# How Else Can We Show This?

What I love about using calculator technology in my teaching is the “Power of Visualization” and the opportunity to examine math through different lenses.  The multiple representations available on TI graphing calculators—numeric, algebraic, graphical, geometric, statistical—allows me to push my students to approach problems in more than one “right way.”  By connecting these environments and making student thinking visible when we dig into a mathematical situation, we support students in productive struggle and deepen their understanding.*

Read my post on the TI BulleTIn Board Blog for two scenarios in which my students and I pursue multiple pathways to show and make sense of the mathematics at hand (with demonstration videos!)

### How Else Can We Show This?

Read the entire post at the above link, and here is a quick summary:

1. Riding the Curves and Turning the Tables: studying quadratic and polynomial functions.

VIDEO 1  Using different forms of quadratic functions to reveal graph features.

VIDEO 2  Using the graph-table split screen to see numerically what is happening at key points.

2. Absolute Certainty: solving absolute value equations and inequalities.

VIDEO 3 Using the graphical environment to support an algebraic solving procedure.

*Connecting mathematical representations and supporting productive struggle are two of the high-leverage mathematical teaching practices discussed in NCTM’s Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All (2014).

# Action-Consequence-Reflection Activities for GeoGebra

When I choose to use technology in my math teaching, I want to be sure that the technology tool supports the learning, and helps students to develop conceptual understanding.  The Action-Consequence-Reflection cycle is one structure that I use towards this goal.  I’ve written about Action-Consequence-Reflection activities before, in this post and this post, and I recently had an article published in the North American GeoGebra Journal, “Using Action-Consequence-Reflection GeoGebra Activities To Make Math Stick.”

In the Action-Consequence-Reflection cycle, students

• Perform a mathematical action
• Observe a mathematical consequence
• Reflect on the result and reason about the underlying mathematical concepts

The reflection component is, in my view, the critical component for making learning deeper and more durable.  The article includes the following six activities that use the cycle to help “make the math stick” for students.  Each of the GeoGebra applets is accompanied by a lab worksheet for students to record their observations and answer reflective questions.

EXPLORING GRAPHS & SLIDERS:

The first two activities use dynamic sliders so that students can make changes to a function’s equation and observe corresponding changes on the graph.

In Power Functions, students control the exponent n in the function $f\left(x\right)=x^n$, and can toggle between positive and negative leading coefficients.

In Function Transformations, students investigate the effects of the parameters a, h, and k on the desired parent function.

INTERACTIVE VISUALIZERS:

Using the power of visualization to deepen understanding, the Domain and Range applet highlights sections of the appropriate axis as students manipulate linear and quadratic functions.

UNDERSTANDING STRUCTURE:

In the Rational Functions activity, students explore how the algebraic structure of functions relates to important graph features. The handout includes extensions allowing investigation of other rational function scenarios not already covered.

INVESTIGATING INVARIANTS:

The last two activities have students looking for invariants—something about the mathematical situation that stays the same while other things change.

In Interior & Exterior Angles, students investigate relationships among the angles of a triangle and form conjectures about the sums that do and don’t change as the shape of the triangle changes.

In Right Triangle Invariants, the applet links the geometry figure to a numerical table of values, and students discover several invariant properties occurring in right triangles.

PLANNING FOR REFLECTION:

Simply using these robust technology activities will not guarantee student learning and conceptual understanding; it is imperative that we as teachers plan for reflection by including focusing questions, discussion of students’ mathematical thinking, and clear lesson summaries with the activity.  Use the provided lab worksheets or adapt them for your needs.  Capitalize on the power of the Action-Consequence-Reflection cycle to make the math stick for your students’ success!

Notes and Resources:

This post contains excerpts from the full article (pdf available here) from Vol 7 No 1 (2018): North American GeoGebra Journal.

The North American GeoGebra Journal (NAGJ) is a peer-reviewed journal highlighting the use of GeoGebra in teaching and learning school mathematics (grades K-16). The website for the NAGJ is here.

My GeoGebra Action-Consequence-Reflection applets are in this GeoGebra book, or they can found by entering “kdcampe” into the GeoGebra search box.  Thanks to Tim Brzezinski, Marie Nabbout, and Steve Phelps for their assistance with some of the GeoGebra applets.

