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Calculators subtract math skills, study finds
Monday, May 14, 2001
Cultural differences and the simple use of a common calculator in elementary grades could make or break a math student in later years, a University of Saskatchewan study suggests. In their study, Cognitive Arithmetic Across Cultures, university psychologists Jamie Campbell and Qilin Xue found that calculator use in lower grades is associated with lower skills at math in later years.
The study, released yesterday, compared the math performance and strategies of three groups of students who were either educated in different places or cultures.
Specifically, the psychologists asked Canadian university students in each group -- Chinese educated in China, Chinese educated in Canada, and non-Chinese educated in Canada -- to solve simple and complex arithmetic problems, and to report how they solved them.
Both Chinese groups were better at simple math no matter where they had gone to school, but only the China-educated Chinese students were significantly better at complex math.
"Better performance on the complex arithmetic was associated with lower reported calculator use in elementary and secondary school," Mr. Campbell said.
CP
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