Limiting the Use of Calculators to Encourage Cognitive Calculations of

RelationshipsWei-Chung Wang

Assistant Professor of EconomicsPat Weaver

Professor of Accounting, Business and EconomicsKathy Baughman

Assistant Professor of Accounting

• Motivation of the study• Quantitative Requirements in the Business

Curriculum at Juniata College• Literature Review• Experiment Design and Process• Questions and Comments

Overview

2

• Calculus I or Quantitative Business Analysis (QBA)• QBA had been considered by students as a course

designed for students that have less aptitude in math

• For certain majors we encourage students to take more math courses (i.e. Accounting, Economics, Finance)

• Self-selection problem

Quantitative Requirements for Business Majors

3

• Algebra based, 200-level course• Course contents

– Review of Math and Descriptive Stats– Taxes, Insurance, Payrolls, Distribution of Profit and Loss, Discounts,

Markups and Markdowns, Interest, Present and Maturity Value

• No calculator policy• In-class practice problems, homework assignments• Speed and accuracy • Course reputation

QBA

4

Importance of Cognitive Understanding of Math Relations

• 200-level require course for all business majors• Course with heavy use of numbers• QBA first then MA or the other way around• Some students take calculus instead of QBA• Memo writing requirements• Anecdotal evidence showed students with QBA

experience perform better in MA and other courses

Managerial Accounting

6

• Does limiting the calculator use help students improve their math skills?

• Does the improved skill transfer to other quantitative courses in the curriculum?

• Considering expanding to include students’ confidence and attitude

Research Questions

7

• Literature focuses on studying the effect of calculators use at the grade level

• Some found the use of calculators stimulates pupils to think about approaches to problems (Wheatley 1980)

• Others argued the students’ performances are more strongly associated with curricular experience than with number concept attainment (Ruthven 2006)‐

Literature Review

8

• Researchers have also presented conflicting findings about whether allowing the use of calculators changes the difficulty of mathematics tests (Loyd 1991)

• Some even argued that the effects of calculator use could be either present or absent in both difficult and easy mathematical test questions (Bridgeman, Harvey, Braswell 2005).

Literature Review

9

• In QBA: pre and post• In Managerial Accounting:

– Identifier: Student ID• QBA (when) and quant background, GPA, Major, Class, SAT

(endowed skills) etc. – Timing of the survey/questions

• Math skills• Performance of MA

Experiment Design

10

Sample Questions

11

Questions?

12