Importance of Graphing Calculators in the Mathematics Classroom

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Importance of Graphing Calculators in the
Mathematics Classroom
The technology principle states that technology
is essential in teaching and learning
mathematics it influences the mathematics that
is taught and enhances students learning.
Dr. Strutchens
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Graphing Calculators in the Mathematics Classroom

• With calculators that can do so much more than
  simple arithmetic, increasing attention has been
  devoted to developing materials that enrich
  learning experiences in mathematics.

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Four Types of Enrichment

• Graphing calculators can be used as
• Tools for expediency
• Amplifiers for conceptual understanding
• Catalysts for critical thinking
• Vehicles for integration

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Tools For Expediency

• Students can miss the main objective of a lesson
  when they are caught in a trap of tedious
  computation or plotting complex graphs.
• Graphing calculators can reduce the time and
  effort required to perform cumbersome
  mathematical tasks.

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Tools For Expediency

• A Look at Parabolas with a Graphing Calculator
  describes an exploration involving quadratic
  equations.
• Students used the TI-85 to solve problems
  associated with second-degree polynomials without
  the burden of multi-step calculations.

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Amplifiers For Conceptual Understanding.

• Graphing Calculators are capable of providing
  multiple representations of mathematical concepts
• Using different representations of mathematical
  concepts can allow students to process
  information in a more meaningful way

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Graphing Calculators Critical Thinking

• Graphing calculators also help students to answer
  Why? questions.
• There are many activities that promote problem
  solving.
• Graphing calculators can be used as a
  springboard for learning new mathematical
  concepts.

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Graphing Calculators used to explore real-world
applications

• Graphing calculators can be used with the
  Calculator-Based Ranger (CBR)
• Motion data detection device
• Can be used to test anything from light intensity
  to pH
• Many activities can be used with Calculator-Based
  Lab (CBL) technology

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Effect of Graphing Calculator in Study of
Trigonometry

• 1. Generating graphs of sine and cosine
  functions.
• 2. Role of a, b, c, and d in ya sin (bxc)d.
• 3. Application and construction equations from
  graphs.
• 4. Composite functions Predictions and
  hypothesis testing.
• 5. Graphical proofs of Trigonometric identities.
• 6. Solving Trig. equations with graphical
  methods.
• 7. Investigating graphs of the reciprocal
  functions.

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Utilizing Graphing Calculator

• During the case study, the student used the
  graphing calculator to first see the graphs
  rather than sketching them on paper.
• The Graphing calculator made it possible to
  observe more than two graphs simultaneously.

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Merits of using a Graphing Calculator

• If the student had not been given a graphing
  calculator, he would have needed more time to
  find a table of coordinates and to draw a graph.
• The ability to zoom in and out on the calculator
  to study different parts of the graph helped him
  to work more efficiently.

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Using Graphing Calculators to Assess Students
Understanding

• A new type of program is available to use with
  graphing calculators. Students calculators are
  connected to hubs, small gray boxes, that
  collect data and send it to the teachers laptop.
  This is done with the TI- Navigator that
  connects with the students calculators, and the
  teacher can see what they are doing.

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TI Navigator in Action

• Example of Use The teacher, Mr. Pukys, gives
  his students 4 separate questions on functions
  and graphing, then asks them to answer through a
  program on the Navigator called Learning Check.
  The students send their answers through their
  calculator to the teacher. After the teacher
  goes through the answers to the problem, he is
  able to display the students scores for their
  answers. The students each have a user name that
  way when the teacher posts their scores, they
  cant tell whose score belongs to who.

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Advantages of the TI Navigator

• Teachers can determine whether students have
  grasped a concept, individually or as a group.
  (Formative Assessment) This can allow the
  teacher to spend more time on a topic, if
  necessary, or decide whether he/she can move at a
  faster pace.
• Improvement of test scores since implementation
  of TI Navigator in Canton, OH schools.
• Touch Screen designed by SMART Technologies Inc.
  can connect with the Navigator.
• All students get to participate in classroom
  activities, and all get to be assessed in a quick
  manner.
• Students responses to the technology have been
  positive.

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Disadvantages of TI Navigator

• To be useful, the Navigator needs each student in
  the class to have their own graphing calculator,
  and this, along with the Navigator itself can
  become costly. (Canton, OH received 2 separate
  grants to launch the program, one for 250, 000,
  and one for 110,000.)
• Teachers and students will need to learn a new
  type of technological program.

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References

• Cavanagh, S (2006). Technology helps teachers
  home in on student needs. Education Week, 26,
  Retrieved September 2, 2008, from
  www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/11/15/12calculator
  s.h26.html
• Choi-Koh, S.S. (2003). Effect of a graphing
  calculator on a 10th-grade student's study of
  trigonometry. The Journal of Educational
  Research, 96, Retrieved September 2, 2008, from
  www.lib.auburn.edu
• Smith, J.P. (1998). Graphing calculators in the
  mathematics classroom. ERIC Digest, Retrieved
  September 2, 2008, from www.ericdigests.org/2000-2
  /graphing.htm