RPN calcs should be a teacher’s recommendation

[Matt Agajanian]

Hi all.

Had a thought:

Since order of operations is the foundation of mathematics, I’d think that since it’s so vital, teachers would strongly recommend RPN calculators because it forces the students to understand how order of operations works.

For example, since an RPN calculator does not carry out the hierarchy and manual problem statement and entry are key, it challenges students to enter the calculation in the manner in which order of operations dictates.

Plus, since calculations are immediately returned, the student can see where the mistakes were made. And with Last X, a student can recover from mistakes and either start over or pick up where they left off and try to enter the calculation in which order of operations dictates.

In addition, RPN also structures learning about using parentheses and how they affect calculation evaluation.