Is it Time to Ditch Graphing Calculators?

[NeutronStar]

I have both the TI-89 and the TI-92 graphing calculators. I like them just fine but I can't figure out how to abort a plot. There doesn't seem to be any mention of how to do this in the manual.

Once a plot is started there doesn't seem to be any way to stop a plot until it has been completed. This can be really frustrating if a very small step size was used, or if there was an error in an equation assignment. You have to wait for the entire plot to finish before you can correct the mistake. This can sometimes take quite a while.

Does anyone know how to abort a plot on these calculators?

I've tried using Esc, and 2^nd Quit. I've even tried shutting the whole calculator off, but it won't even turn off when plotting! I've discovered that a plot can be paused by pressing the Enter key. But even then the calculator still won't respond to other commands until the plot has been restarted and completed.

Does anyone know how to abort a plot on these calculators?

Thank you

 

[NateTG]

I have both the TI-89 and the TI-92 graphing calculators. I like them just fine but I can't figure out how to abort a plot. There doesn't seem to be any mention of how to do this in the manual.

Have you tried hitting 'on'?

 

[mathwonk]

throwing them out the window seemed to work on mine.

 

[NeutronStar]

Have you tried hitting 'on'?

Hmmm? Now I wonder why they didn't mention that in the manual? If they did, it must really be buried because I couldn't even find a reference to it after you told me!

Thanks! I knew there had to be a way!

I actually tired turning the thing OFF and that didn't work. Who would have thought that turning it ON while it was already ON would do the trick?

throwing them out the window seemed to work on mine.

I haven't thrown anything out the window since I was a little kid and still vulnerable to temper tantrums.

I was about to write a nasty letter to the manufacturer though. :yuck:

Actually I find these calculators to be pretty useful. (along with other resources) Being able to stop a plot is a nice thing to know. That was actually bugging me for a while!

 

[mathwonk]

i logged in here because i just assumed from your title you were advocating stopping the use of these gadgets, as i do.

 

[NeutronStar]

i logged in here because i just assumed from your title you were advocating stopping the use of these gadgets, as i do.

Why on god's green Earth would you want to stop the use of them?

Stop them in what way?

In the classroom? For the public in general? For engineers on the job? Just who would you like to see stop using them, and may I ask why?

 

[richnfg]

I think graphic calculators should be stopped in all maths exams (in most of them they are). Its too easy when you can program in formulas etc.

 

[mathwonk]

experience teaches that use of most calculators denies students acquisition of needed skills.

there is no harm in their use, and much good, for those who already understand what they are doing.

but as a calculus teacher,. i am constantly faced with students who know almost nothing from precalc due to use of calculators.

 

[z-component]

I actually tired turning the thing OFF and that didn't work. Who would have thought that turning it ON while it was already ON would do the trick?

Well, the TI calculators' on button also function as the break command which allows you to stop running programs and graphing.

I think graphic calculators should be stopped in all maths exams (in most of them they are). Its too easy when you can program in formulas etc.

I agree with you. I believe there is a point where these calculators get too advanced for tests where they're more appropriate for career settings. I own the new TI-89 Titanium, and it pretty much allows me to solve for unknowns in any situation (there are exceptions). For instance, if I have 65^x = 500, I can use the calculator's solve() function to solve for x, rather than using logarithms.

I prefer doing most things by hand just because these things spoil us too much sometimes.

 

[Galileo]

throwing them out the window seemed to work on mine.

I have one of the good old Casio fx-82SX something calculators. They are of excellent quality. I've dropped and thrown mine around countless times. It just needs a good jab on the right sometimes to turn on and one the left to turn off.
My brother accidentally threw his calculator out of the window on the 15th floor of a building. When he went to check the side was all busted up and the interior was visible, but the darn thing still worked.

Get a Japanese Casio. Greatest durability I've ever seen.

 

[NeutronStar]

but as a calculus teacher,. i am constantly faced with students who know almost nothing from precalc due to use of calculators.

You can blame it on the calculators all you want. Personally I blame it on antiquated uninventive pedagogy, and the fact that educational institutions are geared more toward making students compete for a degree rather than designing their curricula around the concept of education.

I suppose it has to be that way since far too many students are also geared toward getting a degree rather than being interested in actually learning something. But regardless of who's to blame, I sincerely believe that blaming it on the calculators is way off target.

Any student who is genuinely interested in learning the concepts can only benefit from having the visual aid of a calculator. And if they aren't interested in learning, then the calculator probably doesn't play much of a role in that.

As a college instructor myself I am quick to lay the blame on the instructor for students who haven't learned the topic. It really is up to the instructor to make the subject interesting and easily understandable. If the instructor fails to do this, then he or she really has no one else to blame. Certainly not the students. And hopefully not an inanimate object!

Now I can see an instructor blaming the school administration if a lousy textbook and lesson plans were forced onto the instructor. But to blame the calculators? Oh please!

 

[Alkatran]

Calculators are not required except in problems where the numbers become too large. It is up to the teacher to either:
A) Make problems small enough that calculators aren't needed
B) Make problem with large numbers but no grahpic calculators
C) Have an EMP handy muahahaha

It's not that calculators shouldn't be used on exams, they shouldn't be NEEDED. Period.


By the way, I've been trying to write a program that can integrate a function. So far not so good: Can barely get it to simplify. But I am learning just by programming the rules in. I wonder what they would think if I asked to bring a print-out of the code to the test. :rofl: