Yeah, I was reading about the AP Calculus test, and if you refuse to use a graphing calculator (which is required), the teacher has to write it down as a testing irregularity... Why? That's just so wrong.
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- Thread starter InsanelyApple
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Yeah, I was reading about the AP Calculus test, and if you refuse to use a graphing calculator (which is required), the teacher has to write it down as a testing irregularity... Why? That's just so wrong.
I am with you on that. What is worse is those same kids get college credit for Calculus and they will get their asses handed to them in college when they have to take either Cal II or Cal III as more and more college are banning calculator for Cal III and down.
Now after Cal III they allow it but it at that point it is not like calculators can help as much. The big stuff you have to know how to do by hand. The calculators help you avoid mistakes in the stuff they are not testing you on.
My defQ teacher flat out told us use your calculator to do find some of the differentiatal and integrations. I can promise you that all that did was save me time and stupid mistakes it was complete useless after that point and that part we were not being tested on.
As for class in HS it is nice for somethings if they show you how the calculator can be a great tool and what it can do but for test it should not be allowed. They are way to powerful now days and the AP exam needs to ban them.
edit: Look up the calulator restriction for AP exams. They are stupid. They ban the Voyager 200 but they are going to allow the TI-89. They run on the exact same OS and have the exact same processor and exact same power. If anything they need to ban limit the max power on that test to 83. Hell a basic scientific should be all that is allowed to be used. Instead they banned that.
But it's redundant. I have a TI-84, and a TI-83 (My brothers, he graduated, doesn't need it anymore). So, it's not like I NEED to buy a new calculator, it'd just be a waste of money.
I have always liked HP, and still have my old 48GX. It still does way more than I will probably ever need. Never used the graphing functions, but the root-finding, equation solving, etc. features are wonderful.
I have always considered HP a company of nerds making products for nerds, so that is the company I always went to (my background is engineering).
However, nowadays, there are so many free tools available on the Internet, offering extremely powerful capabilities, it is pretty rare for me to reach for my pocket calculator.
I have always considered HP a company of nerds making products for nerds, so that is the company I always went to (my background is engineering).
However, nowadays, there are so many free tools available on the Internet, offering extremely powerful capabilities, it is pretty rare for me to reach for my pocket calculator.
ugg I could never going back to using a TI-84 or 83.
In my desk I have 2 TI-86 (one used to be my brother), a Voyager 200 that the screen has gone all wanky on and my current main calculator that I bought over the summer is a TI-89 Titanium.
I know I have a TI-83 somewhere but not like i use it any more. Hell since I started using a Voyager 200 I can never give up my pretty print. I also have a construction calculator and a TI-36 solar as well. So do not talk to me about over kill. Mind you I have had 10 of school and what not to build up my collection.
Of the TI line if you want a calculator with some real power get at TI-89 Titanium. All the others are lesser calculators.
I never have used HP so I do not know about that one.
Well my favorite Calculator is Casio which i am using since my O level which is easy to use and fulfill my desired requirement of calculations .
I use this one daily
http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_baii_plus_pro.html
Still one of the fastest ways to do basic financial calculations.
Still looking for a good iPad calculator that can take over.
http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_baii_plus_pro.html
Still one of the fastest ways to do basic financial calculations.
Still looking for a good iPad calculator that can take over.
Texas Instruments TI-30XIIS. I like it, it's a fairly basic scientific calculator. I have always used TI calculators so it's easier, also all my mates also use them. My university only allows texas instruments non programable, non graphing, no integrating,... basic scientific calculators. Anyways, you might as well use a computer if you need more than basic math operations. I really don't see the point of programable/graphing calculators. Also as a funny note, TI states how the 3D graphing and other functions and pre-loaded apps make AP "infinitely easier". 
I had a TI-81 graphing calculator for one class in high school, it was kind of cool, when you are getting familiar with functions to easily see them and such. Anyhow, the teacher made sure it was just a tool to help us understand stuff, not a replacement to understanding.
I had a TI-81 graphing calculator for one class in high school, it was kind of cool, when you are getting familiar with functions to easily see them and such. Anyhow, the teacher made sure it was just a tool to help us understand stuff, not a replacement to understanding.
