Here we are going for a classroom set of 89's (partly chosen because of the
annoying display screen on the TI-92) next fall. Any student that feels up to
purchasing his or her own calculator (140 bucks or so mail order) would have
the bonus of being able to play with it in the dorms or the Learning Center.
Probably some games will be soon floating around once we get a core of
calculators in the environment, but so what?
The value of these calcs (really computers, of course) is partly in the easy
interchangeability of data through the graph link. You should be able to pass
out assignments (and even collect homework) in this way, as well as get all
kinds of interesting printouts if a small computer (an iMac maybe?) set up with
an inexpensive printer is available in the classroom or learning center.
I also second the idea about using scripts. This is one way that I expect to be
using these calculators. Rather than just showing students a nice, clean way to
approach a calculation in this environment I would pass out a _partial_ script,
with gaps for the student to fill in. Maybe there would be errors for the
student to fix up. And I could collect back the fixed-up script for grading.
How about programs that generate scripts filled with random examples? In many
ways this environment is more powerful than the one I was hired here 30 years
ago to work in, where we were supposed to develop all kinds of fascinating CAI
materials for students to experiment with. There are an awful lot of good ideas
still lying around for lack of a sufficient audience of users. If enough people
start really _using_ the 92's and 89's, the level of math we deal with is sure
to rise rapidly.
Some people, of course, sneer at "calculators" as not being nearly powerful
enough (this year they won't do Fast Fourier Transforms -- I don't know what it
is that they won't do next year!). There definitely is likely to be a
perception by administrators and others that using these sort of gadgets isn't
_really_ using computers (no color graphics, right?). But they, rather than
flashy displays, are what is going to advance mathematics education. IMO, of
course! A final consideration is that getting a set of calculators might be
planned as an inexpensive _initial step_ toward moving up to a full-blown
computer algebra system if the TI environment proves inadequate to your needs,
meanwhile giving the instructors involved a good taste of how you use symbolic
maniputlation in a classroom, and a better idea of what they really need.
RWW Taylor
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester NY 14623
>>>> The plural of mongoose begins with p. <<<<
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