> A bit like forcing students to use an abacus while calculators are around.
But... we do that already. We ask students not to use calculators, or not to use scientific calculators, during exercises, exams, etc.
And it's not because we want to impose an extra load on them, but because we think that by not using calculators you learn to deal with numbers, you build a strong foundation for thinking about math, quantities, etc.
But since we're talking about essays and coding assignments that are graded, one of the objection is that they should not be graded, because the goal is to use them for learning.
Sure, at the university, the ideal scenario is that students are there to learn and will do assignments even when they are not graded. That happens, but it's for a minority of them, because (understandably) the university is also a time for parties, relationships, etc, and students are young... In practice, many assignments are graded mostly to make sure the students do them, learn from them, and pass the course (maybe a patronizing approach, but in the end, if only 10% of the students pass, the teacher won't have an easy life with his/her superiors - but that's another story).
But... we do that already. We ask students not to use calculators, or not to use scientific calculators, during exercises, exams, etc. And it's not because we want to impose an extra load on them, but because we think that by not using calculators you learn to deal with numbers, you build a strong foundation for thinking about math, quantities, etc.
But since we're talking about essays and coding assignments that are graded, one of the objection is that they should not be graded, because the goal is to use them for learning.
Sure, at the university, the ideal scenario is that students are there to learn and will do assignments even when they are not graded. That happens, but it's for a minority of them, because (understandably) the university is also a time for parties, relationships, etc, and students are young... In practice, many assignments are graded mostly to make sure the students do them, learn from them, and pass the course (maybe a patronizing approach, but in the end, if only 10% of the students pass, the teacher won't have an easy life with his/her superiors - but that's another story).