TI-84+ CSE: An Editorial
Posted by Ryan on 26 February 2013, 01:27 GMT
While we started the ball rolling with a simple video
demonstration of the new calc model, Xavier "Critor" Andreani
has been put in a staggering amount of both transparent and highly professional effort into
doing a thorough comparative demonstration with the new 84+ CSE relative to
its ancestral models, drawing some very even-handed conclusions. On another front,
Christopher "Kerm
Martian" Mitchell has been rockin' and sockin' away at taking care of some serious
heavy-lifting by setting the scene for the calc's release with some starter software and
preliminary emulation
support, although there may be some legal concerns appearing in the emulation realm.
As the community gets an increasing amount of exposure to growing lists of factoids,
figures, and demonstrations with regards the performance and features of the upcoming TI-
84+ CSE, there are a number of issues that have been pushed to the back burner. As we move
into the more objective realm of discussion about the new calc, I would like to take the
time to put forth my subjective perceptions of what this calculator means, both to our
community broadly defined as well as the world beyond. Strange as it may seem, it is true,
there are people out there who aren't obsessed with TI graphing calculators. My
opinions reflected here are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of the
ticalc.org staff.
The shorthand version:
- The 84+ CSE as a stand-alone product lacks some clarity with regards to meeting goals
relevant to learning and education in a manner above and beyond that of previous models in
the family.
- Programmers and community members alike who choose to adopt the new platform will
likely find it to be an interesting area for exploration, as new artistic avenues present
themselves on the coding and aesthetic fronts alike. But, nobody is twisting your arm to
throw away your old calc and pick up an 84+ CSE.
- I generally like the new 84+ CSE, but I cannot estimate the likelihood that it will
supersede my existing calcs.
Introduction, or, You've Heard This Already:
To get this out of the way, I will briefly mention my impression of the hardware and
performance aspects of the calculator. Yes, the color screen is actually quite versatile
and lovely. Yes, the performance does leave something to be desired. And yes, losing
keystrokes doing lengthy inputs can, at times, be frustrating, to say the least.
Finally, yes, the TI-84+ CSE can still do math and statistics. These are, so it appears,
the primary issues for both casual newcomers and those who are crotchety, grizzled, and
hardened from years of hunched-over, frantic on-calc coding. When I was your age, we didn't
have fancy backlights... oh, you get the idea. But what do all of these things
mean?
You may or may not be aware of this, but Texas Instruments has for some time been
undertaking the unquestionably elephantine task of promoting science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to populations and demographics who are traditionally
and fundamentally underrepresented in
these areas. This is a major and serious social issue that, while having been exposed and
combated for decades, has been drawing an exponential growth in attention for quite some
time and, importantly, is getting a lot of public / journalistic
and academic treatment alike. The fact that
Texas Instruments has been actively addressing this issue in their own way is deserving of
some praise, in my opinion. An imperative question, then, is how might (or might not) this
new model of calculator mesh with this goal?
The Color Screen:
If you have been watching, you already know that the color LCD screen is the flagship
feature of the new model of calculator. This feature even got its own letter in the model's
name (...you know... "C"... for "color"...). Many of us already know that novelty and
usability/quality are not synonymous with regards to technology, and Texas Instruments
knows this too. So, do color screens
fundamentally alter the way that students, educators, and researchers may learn to interact
with statistics and mathematics in the classroom and in the field? Not on its own. The only
time that I, personally, have ever felt that this feature would be of great use on my calc
is when plotting multiple complex graphs. While this is certainly going to be something
that students will be doing, it is important that students be taught the value of multiple
representations when using their calculators, as they often appear to not reach this conclusion
independently. It will be vital for Texas Instruments to ensure that educators
understand how to implement color screens in the classroom for maximum utility, and they
appear to be well aware of this; I am eager to see their approach
unfold with the 84+ CSE model.
For community members (the vast majority of whom are already and necessarily STEM
oriented due to an appreciation of technology), on the other hand, a new series of boons
and banes open up. As has been discussed extensively, the calculator appears to be
underpowered with regards to the screen. Simple operations requiring even partial refreshes
can lag the calc down to a temporarily unresponsive halt. For BASIC programmers, especially
those who rely upon graphical representations in their work, serious consideration above
and beyond what has been true in the past will need to be given with regards to what
features should be implemented in their software. Some techniques will undoubtedly prevail
over others and while new limitations will foster creativity, they will also serve to
frustrate and discourage coders whose talents will suffer on the new screen. For ASM
programmers, new avenues and challenges open up with possibilities of visually stunning
software and color LCD coding practices that have, in the past, been the fevered dreams of
the insane. Unfamiliar and increasingly idiosyncratic coding practices, however, may be the
price of entry for taking advantage of color screens. Let's be honest about the bottom
line, however. The able and talented coders who opt to take on the 84+ CSE as a programming
platform already know what they are getting into and will undoubtedly succeed at creating
innovative and impressive software, as they always have. The addition of color opens new
avenues, and I am genuinely unconcerned about the marginal loss of performance with regards
to our community. Orthogonal to this, the uninitiated, STEM-uncertain individuals might not
be incredibly off-put by slower performance when learning to program visual software. In
fact, a slower pace might facilitate better understanding of what is happening on-
screen, when it is happening, and why it is happening.
