how does this sound? report for math class..(english too) & how do i make it better..if needed much help?

Question

Calculators may help a students’ growth in knowledge at an earlier age, with calculators, a student may learn mathematical concepts such as long division at lower grade levels. If a student has a choice whether he or she would like to use a calculator, that student would most likely finish his or her homework more expediently, and would have a better chance of receiving a more accurate grade. Over the years, the use of calculators continues to increase. The reasoning for this, I believe is because it basically proves that a student knows what he or she is doing by how they do on their grades. For instance, in a survey of 600 colleges and universities, 85% of mathematic classes had the opportunity to use calculators. In a survey of 146 middle and high schools, 74% of students could use calculators. Although it turns out to be true that calculators sometimes seem to be used when a student does not know how to do the math problem by hand.

this is only part of what i did..

ummm i may be only 16 but im pretty sure student's is student is Furthermore, a student's more reliable to the circumstance. students' Yes ma'am, but i can not take that, it is the students'...but then again.. i have been proven wrong..idk im confused now?

i am talking about more than one student, im going to update this tomorrow..im dead tired, i've been working on this since 9 pm and its 12 am..so im sure i have many errors i'll discover tomorrow! night/morning people! heh

Answer 1

As for the paper itself:
For this line: "Calculators may help a students’ growth in knowledge at an earlier age, with calculators, a student may learn mathematical concepts such as long division at lower grade levels." I would say "without" calculators, a student may...

The world “expediently” is a fairly complex one, not one for a 7th grade education, which is the level that most newspapers use. I don’t know what class you are writing for, but if you try to use real big words then you sound pretentious. Worse if you miss use a complex word then you can sound stupid.

As for how to continue the paper, I recommend this:
In the lower grades it is wise to teach the students how to perform math functions by hand. But, education cannot deny the existence of calculators and computers it can only adapt.

In the Middle Ages and earlier most people still counted on their fingers. Complex things like algebra were only taught at the college level, if they were taught at all. To most people simple algebra was just like magic. As our education system advanced more and more people learned algebra. Today most adults can perform basic algebra, and do calculations that would surprise people from the Middle Ages. If we want to advance in the education of science of math we have to teach more math at younger ages. We need to build a stronger foundation for math. Just as modern students don't use their fingers any more we allow students to use calculators. With the invention of the PDA and the Blackberry computers will soon be available to everyone and that will make basic math even easier to perform.

If we can compress the instruction of the simple math functions down to only a few grade levels then we can introduce the higher math operations earlier. This will lead to calculus courses being common in High School. Which will improve the average person's understanding of complex math. True, not every student needs (or wants) calculus in High School, but the time now used for teaching algebra can be used to teach other subjects.

The United States ranks poorly in testing, especially when compared to European students. If we want to recapture the lead in science and math we need to improve our education system. This could be done with our use of what is already common; the calculator. If calculus were taught in High School, than the college bound student could use the time saved for more advanced math. The more people that understand advanced math increases the chance of more people making break throughs in the sciences and other fields that are based on advanced math. When our general understanding of a topic increases more people can handle it and use it.

Before computers accountants used long ledger forms. When something changed on the ledger the accountants had to recalculate those changes by hand. With the invention of calculators that job was faster, but still very slow. One of the very first computer programs ever written for the PCs was a spreadsheet program. Now days the spreadsheet is common and it makes it much easier to use them. Even laypersons can take advantage of and use spreadsheets. This allows the accountants to spend more time on other issues. It also makes it easier for people learning accounting, and allows them to take more advanced accounting classes. It also saves countless hours that were spent in erasing then recalculating, then writing the new values into the ledger. Furthermore since more people can create and use their own ledgers it makes it easier for them to handle their finances. Quicken is just one example of such a program. Accounting is just one small aspect of math, but you can see, with this example, that the use of calculators and computers has radically changed the field.