# Testing Tips: Using Calculators on Class Assessments

If you’ve been using TI graphing calculators in your teaching, you may have contemplated how to implement the calculators for in-class testing.  Whether you are giving a short quiz, a chapter test, or end-of-term exam, read my post on the TI BulleTIn Board Blog for some tips for how to use TI calculators successfully on class assessments.

### Testing Tips: Using Calculators on Class Assessments

There is much more in the full post, but here is a summary:

• Determine the Objectives: decide which math skills and problems you will assess with and without the calculator.
• Separate the Sections: separate the calculator and non-calculator problems into two sections.
• Set up the Handhelds: to be sure the calculators are useful tools for students and don’t interfere with assessing their math knowledge, set up the handhelds for security and equity.
• Electronic Quizzes with TI-Nspire CX Navigator: take advantage of electronic quizzes if your classroom has the TI-Nspire Navigator System.

# Tips for Transitioning to the TI-Nspire

Are you transitioning to TI-Nspire™ CX graphing calculators from TI-84 Plus family models in your classroom? The TI-Nspire CX graphing calculator is a powerful tool with many features, yet it is easy to perform familiar operations like calculating and graphing. Read my post on the TI BulleTIn Board Blog for some suggestions to get you started.

#### Tips for Transitioning to the TI-Nspire CX from TI-84 Plus

These tips should get you started on your transition, but there is much more to explore about the TI-Nspire CX graphing calculator. Check out the on-demand webinars, product tutorials, and free activities at education.ti.com.

# Testing Tips: Using the TI-84+ on the SAT

The fall dates for the SAT and PSAT tests are around the corner.  The TI-84 Plus CE and the entire TI-84 Plus family of graphing calculators are approved for use on the Math–Calculator section of these College Board tests. Read my post on the TI BulleTIn Board Blog for tips on how to leverage your TI-84 Plus for success on test day…

Good luck!

# Table Techniques

How might we use the graphing calculator Table feature to build conceptual understanding and support procedural knowledge?  Here are some ideas…

A. Dynamic Tables is one way I use the Action–Consequence–Reflection cycle in my teaching.  We generate a table so that students perform a mathematical action, observe a consequence, and reflect upon the mathematical meaning in order to build conceptual understanding.

In Algebra, when students learn to distinguish linear vs. exponential growth*, we enter the simple equations Y1 = 2x and Y2 = 2x on the TI-84+ family of calculators (TI-84+CE shown here).

To observe the growth of the functions numerically, adjust the Table Settings:  press 2nd WINDOW for [TBLSET] and set the Independent variable to AUTO and the Dependent variable to ASK (see above right).  This will allow students to generate the Y-values one at a time, rather than have them appear all at once.  Press 2nd GRAPH to view the table and press ENTER to generate each value, moving down each column.  View the video here.

How does the Y-value change as you move down each column?  Students should use mathematical language to describe what they observe.  Can you tell where the graphs would intersect?  Which equation grows faster?

Alternatively, set the Independent variable to ASK and the Dependent variable to AUTO.  In this setup, enter the X-value and both Y-values will fill in.  I use this when students are comparing two scenarios to see which grows faster.

Another example of Dynamic Tables is to build understanding of negative and zero exponents.  Enter the following into Y1: (the fraction is used to force fractional results in the table; make sure Answers are set to “Auto” under MODE).  Set Independent to ASK and Dependent to AUTO, then enter X-values of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 in the table.

• What mathematical process is happening to the X-value in each new row?
• Subtracting 1 each time, which means subtracting 1 from the exponent.
• What mathematical process is happening to the Y-value?
• Dividing by 2 each time.

Then ask, what do you predict will happen when X = 0?  When X = –1? When X = –2?  Change the base to 3 or 5 or 10 and observe.  Students can now explain what to do when a base is raised to a negative or zero exponent.

Here is what we wrote on the board as we explored the table on the calculator.

B. Noticing Invariants

Tables can also be used to notice Invariants—quantities, shapes or locations that do not change even though other things are changing.  Set up the table starting at 0 with an increment of 15, AUTO-AUTO and use Degree mode.  Examine the table for Y1 = sin(x) and Y2 = cos(x).  What do you notice?  Are any values equal?  Why does this occur?

