> differentiate functions of the form 1/x, x^2...etc. To test proficiency, well we give pen & paper tests and forbid most notes, Maybe it's a US thing, but tha

> differentiate functions of the form 1/x, x^2...etc. To test proficiency, well we give pen & paper tests and forbid most notes, Maybe it's a US thing, but that sounds horrible. When I was a teacher, we usually allowed notes and always gave them the differentiation formulas as well as every other formula they might need. Why are you guys getting them to memorize a bunch of specific facts that they'll forget after the exam? You don't learn math by reciting formulas to yourself the way you might learn vocabulary in a foreign language. I'm not even sure you learn languages very well that way either.