From the beginning of the project, children were allowed free
access to calculators alongside other apparatus. A report from one
LEA (Local Education Authority), after three years work, describes
the significance of this:
- A significant finding from the project is that calculators
should be viewed as an item of multi-purpose mathematical
apparatus and that teachers do not need to design specific tasks
to bring them into play. Pupils select the calculator as they feel
it is appropriate to the task in hand just as they would select
other material - Multilink, counters, modelling apparatus etc. to
solve the problem they are dealing with.
- [Durham County Council 1989]
However, the frequent use of calculators has made the mathematical
experience of project children different from the experience of other
children. Many children have developed mathematical concepts and
methods which have not in the past been expected at their age. For
young children, the calculator is a toy, but it is the first toy for
young children that incorporates the number system. As children play
with their calculators, they find out a great deal about how numbers
behave.
Ready access to calculators has also given the children great
confidence. They are never faced with calculations that they cannot
do.Their problem now is to decide the appropriate calculation to do
in order to solve a problem, and to interpret the results of that
calculation in the problem situation. Exploration and investigation
have taken over from the repetitive practice of calculation as the
usual style of number work.
... ... ... ... ...
Most children in the project have also decided for themselves that
they do not need, or want, to be dependent on their calculators for
all calculation. It is often faster and easier to do a calculation
mentally, and children sometimes vie with one another to extend their
skill in mental calculation. The project has seen a great flowering
of mental calculation, often led by the children.