My students and I don’t just examine the table, we also look at a geometric figure of a right triangle with side lengths that are easy to compute with, such as 3, 4, and 5.  Determine the sine and cosine of each angle and discuss how this relates to the table values.

Next, add another expression into Y3 as shown below left: use (Y1)2 = (Y2)2 to represent sin2x + cos2x, pressing ALPHA TRACE to access the Y-variables.  What does the table display?  Why is this so?  Again, refer to the right triangle figure—can you explain why this property is known as the “Pythagorean Identity”?

C. Aids for Factoring and Simplifying

So far we’ve used the table as a tool for inquiry; now we turn to using it as an aid for computation, number sense, and procedural fluency.  For factoring trinomials and simplifying radicals, students need to determine the numerical factors of a number.  When the number is large, or the student needs some scaffolding support, enter into Y1 the number divided by X and view the table (TblStart=1, ΔTbl=1).

For example, Y1 = 72/X  and the table clearly shows which numbers are factors and which are not, depending on whether a decimal remainder results (note that the “slash” version of the fraction bar forces decimal results).

For students needing assistance remembering perfect squares, cubes, or other powers, enter those functions into Y= and view the table.

When simplifying radicals into exact form, combine the two techniques to find perfect squares, cubes, etc. that are factors of the radicand value.‡

Of course, in both of these examples, students could simply enter calculations on the home screen until they hit upon the “right” divisor.  The table has the advantage of systematically presenting the information in one place.

D. Generating Sequences

If an explicit formula for a sequence is known, simply enter it into Y= and set the table to start at 1 with an increment of 1.  For example, the sequence 2, 5, 8, 11, … has explicit formula an = 2 + 3(n – 1).  In function mode, x is used in place of n.

This can also be accomplished in Sequence Mode.  nMin is the starting term number, u(n) is the explicit formula for term un, and u(nMin) is the value of the first term u1.  Note that the symbol n is found on the    key in sequence mode.  Here is the same sequence as above.

Although Sequence mode isn’t necessary for explicit formulas, it is very useful to generate a sequence recursively**.  This time, express u(n) in terms of the previous term u(n–1).  The u(n–1) variable is found by pressing ALPHA TRACE (or type it directly with the u above the 7 key).

Back in Function mode, I’ve also discovered that helpful sequences can be created with the Table.  When Precalculus students studied the Binomial Theorem, they often wrote out several rows of Pascal’s Triangle rather than use the nCr values for the appropriate power.  The table comes to the rescue: enter nCx into Y1, with the numerical value of the power for n.  Begin the table at 0 and increment by 1, and the appropriate row of Pascal’s Triangle is displayed.

Whether you use the table to enable investigation and inquiry, or use it to support numerical and procedural fluency, take these Table Techniques to your classroom!

Notes and Resources:

♦◊♦ This blog post was revised and expanded and published in the May 2019 issue of NCTM’s Mathematics Teacher Journal. If you can’t access, contact me directly. ♦◊♦

*The complete activity using Dynamic Tables to explore Linear and Exponential Growth is here.

**Recursive sequences can also be generated directly on the Home screen of the TI-84+ family, as an alternative to Sequence Mode.  Simply enter the value of the first term, then perform the recursive operation on the ANS, and press enter for the second term.  Finally, press ENTER as many times as desired to generate the sequence.  Below left is the same sequence discussed above; below right is the sequence based on paying off a $500 credit card bill with 24% annual interest and monthly payment of$75.

‡Thanks to Fred Decovsky for this suggestion.

# Conference Conversations…

Last month, at the T3 International Conference* #T3IC, I was one of the speakers at the “Seven for Seven” session**.  In an Ignite-style setup, each of us seven speakers spoke for seven minutes on topics that we were passionate about.

I spoke on “The Power of the Action–Consequence–Reflection Cycle”, in which

• Students perform a mathematical action
• Observe a mathematical consequence
• Reflect on the result and reason about the underlying mathematical concepts

I believe that the REFLECTION piece is the most important component of the process.  I talked about strategies for questioning and how to make reflection part of your classroom practice.

The video of my talk is here. In the alloted seven minutes, there wasn’t time to fully discuss classroom examples, but these activities fall into several categories:

1. Graphs and Sliders (Transformation of Functions)
2. Visualizers
3. Understanding Structure
4. Looking for Invariants
5. Dynamic Tables, Lists & Spreadsheets
6. CAS Capability

I wrote about two examples in this post that made use of graphs/sliders and invariants.  Some examples of dynamic tables are described in this post.