A calculator discussion on macrumors?! Omg. And we're talking about mostly graphing calculators? The discussion is about more than just it being made out of aluminum and having really good buttons? Holy cow.
The HP 50G is not a Ti-83/Ti-84 equivalent, it is a Ti-89 equivalent because it can do CAS. If your calc professor is picky and doesn't allow Ti-89s or other CAS calculators, and they know what you're using, I doubt they'll allow it. Granted, most calc professors don't pay attention you could probably sneak it in. OTOH, if your prof walks around during a test and sees you evaluating an integral on a calculator.. you're in trouble.
Anyway, I ended up with a Ti-84 + Silver a few years ago, as my Calculus instructor insisted we have them and did a few simple demos with it. In the end, it was almost never allowed on the test and.. yea. total waste of $$.
Oh well.
In Calc 2, my teacher said we could use scientific calculators only. hehe, again.. No game. In Calc 3 (multivariable), it was allowed on some tests, but not others. Please note, the 1/2/3 was based on a 3 semester system at my college.
At the start of my differential equations class, the teacher highly recommended we dump our trusty 83s/84s for a more powerful 89/92/Voyage 200. I checked the prices on these, and opted for the much cheaper Nspire CAS. Hehe, the clickpad model was $80 at the time on Amazon and I sold my TI-84 for that! It can't be programmed beyond basic scripts, but programming a calculator is a bit of a lost art these days anyway - that's what computers are for.
It does a lot of things you'd expect a Ti-89 or HP 50G to do, and has alpha keys for the sake of saving you some heartache, and best of all it uses a higher DPI screen that is much nicer on the eyes.
If you consider a new graphing calc, I'd first suggest checking if that's still available cheap - if it isn't check ebay, because they were on clearance everywhere.. or wait till the NSpire CX comes out, because the current touchpad models will be on clearance soon.
Also: The 84+ Silver was discontinued, so you might find those for a song as well Careful, they have no CAS! (but nor does the regular NSpire)
HP calculators are neat, and I'd have one - but everyone I know that preached about them ended up buying a TI for practical uses. Hell, I used to use a 48G emulator myself so.. I suppose it's a bit of a lost art too
For non-graphing gear, I rock a Sharp DAL calculator. I know how to use those funny looking TI scientifics of the olden days (that you still see floating around), but they are so clumsy. Who the heck decided to do *52*LN*?!
*shrug*
I will agree that not needing a calculator is important, but right now in diffeq we're doing lots of problems that introduce trig integrals and partial fractions. It is expected you know how to do them, but there isn't enough time on quizzes/tests in our classes to actually do them by hand, and that's where the calculator comes in. XD
The HP 50G is not a Ti-83/Ti-84 equivalent, it is a Ti-89 equivalent because it can do CAS. If your calc professor is picky and doesn't allow Ti-89s or other CAS calculators, and they know what you're using, I doubt they'll allow it. Granted, most calc professors don't pay attention you could probably sneak it in. OTOH, if your prof walks around during a test and sees you evaluating an integral on a calculator.. you're in trouble.
Anyway, I ended up with a Ti-84 + Silver a few years ago, as my Calculus instructor insisted we have them and did a few simple demos with it. In the end, it was almost never allowed on the test and.. yea. total waste of $$.
Oh well.
In Calc 2, my teacher said we could use scientific calculators only. hehe, again.. No game. In Calc 3 (multivariable), it was allowed on some tests, but not others. Please note, the 1/2/3 was based on a 3 semester system at my college.
At the start of my differential equations class, the teacher highly recommended we dump our trusty 83s/84s for a more powerful 89/92/Voyage 200. I checked the prices on these, and opted for the much cheaper Nspire CAS. Hehe, the clickpad model was $80 at the time on Amazon and I sold my TI-84 for that! It can't be programmed beyond basic scripts, but programming a calculator is a bit of a lost art these days anyway - that's what computers are for.
It does a lot of things you'd expect a Ti-89 or HP 50G to do, and has alpha keys for the sake of saving you some heartache, and best of all it uses a higher DPI screen that is much nicer on the eyes.
If you consider a new graphing calc, I'd first suggest checking if that's still available cheap - if it isn't check ebay, because they were on clearance everywhere.. or wait till the NSpire CX comes out, because the current touchpad models will be on clearance soon.
