No one uses slide rules today because calculators are better tools for the job. In addition to speeding up computations and allowing for more class time to be spent on learning real mathematics, calculators serve several other important purposes. Several investigations and studies have proven that calculator use makes students more confident about their mathematical ability and the work they are doing, relieves mathematics anxiety, increases persistence and enthusiasm, and improves students attitudes toward mathematics v . Just knowing that they have a calculator to verify their answers improves students performance in problem solving and generates more positive feelings about the activity at hand. Furthermore, the use of graphing calculators has also been shown to close the gender gap, with female students performing as well as male students in most areas when graphing calculators are incorporated into the curriculum vi .
Calculators allow students to become more active learners.
Rather than just sitting back and passively accepting the examples given by the teacher, students are encouraged to develop their own examples and formulate their own hypotheses. Students who were once thought to be poor mathematicians because they were turned off or disabled by tedious, time-consuming computations may now have the opportunity to prove themselves superior when it comes to understanding and problem solving. Calculator use also promotes group work and communication among peers and classmates and, subsequently, the exchange of ideas and conjectures. While it is understandable that parents and some teachers are apprehensive about implementing calculators into mathematics curricula at all grade levels, it is vital that they look at the facts. There is a myriad of research supporting the use of calculators in mathematics classrooms, and the benefits of calculator-use are extensive.