Next week, I will be presenting a workshop on the same theme at the NCTM 2018 Annual Meeting in Washington DC.  If you are attending #NCTMannual, join me at Session 36, Thursday April 26 in Convention Center 207A from 9:45 to 11 am for “Action–Consequence–Reflection Activities: Using Technology to Make Math Stick!”.  We will explore dynamic activities using TI Graphing Calculators, GeoGebra, or Desmos that leverage the Action–Consequence–Reflection Cycle to promote conceptual understanding and enable student success.  I will post some additional lesson ideas here after the conference is over.

Notes and Resources:

*All of the video highlights of the Teachers Teaching with Technology T3 International Conference are here.  The other six speakers were wonderful and inspiring—check them out to see what they had to say.  Next year, T3 will take place in Baltimore March 8–10, 2019, so save the date!

**Jill Gough’s summary sketchnote from the 7 for 7 session is here.  Thanks, Jill!

#### Using Technology to Make Math Stick

How might we enable students to grasp mathematical concepts and make their learning durable?  One approach is to use the sequence of Action-Consequence-Reflection in lesson activities:

• Students perform a mathematical action
• Observe a mathematical consequence
• Reflect on the result and reason about the underlying mathematical concepts

The ACTION can be on a graph, geometric figure, symbolic algebra expression, list of numbers or physical model.  Technology can be used in order to have a quick and accurate result or CONSEQUENCE for students to observe.

The REFLECTION component is the most important part of this sequence; without this, students might not pay attention to the important math learnings we intended for the lesson.  They might remember using calculators, computers, ipads, or smartboards, but not recall what the tech activity was about.  And if they did learn the concept in the first place, the process of reflection helps make the learning stick—it is one of the cognitive techniques shown to make learning more successful.*

Students can reflect in many ways: record results, answer questions, discuss implications with classmates, make predictions, communicate their thinking orally or in writing, develop proofs and construct arguments.  The intended (or unexpected) learnings should be summarized either individually or as a class in order to solidify the concepts, preferably in a written form.**

In my one-on-one work with students, we often fall into the “procedural trap” in which my students just want to know “what to do” and don’t feel that the “why it works” is all that important (I’ve written about this before here). Also, our time is limited with many topics to cover.  But this past week, I was able to sneak in some Action-Consequence-Reflection with two students because they had mastered the prior material and were getting ahead on a new unit. It was a great opportunity to have them discover a concept or pattern for themselves, far better than simply being told it is true.

For each of these, I used a simple REFLECTION prompt:  What do you observe?  What changes?  What stays the same?

Student #1: Polynomial Function End Behavior, Algebra 2 (or PreCalculus)We used a TI-84+CE to investigate the polynomials.  We began with the even powers on a Zoom Decimal window, and my student noticed that higher powers had “steeper sides”.  I asked “what are the y-values doing to make this happen?” and we noticed the y-values were “getting bigger faster”.  We then used the Zoom In command to investigate what was going on between x = –1 and x = 1, and noticed that higher powers were “flatter” close to the origin because their y-values were lower.

Why did this happen? Take x = 2 and raise it to successive powers, and it gets bigger. Take x = ½ and raise it to successive powers and it gets smaller. We confirmed this with the table:

Setting the Table features to “Ask” for the Independent variable but “Auto” for the Dependent made the table populate only with the values we wanted to view. Fractions can be used in the table, and we used the decimal value 0.5 for number sense clarity. Another observation was that the graphs coincided at three points: (1, 1), (0, 0) and (–1, 1).

In fact, none of this was what I “intended” to teach with the lesson, but it was mathematically interesting nonetheless, and my student already had a deeper appreciation for the graph’s properties. We moved on to the odd powers, and the same “steep” vs. “flat” properties were observed:

Then I asked my student to consider what made the graph of the even powers different from the graph of the odd powers, and what about them was the same, finally getting around to my “lesson”.  He noticed that even powers had a pattern of starting “high” on the left and ending “high” on the right, while odd powers started “low” on the left but ended “high” on the right.  We made predictions about the graphs of x11 and x12, to apply our understanding to new cases.† Then we moved on to the sign of the leading coefficient: when it is negative, our pattern changed to even powers “low” on the left and “low” on the right, with odd powers “high” on the left and “low” on the right.

