not solved.

 I interviewed my aunt who teaches algorithms along with many other strategies that foster the students overall number sense in a fifth grade classroom. These strategies focus on multiply ways to solve a problem and allowing the students to pick strategies that work for him/her.  In her class the students are rarely allowed to use calculators and are only allowed to use calculators in the graphing unit because they have more complex problems.  In these problems they have to take a fraction and turn it into a whole number and then turn it into a percent and then a decimal. 30% of her class struggle with multiplying, dividing, addition, and subtraction. The students that struggle with this mostly make a silly mistake with one of the basic facts or forget the process of the operation they are using. I also asked her opinion of the use of calculators.  She believes that students should not use calculators for simple equations because they are not gaining any awareness of overall number sense or place value.    Also that calculators cannot become an aid for elementary school students.