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Re: "Proper" scientific notation



Ray Rogaway is so, so, so right.

The central issue of course is not what is printed in manuals or
journals but whether the students have a clue of what it all means.
Often they have far less clue than professors realize.

I am fond of saying that calculators short circuit the brain. In a basic
skills program that I developed years ago, calculators are forbidden on
tests. The temptation to just punch in the given numbers in random order
and pray is overwhelming. It caters to the "quick shortcut to the
answer" mentality that has been overwhelmingly destructive, in my
opinion, especially in elementary education. I can't express my opinion
of the view often heard that it is not necessary for kids to understand
fractions and decimals because they have calculators.

J. Epstein