That's one of the problems I encounter: students, when first learning a topic, try to work out a 2 or 3-step problem in their head. Then they give up. I tell them, "You're not that good yet. Write it down, step by step." Then I ask them a simple question and they start punching their calculators.
Someone told me that calculators are used in the 3rd grade...argh! They should be banned until the middle of trigonometry, and then not until they know sines and cosines of pi/6, pi/4, pi/3, pi/2, and pi by heart. If they always use a calculator, they rarely learn when their calculator is wrong.
-----Original Message-----
From: Phys-l [mailto:phys-l-bounces@phys-l.org] On Behalf Of Rauber, Joel
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2013 8:41 AM
To: Phys-L@Phys-L.org
Subject: Re: [Phys-L] Evaluation tests
I didn't consider it hard, but I did have to think, the same amount that you outlined below; I just didn't think that that amount of thinking was hard. Which brings up the topic of many students I have who don't want to think, if it doesn't come automatically they give up.