Lastly and prospectively, those who normally shy away from STEM fields may find
themselves drawn in by potential interests in computational art and detailed sprite /
tilemap art creation. While software oriented towards graphics for the sake of aesthetics
has always been open to the artistically inclined members of the community, a higher
resolution and splashes of color will allow for people to play in a visual space that
previously was inaccessible to those who do not own an Nspire CX. However, efficiency and
familiarity are going to be important factors in this regard. Those who do not know their
way around the calculator will unquestionably pursue other, more accessible outlets for
such endeavors. To illustrate this, drawing a horizontal line on the TI-84+ CSE graph
screen is simple and easy, however, if one tries to do this simple task with shading (and
does not disable shading, choose the line's placement location, then re-enable shading),
this becomes a chore that can literally take minutes to achieve. While this obstacle
can be easily overcome, some users may not know or readily discover that this is the case.
The easily discouraged will likely choose more accessible platforms as an artistic outlet,
although I would love to see the artistic part of the community blossom as it has thus
far.
Useability:
One thing that I had hoped for with the 84+ CSE was some moderate to serious
modifications in the form of a reconstrual of the user interface as compared to its
predecessors; this is not the case. Rather, at least some known existing bugs (e.g., the
"[H]->Str1 bug) are still present in the current OS. Tech-savvy and experienced
users are likely to have few-to-no issues exploring the reimplementation of the traditional
83/84+ menu system, however, I think that it is important for us to acknowledge that this
system is archaic, not self-explanatory, and can be a huge barrier to student learning. I
took it upon myself to give my reviewer model a little bit of face time with 10 STEM and
non-STEM majors at my university, all of whom reported previous experience with 83/84+
models of calculators, to see how comfortable they felt with the TI-84+ CSE. Other than two
students majoring in math and statistics, all students seemed equally adept at navigating
to and executing simple features (e.g., List editing and function plotting), but exhibited
considerable difficulty in finding menus relevant to things that they had done or were
currently doing in relevant coursework (e.g., logarithms, converting lists to matrices, and
even finding the device's clock). These are not new functions and features, thus
demonstrating the importance of at least a slight overhaul with regards to the pernicious
nature of the OS. What's more, none of the 10 students could figure out how to do anything
with colors when I allowed them ample time to do so, aside from changing the colors of
functions plotted to the graph screen. Shortcut keys (Alpha + Functions 1-4) were also
universally elusive to all users, despite a startup screen that explicitly states how to
access them.
While an ambiguous and often unwieldy UI is nothing new to the 83/84+ family, these
problems persist in spite of the goal of accessibility and ease of use for those
traditionally discouraged by the perceived complex and antediluvian nature of STEM work.
Sure, students are able to learn the calc's utility through a non-negligible amount of
exploration and instruction, however, the lack of self-explanatory navigation cues,
functions, and help features (aside from abbreviated argument parameter listings) falls
short of progress in the realm of usability. That even somewhat experienced users cannot
pick up the device and locate standard and common functions within a time frame exceeding 5
minutes is not encouraging. Interaction design is not
just for products, but workspaces of both physical and conceptual natures. The TI-
84+ CSE is indeed both a product and a conceptual workspace, and I feel that the TI-Nspire
is currently superior (although still problematic in its own right) in its usability and UI
design with regards to learning.
Math and Stats at the Nexus of Color and Usability:
Ultimately, TI graphing calculators are still the gold standard when it comes to
mathematics and statistics in the learning environment. There are some features new to the
84+ CSE that are certainly improvements upon the family's already solid history of quality
and utility in this area. That being said, the primary functions of the TI-84+ CSE must be
considered within the context of the previous two areas of discussion.
With the new device, I found myself asking "What are the novel contributions made to
learning and applying math and stats?" In fact, I find myself asking this question still. A
color screen and some new features will certainly serve to draw in some people who are
otherwise uninterested in STEM fields, however, what will the strength of this draw be? I
would very much like to think that a color screen will allow for students to more deeply
explore mathematics as a creative outlet, however, many things can be done to help
facilitate this. Easier and more comprehensive drawing functions would be a good start in
this area, as would be the ability to take advantage of the color screen on the home menu.
As has been pointed out elsewhere, the use of color to emphasize pairs of parenthesis, as
well as function argument positions and even syntax errors (much like a good IDE) are, as
of yet, wholly missed opportunities that should be capitalized upon at some point in the
device's future.