All of this took just a few minutes, including the detour at the beginning that I wasn’t “intending” to teach.

Student #2: Interior and Exterior Angles of a Triangle, Geometry

We began with a dynamic geometry figure of a triangle which displayed the measurements of the three interior angles and one exterior angle.  I asked my student: “What do you notice?” and “what do you want to know about this figure?”  We dragged point B around to make different types of triangles.

This motivated my student to wonder about the angle measures; he was familiar with Linear Pair Angles, so he noticed that ∠ACB and ∠BCD made a linear pair and stated they would add up to 180°.  I then revealed some calculations of the angle measures, which dynamically update as we changed the triangle’s shape (the 180° in the upper right is the sum of the 3 interior angles).  What changes? What stays the same?

We noticed that both sums of 180° were constant‡ no matter how the triangle was transformed, but the sum of the 2 remote interior angles kept changing, and in fact, matched the measure of the exterior angle.  My student recorded his findings in his notebook, and then I asked, “can we prove it?”.  It was easy for us to prove the Exterior Angle Theorem based on his previous knowledge of the sum of the interior angles and the concept of supplementary linear pairs.  This student loved that he had “discovered” a new idea for himself, without me just telling him.

Even though these concepts are relatively simple, I feel that using a technology Action-Consequence activity made the learning more impactful and durable for my students, and I believe it was more effective than just telling them the property I wanted to teach. It took us a few more minutes to explore the context with technology than it would have to simply copy the theorems out of the book, but it was worth it!

Notes and Resources:

*For a full elaboration of cognitive science strategies for becoming a productive learner (or designing your teaching to enhance learning), see Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger & Mark A. McDaniel, 2014.  Website: http://makeitstick.net .

**Written summaries allow students to Elaborate and Reflect on the learning, two more of the cognitive strategies.  In addition, by insisting that students record the results of the work, the teacher sends the message that the technology investigation comprises important knowledge for the class.

†Making predictions is a way to formatively assess my students’ understanding.  It also is a form of Generation, another cognitive strategy that makes the learning more durable.

‡This is an example of an invariant, a value or sum that doesn’t change, which are often important mathematical/geometric results.

Here are the two activities discussed in the post. Note that the Geogebra file for Power functions has the advantage of having a dynamic slider, but students won’t view the graphs at the same time, so won’t notice the common points or the graph properties between –1 and 1.

# Searching for Structure

Recently, I read on Twitter some teachers’ frustration with students who just want to know the quick procedures to do the math at hand and don’t have much interest in the meaning of the underlying concepts.  I often come across this dilemma in my one-on-one work with students; in this tutoring role I especially feel the pressure to teach the “how-to” for an upcoming test and don’t always have the time to explore the “why” with the student.  I wrote a bit about this tension before in this post.

Another conversation on Twitter was specific to Algebra 2, about how to build on past knowledge even when some/all of the students seem not to remember that past knowledge.  How might we deepen students’ understanding and not simply retread the procedures?

I was faced with these dual dilemmas when I worked with a student this week reviewing Complex Numbers and Quadratic Equations for an upcoming test.  My approach: pay attention to mathematical structure.

A. Fractions involving imaginary numbers:

These three examples, examined together, allowed us to explore how to handle a negative value in the radicand (“inside the house”) and also how to handle a two-part numerator* with a one-part denominator.  Once the imaginary  i  was extracted and the radical simplified as much as possible, we took a look at when we could and couldn’t “simplify” the denominator.

I wanted to help my student avoid the common mistake of trying to “cancel”** when you can’t.  We used structure to explain.  When there is a two-part numerator and a one-part denominator, you can do one of 3 things:

“Distribute the denominator” to make two separate fractions.  I find this is the most reliable routine to avoid mistakes.

Divide “all parts” by a common factor.

Factor a common factor (if any) in the number, then simplify with the denominator.

