A mathematician who contributed to a recent report on Advanced
Placement and International Baccalaureate programs says the report's
editors reversed his judgment of which of the two college-level high
school programs had the better math course...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/26/AR2007112601933.html?nav=rss_print/asection
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The
Secret Gripes of Professor Klein: An AP-IB Drama
...On Klein's side of the argument, he
has the support of some other
mathematicians. His views on calculator use vs. mathematical reasoning
are clear and persuasive. His original reports are at this site.
He says the Fordham cuts in what he had written weakened his
description of the threat to understanding posed by calculator overuse.
He sent me an e-mail from University of Wisconsin mathematician Richard
Askey, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, on that point.
"Students need to use things they sort of know in a number of different
ways to develop flexibility and surer knowledge," Askey said. Letting
them take calculator shortcuts can inhibit the learning process...For a
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