WP34s Birthday Gift @ ISU

[troll80]

Interesting thread. This entire website is about calculators, yet everyone is agreeing they are the devil (paraphrasing).

I LOVED my HP calculator back in the day & I remember programming a 2x2 matrix solver into it that I felt gave me a probably unfair advantage over the other students and their non-programmable bricks. Not only could I solve 2-equation-2-unknown problems faster, I could rest easy that I didn't make a simple arithmetic error.

I'd be happy if all calculators were banned on engineering exams. Although we've probably all had plenty of experiences in our student & professional lives where calculators save time, and, occasionally, help build understanding (fiddling around with calculations), but I think they're a detriment at exam time.

A story from when I used to tutor high school: a student of mine couldn't find the average of 71 and 72 without a calculator. I should have written the school superintendent and asked him to ban their use!