{*I wasn’t sure if the numerators qualify as “binomials” since they are numeric values, but my student and I discussed how they have two terms on top and one term on bottom, which can be challenging to simplify.  This structure will be encountered later when solving equations using the quadratic formula.}

{**I have avoided the use of “cancel” since I became more familiar with the “Nix the Tricks” philosophy of using precise mathematical language and avoiding tricks and “rules that expire”.  See resources below for more on this.}

B. Operations with complex numbers:

Again, we looked at a set of three problems to examine structure, which leads us to the appropriate procedures:

What is the same and different about #10 and #11?  What operation is needed in each?  Which is easier for you?

What is the same and different about #11 and #12?  What do you call these expressions:  4 – 5i and 4 + 5i ?  If you notice this structure, how does the problem become easier?

This led to a fruitful discussion of combining “like terms”, what is a “conjugate”, and whether it mattered if the multiplication was done in any particular order.  My student had been taught to always list answers for polynomials in order of decreasing degree, as in x2 – 2x + 1, so he was writing any  i2  terms first.  This isn’t wrong, but the rearranging of the order of the multiplication could have caused a mistake, so we talked about whether  is a variable or not, and when might it be helpful to treat it like a variable.

By noticing the structure of conjugates and why they are used, we got away from merely memorizing math terminology and instead added to conceptual understanding.

C. Using the discriminant

The discriminant is one of my favorite parts of the quadratic equations unit!  Students must pay attention to the structure of a quadratic equation (is it in the standard form ax2 + bx + c = 0 ?) before using the discriminant to give clues about the number and type of solutions.

Rather than memorize what the discriminant means, look at where it “lives” in the quadratic formula.  It is in the radicand, which is why a positive value yields real solutions and a negative value does not.  The radical follows the ± , which is why nonzero discriminants give two solutions (either a real pair or a complex pair).  And the two solutions are conjugates of each other, something that I hadn’t really thought about when I got real solutions using the quadratic formula.  (And there is a nice surprise when you examine the two parts of the “numerical conjugates” and relate them to the graph of the quadratic. See note below for more on this.)

I recently read this post about one teacher’s success having students evaluate the discriminant first, then tackle the rest of the quadratic formula.  Her strategy integrates the use of the discriminant with quadratic formula solving, instead of making it a stand-alone procedure.

Calculator Note: when evaluating the Quadratic formula on the TI-84+ family of calculators, use the fraction template    to make the calculator input match the written arithmetic.  Press ALPHA then Y= for the fraction template, or get it from the MATH menu.  Then edit the previous entry for the second solution (use the UP arrow to highlight the previous entry and press ENTER to edit).  Here is #26 from above:

Another Calculator Note: the TI-84+ family in a+bi mode can handle the addition and multiplication questions #10-12, so if you are assessing student proficiency on these skills, have them do it without using the calculator.  The color TI-84 Plus CE can operate with an imaginary number within the fraction template, such as questions #4-6 and anything with the quadratic formula.  You can use either the  i  symbol (found above the decimal point) or a square root of a negative number.

However the B&W TI-84+ can’t use an imaginary number within the fraction template.  Use a set of parentheses and the division “slash” for this to work:

Notes and Resources:

Nix the Tricks website and book: nixthetricks.com.  And lest you think that “Distribute the denominator” is yet another trick, consider this:  The fraction bar is a type of grouping symbol (like parentheses) and it indicates division.  Dividing is equivalent to multiplying by the reciprocal.  So the “distribute the denominator” work for #4 above is also this:

Three articles about “Rules That Expire” have been published in the NCTM journals.  Currently all three are available as “FREE PREVIEWS” on the website.

“Look for and make use of structure” is one of the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP #7) in the Common Core State Standards found here: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/

The “nice surprise” about the solutions to a quadratic equation written as “numerical conjugates” and their relationship to the quadratic graph was pointed out to me by Marc Garneau.  His post here gives more detail and a student activity to go with it.

Thanks as always to the #MTBoS and #iTeachMath community on Twitter for great conversations!

# Fun Features of the TI-84+ Family

Recently, I was a panelist for a TI Calculators Webinar that happened to follow a new Operating System release for the TI-84+CE color calculator and its accompanying Apps and computer software.  The new calculator features were not our primary focus, but since OS 5.3 was just released, we tried to highlight them when appropriate. This post summarizes a few features of the new OS version 5.3; I want to share in more detail these fun features that will help my teaching and my students.

