[MATHEDCC] RE: Tithing and abaci

RWW Taylor (RWTNTS@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU)
Tue, 07 Oct 1997 07:55:58 -0400 (EDT)

Hmm, the Feynmann anecdote is truly thought-provoking.
I am going to have to retract my thinking and naive statements
about how use of an abacus must necessarily promote more
mental facility with numbers and development of number sense
than just pushing digits around on paper (or pushing
calculator keys). It seems that _any_ mechanical means for
computatation can be used mindlessly, without any feel for
the numbers themselves!

If this is so, then we are certainly beating a dead horse when
we blame the shift to calculators for a lack of number sense
in our students. This is clearly something that needs to be
taught _in addittion to_ calculating techniques, probably
starting at a really elementary level. Who is going to put it
into the curriculum, and where, though?



RWW Taylor
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester NY 14623

>>>> The plural of mongoose begins with p. <<<<

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