If we have a new tool to solve problems with, why shouldn't it be used in conjunction with traditional methods? Even the summary mentions that he also performed experiments on living tissue. It's not an either/or issue.
The article says the students were aided by help of academic/industry mentors. In a sense, this can level the playing field, as each student has an expert in their corner. On the other hand, some mentors may suggest better project topics or have more expertise in a given area than others, but that's life. Pick a good mentor.
'Why are we teaching a generation of students to use crippled technology?'
Math courses should teach math, not technology. It takes work to develop mathematical understanding and intuition. How long does it take to teach someone to input a formula into a calculator and spit out the answer? That can be taught very quickly, preferably after the student already understands the underlying math.
Many (most?) people today don't need to know integrals or derivatives in their everyday lives. But as an engineering student, I often found myself wishing I'd spent more time learning and understanding the fundamentals. Instead, I used my calculator to produce answers quickly and spent the rest of my time playing Mario on my TI-89.
Gorillas was released in 1991. It was one of the first computer games I played, and I got my dad to try it too. The next video game he played was Angry Birds, in 2011.
Slashdot Mirror
If we have a new tool to solve problems with, why shouldn't it be used in conjunction with traditional methods? Even the summary mentions that he also performed experiments on living tissue. It's not an either/or issue.
The article says the students were aided by help of academic/industry mentors. In a sense, this can level the playing field, as each student has an expert in their corner. On the other hand, some mentors may suggest better project topics or have more expertise in a given area than others, but that's life. Pick a good mentor.
'Why are we teaching a generation of students to use crippled technology?'
Math courses should teach math, not technology. It takes work to develop mathematical understanding and intuition. How long does it take to teach someone to input a formula into a calculator and spit out the answer? That can be taught very quickly, preferably after the student already understands the underlying math.
Many (most?) people today don't need to know integrals or derivatives in their everyday lives. But as an engineering student, I often found myself wishing I'd spent more time learning and understanding the fundamentals. Instead, I used my calculator to produce answers quickly and spent the rest of my time playing Mario on my TI-89.
Gorillas was released in 1991. It was one of the first computer games I played, and I got my dad to try it too. The next video game he played was Angry Birds, in 2011.