1.New shortcut key for the fraction template. I use the fraction template    to make the calculator inputs match the math notation.  It has been available for the entire TI-84+family for several operating systems.  Press ALPHA-Y1 to access the shortcut menu for the fraction and mixed number templates. On the color versions of the TI-84+, it is also found in the MATH>FRAC menu.

And now, there is an even faster way on the TI-84+CE: press

2. Piecewise Function Graphing now allows entry that looks like the textbook! Press MATH and select B. piecewise. Choose the number of pieces and then enter them using the inequality operators in the TEST menu (2nd MATH) or the CONDITIONS submenu.  Discuss with students whether it matters which piece comes first in the piecewise definition.

You might notice that in Y= the viewable area is limited when entering a piecewise function.  If desired, you can enter the piecewise function on the Home Screen and store it to one of the graphing function variables.  You will need to start and end the piecewise function with the quotation symbol (press ALPHA and the PLUS button).

Don’t have a CE but want to graph piecewise functions?  Instructions are found HERE and this method can prompt a rich discussion of how to use a logical operator in a math expression (the inequality statement will represent 1 if it is TRUE and 0 if it is FALSE).  Try TRACING the piecewise graph.  Where does the Y-value exist and not exist?

I like using piecewise functions on the calculator: it enables a graphical confirmation of a complicated algebraic expression, and that helps my students build their understanding.  It also gives us access to many real contexts for problem-solving.

3. Updated Transformation Graphing App. The newest Transformation Graphing App allows TWO transformable functions in Y1 and Y2 plus you can graph other static functions in Y3 to Y0 and up to three StatPlots.  You still use the four parameters A, B, C, D and you can now access several stored parent functions for lines, quadratics, cubics and trigonometry.

I like to challenge students to “Match the Graph” with a static function graph whose equation I haven’t shared (see below left, can you transform the blue graph to match the pink one?).  Or put data in a StatList and transform a function for a best fit curve.

It is now easier to move back and forth between the graph and the SETUP screen, and the “TrailOn” feature has moved to this more logical location [it was available in prior versions of Transformation Graphing, accessed from the FORMAT menu by pressing 2nd ZOOM.] See above right for the trail of quadratics.

And the entire Transformation Graphing process is faster than it was before (be patient if the calculator seems slow to respond and check for the “busy” indicator in the upper right corner of the color calculator screens).  HERE is a “How To” file for the Transformation Graphing App.

4. Easy storage of a Tangent Equation. When drawing a Tangent line to a graph, a MENU can be accessed using the GRAPH button (before entering a point of tangency) to store the equation directly to Y=.  This makes it easier to examine the equation of the tangent line in relation to the equation of the original function.

Entering the X-value for the point of tangency can be done by entering a value with the numeric keypad, or tracing to the desired point.  I prefer using the ZOOM DECIMAL window for “friendly” trace increments.

5. Finally: updating to a new OS is easy. You need a USB-calculator cable or a calculator-to-calculator cable.  Instructions are HERE and the OS is a free download from the TI WEBSITE.  Use the (free) TI-Connect™ CE Software or link to an already updated calculator.  For the new OS 5.3 for the CE calculator, there is a “Bundle” file that updates the OS and the Apps at the same time.

*Keep in mind that all the feature enhancements have alternatives for older OS versions. And even if your classroom has a mix of TI-84+ family devices, the TI-SmartView™ emulator computer software displays 3 distinct environments, so you can demonstrate in the CE emulator to take advantage of the features for the whole class.

6. Save Emulator State is back!! (I almost forgot to mention this) The TI-SmartView™ CE software NOW has the ability to “Save Emulator State” so the teacher can save work where you are when the bell rings at the end of the period and you can open it back up when that class returns the next day.  Or you can prepare your SmartView calculator in advance with your functions, lists, programs, etc. so that everything is loaded efficiently when you need it.  Instructions are HERE for using Emulator States.

Enjoy the new and old fun features! Reach out to me if you have any questions.

Resources:

The  “Making Math Stick” Webinar On-Demand is HERE and the activities discussed are HERE.  The new calculator features were not our primary focus, but since OS 5.3 was just released, we tried to highlight them when appropriate.

A great summary of some not-so-new features of the TI-84+ Family was written by my webinar co-panelist John LaMaster and is found HERE.