Posted on Sunday 25th Mar 2018
There was a time, not so long ago, when calculators were spurned as the handmaid of the lazy maths student.
But according to the latest research, far from hindering young maths pupils, these little magic boxes actually aid them with their arithmetic skills.
Academics for the Education Endowment Foundation also found that when taught properly, calculators can help students become better at problem solving.
Calculators are most useful, they said, when weaved into teaching materials.
Ministers banned the use of calculators in national maths tests for 11-year-olds in England from 2014.
Announcing the move in 2012, the then Education and Childcare Minister Elizabeth Truss said this would "reduce the dependency on them in the classroom for the most basic sums".
She added: "All young children should be confident with methods of addition, subtraction, times tables and division before they pick up the calculator to work out more complex sums."
Latest News
23/01/20Should schools be allowed to ban slang words like 'peng'?
Just imagine if you were not allowed to use slang words that meant "beautiful" or "lots" when you were in school.
17/01/20Rainham set for new secondary school
Medway is to get a new secondary school.
15/01/20Putting pupils in isolation 'drives poor behaviour'
Putting challenging pupils in isolation for extended periods at school can harm their mental health, the Centre for Mental Health (CMH) is warning.
13/01/20Outstanding schools to face inspections again
Every school in England currently rated as "outstanding" would be inspected in the next five years, under proposals from the Department for Education.
10/01/20Playtime for school pupils is a fundamental human right, children’s author says
‘Play isn’t an extra, it isn’t an add on,’ says former Children’s Laureate