Re: Which TI should I get?

To: CALC-TI@LISTS.PPP.TI.COM
Subject: Re: Which TI should I get?
From: RWW Taylor <RWTNTS@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 12:41:54 -0500
Reply-To: RWW Taylor <RWTNTS@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU>
nelward@geocities.com wrote:

> I am a freshman in high school and I will be getting a graphing calculator
> soon.  I am looking for something that will get me through honors courses
> for the next 4 years.  I was thinking about the TI 89 because it is
> upgradeable, small, and the newest calc.  If anyone thinks I should consider
> something else, please email me: nelward@geocities.com
>
> Thanks

Perhaps 4 years is too far ahead to look. And perhaps "getting through"
is not the right objective. It's been my observation that students arriving in
my classes from high school with four years of experience with the same
calculator tend to actually be _behind_ students who acquired their calculators
more recently. You tend to reach a plateau, unless kicked off it by
circumstances (like new features and new possibilities to consider). These
students didn't grow appropriately in that fixed environment -- I need to show
them that they could be doing a lot more.

On the other hand, it's hard to imagine outgrowing the TI-89, mathematically!
The problem is that this calculator will _overpower_ the curriculum (even
honors courses). I am struggling to find appropriate content to teach, right
now, in a College Algebra and Trig course in which a number of my students are
using TI-89's and TI-92's. We have to go way beyond the textbook, while still
respecting those students using more traditional tools. I have no direct
experience with what is happening in the high schools these days, but I imagine
that the next 4 years are going to be a wild ride!

If a person has no previous experience with graphing calculators, perhaps the
best option would be to purchase a TI-83 or TI-86 (which would fit well with
enlightened modern curricula), planning to sell this and move up to a TI-89 (or
whatever the current equivalent might be) in two years. Four years of furious
learning related to mathematics and calculators out to suit you for _any_
college career.

RWW Taylor
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester NY 14623

>>>> The plural of mongoose begins with p.