Few people use a slide rule, or a compass, or an abacus. We have computers and graphing calculators. Yet these only give answers. Could the instruments of old be a better learning tool by combining math with practical application? Would it be easier to learn math if everything had to be proven with a compass?
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Anonymous2006-04-24 9:34
>>1 Yet these only give answers.
Yeah, if they gave questions, they would be a waste of time.
Would it be easier to learn math if everything had to be proven with a compass?
No, I'd keep pricking myself because I'm so clumsy.
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Anonymous2006-04-25 0:47
there is some benefit to the old ways. abacus, I don't know so much about, but with slide rules, the combination of linear and logarithmic to multiply as well as its other constituents make it an intersting study. personally, I feel that there should be math lab (not math lab like where you study, but like a math class that is a lab science) at least offered, if not required for a college degree.
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Anonymous2006-04-25 4:32
Well, I do find things easier to understand using their geometric equivalent, but that's just me; most of my mates hate geometry and teachers say it's harder to understand. I don't know why. Either way my imagination is usually enough to understand things from a geometric standpoint.