For many years I have not allowed calculators on my physics exams, not even
the science-engineering physics. Many of the answers are algebraic, not
numerical, and the numerical ones, whether on written questions or
multiple-choice, are to be estimated, and the actual value is only a small
part of the maximum score.
In class, I also estimate answers, even when acting as a recitation
instructor in a course where calculators are allowed.
I started this policy rather suddenly some years ago when I gave an exam
question (similar to ones I'd given in the past) which involved a potential
U(r) = a/r^2 - b/r, where a and b are positive, and asked the students to
sketch this potential qualitatively (before going on to asking about the
units of a and b, the location of equibrium points, the force at a general
value of r, etc.). After the exam, to my amazement, the students were
furious, insisting this could not be done without real numbers and a
graphing calculator. I realized this was my first group of college
students who had used graphing calculators in high school, and they were
overly dependent on them.
Laurent Hodges, Professor of Physics
12 Physics Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3160
lhodges@iastate.edu http://www.public.iastate.edu/~lhodges