View from the International Monetary Fund

International Monetary Fund

Should primary school children be ‘calculator aware’ or ‘calculator beware’?

This literature review examines calculators in the primary school classroom in light of their recent prohibition for younger children in England.1 Contrary to political fears about calculators being harmful, the existing literature indicates that calculators have many benefits: they can develop conceptual understanding, support and improve mental and written methods, be a stimulus for dialogic talk, provide instant feedback and help to develop key mathematical ideas such as ‘number sense’. The ingrained nature of teacher attitudes, in particular relation to what skills they believe an effective mathematician requires, is explored and a link made between such attitudes and the potential use of calculators. Greater clarity is needed regarding what fundamental mathematical understanding actually entails and a long-term strategy needs to be in place in order for pre-service teachers’ underlying beliefs to change

Aural Images of Lost Traditions: Sharps and Flats in the Sixteenth Century. By Robert Toft

Boorman discusses and reviews Toft\u27s 1992 book

COSMOS-UK. Soil moisture: December 2019

The COSMOS-UK soil moisture status report provides an insight into the current soil moisture conditions across the UK as monitored by the COSMOS-UK network. The network comprises approximately 50 sites at which a cosmic ray neutron sensor is deployed to monitor soil moisture within a footprint of about 12 hectares. The report is comprised of: maps of end of month soil moisture both as volumetric water content and as a soil moisture index; a short description of current status; and selected time series graphs showing data from the last three years