How Calculators Have Weakened Mental Math Skills 

A dog owner went to a store and bought dog food. Both the dog owner and the store owner used calculators to check the price, discount, profit, and tax. Calculators are easy and accessible tools for many business deals nowadays. They have helped to simplify business transactions in the fast-paced modern world. They are neither hard to operate nor do they require much training; all it takes is a finger to press some buttons and get the result. Anyone can now say that calculators are indeed handy tools. However, they have made mental math weaker. 

Before calculators existed, people had to depend on their brain power for arithmetic calculations, sometimes without the use of a pencil and paper. Therefore, the main focus here is on the mental ability of arithmetic calculations, as arithmetic is the learning of the four basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as the last one of the three R’s: reading, writing, and arithmetic. These skills help the mind develop numerical abilities, critical thinking, and creativity. Today, calculators can do these calculations with the snap of a finger. But many users don’t realise how calculators have slowed down even simple mental math skills. Research shows that mental skills have many benefits, like improving focus, increasing self-confidence in problem-solving, reducing mistakes, enhancing memory skills, and stimulating brain function. In the past, when there was no such device, school inspectors tested students on the three R's, with an emphasis on mental ability. That’s why students could then do math mentally without even writing it down, thanks to their teacher’s brain training methods and guidance. Therefore, the reasonable thing is to balance the use of calculators.

The modern education system in Nepal is a reproduction of colonial Hindustan after the Macaulay Education Policy. Teachers in Nepal also followed this policy, and one of their goals was to sharpen mental math. The Rana regime in Nepal copied this to keep up with the growing importance of education. As a result, the Terai Nepal, in my experience, had the same curriculum, textbooks, and tests following the Macaulay pedagogy, and even teachers came from the border regions of Hindustan. Students memorised counting and multiplication tables up to the number 20 and got educated in mental math without using pen and paper for small calculations. To teach mental math, the school had its last class hour in a gathering of big and small learners standing in a line before the teacher. One senior learner recited the numbers and multiplication chart for the others to recite in the drill. Thus, mental math calculations were pushed into them. In the classroom, teachers made the learners practise handwriting and spelling skills as well. 

Thus, as the learners grew up, they applied their knowledge to various fields and professions. However, things changed drastically during the new reign of King Birendra. Nepal then introduced a native education policy with courses, textbooks, and pedagogy. At the same time, calculators flooded the market. At first, they reached beginners informally and soon became their support and a necessary evil. Even a beginner now uses this tool for the simplest calculations.

Current status

Desktop calculators arrived in Nepal in the late 70s, but the accountants trusted them less. They used to verify their answers with pen and paper after using the calculators. But they became more confident when pocket calculators became common. Dependence on the tool also increased as brainwork came into little use. This study considers banks and chartered accountants separately because they have to deal with large numbers. But in the case of teachers, learners, and different levels and professions, this tool has become a mental crutch even for the simplest calculations. The main challenge and debate are with the primary learners: can this tool replace the mental ability that was used in the past? Should teachers and parents let children use this tool freely? If education is about unlocking potential and developing skills, then at what level or age should a learner use this? Nepal has now revised and authorised a national framework for Birendra’s Education 2030, which is the key guiding policy document for federal, provincial, and local governments in education. However, the frame does not seem to have made room for this mental capacity.

Conclusion

This opinion also supports the remarkable example of Shakuntala Devi from Bengaluru (India), who was a living human computer. Shakuntala Devi did not need a pen and paper for such computations. In 1980, she used her mental math skills to solve a 13-digit multiplication in just 28 seconds at London’s Imperial College. The Guinness Book of World Records recognised her amazing talent even though she reportedly had an average IQ of 100. As shown by the Russian psychologist Pavlov, it proves that the human brain is a conditioned reflex that can solve puzzles and riddles in seconds. Pavlov’s experiment was on animals, but humans have a super-brain that can discover their true power and ability. A conditioned reflex is a learned response to the same stimulus that involves physiology, movement, or emotion. This means mental math has true potential. Another benefit is that such mental skills can prevent Alzheimer’s, dementia, and dyslexia risks in old age.

In recent decades, the physical fitness of children has improved significantly, along with supplementary activities. In the late 1950s, some city parts in the Terai ran an American programme called 4-H Club that was popular among a group of schoolchildren. This club taught them about healthy community living under the BDO (block development officer; later the same became the CDO in Nepal’s administrative system). The 4-H stands for head, heart, hands, and health. The first three together make up the last H, which is health. 

The head and heart guide the hands and unlock mental ability and potential; this is closely related to physical health as well as the three R’s. Here it is about brain power about the conditioned reflex. Just as dog food can be made at home, calculations can be made inside the brain as a matter of choice. Mental math is a non-computational skill. 

However, calculators can be integrated or added later into the teaching for harder computation complications.

(Baral is a retired lecturer of English.)