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in my son's high school, and many other schools from what i gather in casual conversation, students are provided with a sheet of formulas to refer to when taking a math test. including final exams. my son asked me if this was the case back in my day. my answer was a resounding Hell, No! my school never even have open book tests which i'm not opposed to for some testing during the term. but a cheat sheet, essentially, for a final - oh , please, has the world gone mad!
so, am i just an aging curmudgeon or does this concern anyone else? or both...
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Well, the world has gone mad, but isn't the point to know the formulas? Or, is the real point to know which formula to apply in a given circumstance? If that's the issue, then a cheatsheet that's provided by the school would be acceptable.
Yesterday I was painfully reminded of how dependent most of us have become on calculators and computers, when there were three of us standing in the garage, trying to figure out in our heads what the amounts would be for a specific ratio of one ingredient to another.  We did it, but the process wasn't pretty.
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It depends on the specific circumstances, the course, what was taught, etc...
However, in this case, I'd say no. The teacher probably figures they're testing the students' knowledge and ability to use the formulas, but if they can learn to use them, they can learn them outright.
Sometimes being able to find the answer is as important or more important than knowing the answer. Not in math, though.
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i think the rationale is that, in the real world, a person will have access to the formulas, but needs to know how to apply them.
I would think about making the cheat sheet an option and providing bonus points if the test is completed without using it. That way, the people who have the ability to memorize the formulas would be rewarded.
however, i've met many a formula memorizing machine that couldn't reason their way out of a paper bag...
kiva
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The real world is an open book test.
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It depends on how the teacher is teaching the class -- in some of my classes, I give them information included in the test that they'd need in order to answer the question (similar to what you are describing) ... but I do agree that there's an overdependence amongst the Gen Y's on calculators, computers, technology in general, etc.
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Depending on what was being tested, I have had math tests that allowed taking in a sheet of formulas all the way back to high school. Also allowed in some college classes. High school was over 35 years ago, so it is nothing new. In fact, I sometimes preferred the non-"open book" exams, the instructors tended to not go quite as deep into the proper application of the information taught in the class from the book on those.
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Do trig tables count as "formulas?"
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Doc wrote:
Do trig tables count as "formulas?"
I was thinking the exact same thing, it's one thing to memorize multiplication tables, but I recall Trig tables being supplied.
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It's all about the different levels of understanding a teacher wants. From memorization to utilization to application to synthesizing new uses...those are big leaps. As both a math and science teacher, I will have students memorize some of the formulas for an initial quiz, but later tests would be open notes or cheat sheets that they create.
A strategy I often utilize is to offer students a very limited amount of space for a cheat sheet. They will often go through a lot of evaluating steps to decide what they need, and a lot of rewriting to get it to fit. Often, by the time the test rolls around, they don't even need the cheat sheet.
As far as a changing world goes, it's hard to imagine a place where your average worker will not have access to calculators and the Internet. I always keep in my mind that I am training my middle school students for jobs that do not yet exist.
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