Computers are in most schools and homes. If a person attends college they almost have to have one to complete their assignments. The Internet has radically changed the way research is done. Research that took hours in the 20th century with only a few books from one library can now be done in minutes with access to thousands of articles and databases. This makes writing a simple research paper a breeze. Just as the Internet has compressed the time required to research a topic and the computer spreadsheet has compressed the time required to do simple accounting, the use of calculators at an early age will allow the education system to compress the time it takes to learn basic math. Time which can be well used to improve our student's over all education and return the United States to a competing force in the modern world.

If you use this information, especially the original work that I wrote then you need to credit me (Danscififan) and Yahoo Answers. As long as you adapt what I wrote and include your own ideas then it will be a good paper.

I was inspired by this thought after an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation when a grade school kid claimed that he would never understand calculus. Implying that this was a normal class given to people of his age. This is an example of the compression trend that I was talking about. Another example is in physics. To use the formulas you have to understand algebra. If the student doesn't learn algebra first then they have a harder time learning physics. I took a Physical Science class in the early 1970s, when I was in Junior High School. Because we were just learning algebra we had to waste time memorizing all the variations of the simple formulas of movement, acceleration, and electricity. To memorize all the variations of the simple formula E=mc^2 you would have to memorize one formula for each equation, so you would also need to memorize m = E/c^2. If you know algebra then you can get by with one formula and understand the relationship between the variables better.

I had a sudden break through in a college Statics and Dynamics class. I was learning how to calculate the stress and strains in a beam. For a contractor this is very important, how else do you know what kind of weight the beam can support. As we got further in the class we learned how to figure where the forces would be the strongest, and what kind of twisting force would be applied in each beam. I discovered that each higher equation was an Integral of the lower equations, so I only needed to know the base equation. If I hadn't had a calculus course I would never have known that, I wouldn't even know what an Integral was.

A person told me that every single formula used in physics is based on F=ma (Force = mass X acceleration). With that formula you can derive the velocity formula and the acceleration formula, they are all related through a calculus function. Isaac Newton invented physics; his basic equation is used today by rocket scientists to calculate the course of modern spacecraft. Isaac Newton’s formulas lead to all the formulas I learned in Fluid Dynamics (how air and liquids flow) and Statics and Dynamics. The Effile tower would have been impossible to build if not for Isaac Newton. While creating the science of physics he also invented calculus (he needed it figure out the advanced physics formulas). In his day algebra was an advanced college program. In my day algebra was introduced in Junior High School, and I got up to calculus in High School (only by taking an advanced program). If we could teach algebra in Grade School then we could teach calculus basics in Junior High School, and calculus in High School. When I went to college every Engineer had to take calculus and any math courses that they need to understand calculus. In my case that was two additional classes. So that limited the number of courses an engineer could take. By having calculus in High School I was able to take more advanced math courses in college and so learn more and be better able to operate better in the real world.

Einstein was a poor math student he was bored, because for him the math was too basic and too simple. He made some outstanding discovers in Physics. Imagine how much further he could have gotten if he had calculus in High School. Back then calculus was only available as an advanced class in college, and to understand Einstein’s math then you need one or two additional calculus classes. Imagine how far he could have gotten if he had a calculator or a computer.

Your report is a good start, but you need to take it to the next level. When I was in Grade School the 6-function calculator was a new invention. When I got to High School Geometry we had to graph functions by hand. Now students use graphing calculators to do the work and can handle 5 times as many problems as I could in the same time.

Good luck and please tell me what you use out of my thoughts. You can contact me through my Avatar. I would also like to know what grade level you are at.

NOTE: I used Microsoft Word to write this answer. I have horrible spelling and it catchs the spelling and grammer errors and will work for an article as long as this one. A student of your age should have computer access and be able to use a Word Processor, it isn't just a luxury, it is a requirement and that ties into my whole idea of improving our education system by using the calculator and the computer to make school easier. I concentrated on the substance of the paper, because with a word processor all the other comments can easily be handled with a few minutes of work. I may have changed your thesis, but that should be a good thing.

