I have been told, harangued, and lectured repeatedly that our incoming
(college) freshmen are the Computer Generation, because they've "grown up with
computers."Then they sit down to do Homework Set #1, which requires them to
construct a table and graph with a spreadsheet. Suddenly, they've never SEEN a
computer, have no idea how to use a mouse, and apparently have had even basic
arithmetic wiped from their brains.
This is exactly what I am talking about. In Excel there is a wonderful little graph button. So students enter some data and then mindlessly hit the graph button assuming that whatever graph pops out is what the teacher is looking for. They don't think about what the teacher asked them to graph or whether or not what they have produced even makes sense in reference to the data. If they do manage to figure out that what they have is incorrect they don't understand how the computer has used their data to get the graph and so they are unable to go back to the data and the graph properties to modify them for the proper result. The "graph" button has made it unnecessary for them to think.
1 comment:
I'd say that at the high school level, kids shouldn't be just taught how to make graphs, but which type of graphs are more appropriate in certain situations.
Many teachers think that teaching how to make a bar graph or histogram is very important. Personally, I think the kids will know more if they understand the difference between the two, and can construct the proper one, even if they use a computer program.
Maybe a guest lecture by Edward Tufte will help as well. Kids love those cool fonts and 3-D images, don't they?!
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