Children - no need to argue about techniques. They all work, all are accurate enough for the purpose. Some people find one easy, others prefer another. All have certain disadvantages.
Teach your students a technique you think is appropriate to their abilities, and if they don't get on well with it then get them some practice on the ground with other methods, until you find one that works! It ain't that difficult
BEagle
Which is why 1/60 is NFG for pilot navigation.
Is perhaps the most ridiculous statement I have seen in a supposedly serious discussion of instruction. You have decided it is no good because it is too difficult to work out to 8 significant figures, yet the method you advocate is (like 1:60) only accurate to the nearest couple of degrees. For anyone with any practice in mental arithmetic the maths is very easy, as long as you only expect a rough answer, which is all that is possible in the air.
Some of my ATPL groundschool students use 1:60 when flying. I've used it for a lot of flying, was taught in the Navy and believe me there were a few pilots who were not terribly bright. The reason it is in the ATPL exams is because the RAF use it, and they certainly aren't known for intelligence
If they can manage it then it's worth offering your students as an option, and keeping an open mind.