We had a very interesting discussion in class today. After marking the quiz, I gave it back to students and we double check the answers and possibly, discuss what went wrong with their answers or solutions.
During the quiz, they're allowed to use TI-84 calculator. Students were taught how to convert manually by proportional and unit analysis reasoning as well as to use the unit converter in the calculator. In the multiple choice part, students will tend to use calculator to save time or double check their answers. One of the questions in the multiple choice has two options that could be right. If we use the calculator, the accurate answer is 1613.08 while if we use approximation using the table value provided in manual calculation, the answer is around 1638. The options are 1598 and 1659. As a teacher, I need to know if the students know hot to use calculator since it's one of the curriculum outcomes so I was looking at 1598 as the right answer. But then one student (3 later on) proposed that they were using approximation and that the answer should be 1659. They can justify their answer after the quiz which makes sense but when I was marking it, I can not because solutions are not necessary in the multiple-choice questions. I followed my intuition and considered their answers as right as well.
No doubt that technology does help but we should always make sure that our students know the basics so they can assert that their ideas are right with or without technology.
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