Answer 2

Calculators may help a student's growth in knowledge, at an earlier age. With calculators, a student may learn mathematical concepts, such as long division, at lower grade levels. If a student has a choice whether he or she would like to use a calculator, that a student would most likely finish his or her homework more expediently and will have better chance of receiving a more accurate grade. Over the years, the use of calculators continues to increase. The reason for this, I believe, is because it basically proves that students know what they are doing by how they do on their grades. For instance, in a survey of 600 colleges and universities, 85% of mathematic classes had the opportunity to use calculators. In a survey of 146 middle and high schools, 74% of the students were permitted to use calculators. Although it is true that calculators sometimes seem to be used when a student does not know how to manually do the math problem.

Answer 3

Calculators may help a student's growth in knowledge at an earlier age. By using a calculator a student may or may not learn mathematical concepts such as long division at lower grade levels. If a student has a choice of using a calculator or not, that student would most likely finish his or her homework more expediently, and would have a better chance to receive higher grades.

Over the years, the use of calculators continues to increase. The reasoning for this, I believe is because it basically proves that a student knows what he or she is doing by how they do on their grades.

In a survey of 600 colleges and universities, 85% of mathematic classes had the opportunity to use calculators. In a survey of 146 middle and high schools, 74% of students could use calculators.

However it is true that calculators sometimes seem to be used when a student does not know how to do the math problem in longhand, such as square roots.

--------------
Regarding your confusion about student's vs. students', you are talking about one student so it would be student's. If you refer to several students, it would be students'. In that case you would leave out the word "a" ergo (a students').

Answer 4

Calculators are a wonderful invention in helping students and professionals to quickly solve redundant and over-simplified problems. However, calculators should never be used as a learning tool. One should understand the concepts and theories behind the problem before using the plug 'n chug method. If a person only knows what function to plug numbers into, will that person have enough knowledge, and skill to actually build onto the problem that he or she is working on? Professionals that use mathematics on a daily basis must understand how each function works, because in the field, the problem starts out very small, then gets very large. Although students and professionals loves using calculators to make their work get finished quicker, the overuse of calculators will get a person too dependent on them and that person, whether it is a student or a working professional will be lost and/or it may take several hours trying to figure out how to get the problem to work out to get the desired results.

All those statistics in your paper will require a source, especially in English. If it isn't a good source, then your teacher, or instructor is not going to credit that too highly in your favor. If you have reputable sources then go for the statistics.


You replied saying "your pretty sure student's is student is). Wrong. When you use 's with a noun, it shows ownership and nothing more. Like for example, my name is Kevin and I own a computer. So, if someone was going to ask my roommate if they could use my computer, they would say:

May I use "Kevin's Computer"? Ignore the quotation marks. I just used that to high-light what I was putting emphasis on. Also s' shows ownership, but in a different way.

When you use 's with a pronoun, then it stands for a contraction. Like for example, "There's a cute puppy." There is a cute puppy. But when you are using 's with a noun, it shows ownership.

Answer 5

Watch out for run-ons and be sure you have a concrete thesis. Also, NEVER use the word "basically;" it sounds unsophisticated. Be sure you cover any possible counterarguments such as the claim that calculator use at an early age may inhibit the ability to perform basic arithmetic in one's head. Your stats aren't totally relevant, either because those students already have the necessary basic math skills and hence a calculator isn't cheating them out of the opportunity of developing them. (I know, I'm a run-on hypocrite.) Aight, that's it. Hope it goes well

Answer 6

I'm not even done with the first sentence and I'm upset.

1.) "a students'" should be "a student's"
2.) don't mention calculators and early/young age twice in the same sentence
3.) "Calculators may help students expand their knowledge at an early age by allowing them to comprehend mathematical concepts such as long division." Sounds much better.

That's all you're getting from me, I don't plan to do your work for you so you can steal my wording.

Answer 7

Pretty good, overall. There´s a little problem with the last sentence however.
Try this instead:
It is also true that calculators (and the rest is fine.)

That last sentence is a fragment the way it is now. Good work!