Comment on A generation taught not to think: AI in the classroom

• lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I remember the “ban calculators” back in the day US math scores have hit a low point in history, and calculators are partially to blame. Calculators are good to use if you already have an excellent understanding of the operations. If you start learning math with a calculator in your hand, though, you may be prevented from developing a good understanding of numbers. There are ‘shortcut’ methods for basic operations that are obvious if you are good with numbers. When I used to teach math, I had students who couldn’t tell me what 9 * 25 is without a calculator. They never developed the intuition that 1025 is dead easy to find in your head, and that 925 = (10-1)*25 = 250-25.

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  • E_coli42@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Interesting. The US is definitely not doing a good job at this then and needs to re-vamp their education system. Your example didn’t convince me that calculators are bad for students, but rather than the US schooling system is really bad if they introduce calculators so early that students don’t even have an intuition of 9 * 25 = (10-1) * 25 = 250-25.

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• TheJesusaurus@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Calculators give correct answers.

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  • Fedegenerate@lemmynsfw.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It’s good that students are using ai to cheat then. Very easy to detect as the answers are wrong.

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    • TheJesusaurus@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Did you grow up using AI? Because your reading comprehension is dogshit

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      • Fedegenerate@lemmynsfw.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Nah I grew up with the “you won’t always have a calculator in your pocket” crowd.

        If AI gets everything wrong then students using it to offload their thinking will get failing grades. AI getting everything wrong is a self solving problem.

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• Jason2357@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Offloading onto technology always atrophies the skill it replaces. Calculators offloaded, very specifically, basic arithmetic. However, Math =/= arithmetic. I used calculators, and cannot do mental multiplication and division as fast or well as older generations, but I spent that time learning to apply math to problems, understand number theory, and gaining a mastery of more complex operations, including writing computer sourcecode to do math-related things. It was always a trade-off.

  In Aristotle’s time, people spent their entire education memorizing literature, and the written world off-loaded that skill. This isn’t a new problem, but there needs to be something of value to be educated in that replaces what was off-loaded. I think scholars are much better trained today, now that they don’t have to spend years memorizing passages word for word.

  AI replaces thinking. That’s a bomb between the ears for students.

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  • E_coli42@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It doesn’t have to replace thinking if used properly. This is what schools should focus on instead of banning AI and pretending that kids are not going to use it behind closed doors.

    For example, I almost exclusively use Gen AI to help me find sources or as a jumping-off point to researching various topics, rather than as a source of truth itself (because it is not one). This is super useful as it automates away the tedious parts of finding the right research papers to start learning something and gives me more time to focus on my actual literature review.

    If we ban AI in schools instead of embrace it with caution, students won’t know how to learn skills in order to use it effectively. They’ll just start offloading their thinking to AI when doing homework.

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• Chulk@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Cant remember the last time a calculator told me the best way to kill myself

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