While color may serve to draw some users in to the area of multiple representations, I
think that this is still not enough. The lack of any serious paradigm shift for the 83/84+
family leaves its contemporary cousin, the TI-Nspire, still more inherently suited to the
task of creating a workspace that encourages, and apparently implicitly elicits, exploration of multiple representations
and more varied problem-solving strategies. Furthermore, the heightened UI sluggishness
with regards to on-calc coding may serve to deter students from exploring mathematics and
statistics at a programmatic level. Exploration of mathematics and statistics in this
manner are believed by some to be of great importance to the future of education in
mathematics. Anecdotally speaking, I learned far more about math and statistics from
creating software in a way that made the underlying methods and concepts more
transparent and procedural to me than I have from hands-on, pencil-and-paper methods.
That being said, the loss of speed, while a bit of an obstacle for experienced
programmers, may actually be beneficial for student learning. While people often note that,
unlike the 83/84+ family, modern smartphones are flashy, speedy, and full of zip, instant
responsiveness may in fact hinder learning rather than help it. Something as simple as
requiring a more paced, deliberate, and conscientious input style could serve to facilitate
deeper processing of information, more attention to detail, and in fact, better
understanding of concepts to be learned. That is something that might be important to think
about.
Personal Experiences:
Moving away from the discussion points thus far, the primary question for myself is
this: Will I, personally, opt to replace my beloved TI-83+ SE with the new 84+ CSE? I
cannot yet say. There are really only two competing factors in this regard: the display and
the responsiveness. Firstly, the backlight is a massive bonus for the new calc. I
love to program and play on my calc in many different settings, and I love that lighting is
no longer an issue for me. What's more, I love the higher resolution of the 84+ CSE, as the
larger view allows me to see the scope of my programs more broadly, providing a more
refined feel regarding the things for which my calc has become indispensable. This comes
with the caveat that I have spent years doing math and statistics on-calc and am not in the
process of learning these concepts; I already engage large amounts of data on a daily
basis. On the other hand, the frustration of input and UI responsiveness runs against my
usual desire to pick up and quickly hammer out a problem (e.g., effect size
calculations, specific statistical tests, conversions, etc.) that would take more time to
complete with alternative statistics platforms (e.g., SPSS, SAS, or even in spreadsheets or
using a search engine query); this is somewhat marginalized on the 84+ CSE. However, I find
that I have rapidly grown accustomed to the UI of the 84+ CSE, and it took very little time
to start to feel every bit as natural as using other graphing calculators.
Now that the excitement of possessing a new graphing calculator has worn off (and yes,
it is extremely exciting), and now that the halo effect has faded, I am still very satisfied with the TI-84+
CSE. For my day-to-day purposes, it serves me well, and the device quickly began to feel
like a long-time member of my calculator family. Despite my initial surprise over the
performance and the presence of old bugs, I am very pleased with how well my TI-84+ CSE
handles the tasks that I regularly throw at it. Whether it edges out over my old best friend,
however, remains to be seen, and I certainly do not want to be "that guy" who is seen
sporting a bandolier of calculators wherever I go. Or do I?....
Summary:
So, ultimately, what do I think of the upcoming TI-84+ CSE? With regards to making STEM
fields more accessible and appealing, I have some mixed thoughts. There are definitely
things that are going to draw in an unknown percentage of people who would otherwise
perceive mathematics and statistics as dull, unintelligible, or otherwise unappealing. I
have some doubts, however, about how targeted this effect will be with regards to
underrepresented populations, as well as how large the effect will be in general. As
thousands of researchers and educators across multiple disciplines will attest, this is not
a simple problem to address. I am patiently curious to see how Texas Instruments addresses
this issue with specific regards to the TI-84+ CSE in a structural and social fashion via
seminars, professional development efforts, and so on. In the end, I feel that the 84+ CSE
as a stand-alone product lacks some clarity with regards to meeting goals relevant to
learning and education in a manner above and beyond that of previous models in the
family.
Programmers and community members alike who choose to adopt the new platform will likely
find it to be an interesting area for exploration, as new artistic avenues present
themselves on the coding and aesthetic fronts alike. Those who find the performance and
responsiveness of the new model to be a problem will always have their trusty classic
platforms in the 83/84+ family, and there is by no means any systematic pressure to adopt
the new model.
And finally, I like the new 84+ CSE. I find that the screen lifts some of the
constraints of past models with regards to how I can conceptualize problems, view data, and
code, albeit at a compromised pace. It can very organically take the place of my favorite
graphing calc in a day-to-day work rotation, however, whether it will ultimately supplant
its ancestors (in both my life and yours) is yet to be seen.
Even if you 100% disagree with my perceptions, I hope that my treatement of the topics
discussed here will encourage thinking about the new model of calculator in a more broad,
critical, and creative way than where the current community discussion stands. I am more
than happy to discuss all of these topics in the comments.