Also: The 84+ Silver was discontinued, so you might find those for a song as well
Careful, they have no CAS! (but nor does the regular NSpire)HP calculators are neat, and I'd have one - but everyone I know that preached about them ended up buying a TI for practical uses. Hell, I used to use a 48G emulator myself so.. I suppose it's a bit of a lost art too
For non-graphing gear, I rock a Sharp DAL calculator. I know how to use those funny looking TI scientifics of the olden days (that you still see floating around), but they are so clumsy. Who the heck decided to do *52*LN*?!
*shrug*
I will agree that not needing a calculator is important, but right now in diffeq we're doing lots of problems that introduce trig integrals and partial fractions. It is expected you know how to do them, but there isn't enough time on quizzes/tests in our classes to actually do them by hand, and that's where the calculator comes in. XD
The comments along the line of "you should be learning to do math without a calculator" seem very short-sighted to me. Calculators are for much more than just math class.
I've been using Casio calculators since I was an undergraduate more than 20 years ago. Never did like TI's, and HP's were always much more expensive and overblown than what I needed - and in their earlier days, their engineering calculators were RPN only, which I never got behind.
The single biggest reason I like using Casio's is the ANS key. Spend a college career solving problems in thermodynamics and gas dynamics and you'll come to love that key. On every TI I ever tried to use, you had to use Shift to get the ANS function; not so on the Casio's I've used.
I agree that the programmable graphing calculators are unnecessary. My recommendation to any engineering student is to get one of the NCEES-approved models, start using that, and get very familiar with it, since only those are allowed on the FE and P&P exams.
I've been using Casio calculators since I was an undergraduate more than 20 years ago. Never did like TI's, and HP's were always much more expensive and overblown than what I needed - and in their earlier days, their engineering calculators were RPN only, which I never got behind.
The single biggest reason I like using Casio's is the ANS key. Spend a college career solving problems in thermodynamics and gas dynamics and you'll come to love that key. On every TI I ever tried to use, you had to use Shift to get the ANS function; not so on the Casio's I've used.
I agree that the programmable graphing calculators are unnecessary. My recommendation to any engineering student is to get one of the NCEES-approved models, start using that, and get very familiar with it, since only those are allowed on the FE and P&P exams.
To be clear, I'm not arguing against the use of calculators, period--rather, math students (at least until multivariate calc/diffEq/abstract algebra...) shouldn't be learning to use calculators in place of learning to understand math. Through high school, there's no reasonable argument for a graphing calculator. It's really sad how many smart kids I know/have tutored that barely learned any math because their teachers never made them think, rather just showed them how to use a tool.
Once you get to college coursework, I'll be the first to agree that a high-end calculator can be nice, and is even appropriate in non-math classes (I loved using my HP 49 in thermodynamics). Your advice for training onesself with a professional exam-approved calculator is good, too, and can pay off even before you're done in college--when I took college general chem, the professor didn't allow any sort of graphing calculator (because of concerns for storing formulae/cheating)...it was nice to be able to easily switch over to my HP-15 without having to miss a beat.
Still using a 20+ year-old HP-12C. Love RPN. The greatest calculator of all time, in my opinion, was the HP-41C. I was issued one of these bad boys for my first engineering job out of college in the early 80s. This was the one they used to carry on the Space Shuttle as a backup in case the main computer died! Before the age of PCs, these things were gold.
I say anything from Cal III and below a calculator should not be allowed to be used on. There is just no need for it.
Now when you start thing like DefQ or engineering classes it is another store were a what is being tested is not if you know how to do math but how to solve the problem. Hell the last math course I took a calculator was worthless anyhow for 99% of the math course as it was doing proofs and many things a calculator just can not do. The teacher problems that required compilations was simple things. He banned calculators on his test because he did have some problems that the cal would of allowed us to brute force solve it but if you knew the theory it was a very simple solution and required very little work but it was impossible to brute force it by hand in the time of the test.
I took a closer look at the poll - what exactly is a Store Brand calculator?
Well, some drug stores/Walmart in my town sell calculators with no branding, so I assume those are a store brand.
Casio fx.
Check out the Casio fxCG10 or fxCG20 (Aka the Prizm). I got it in the mail today and it is awesome. It is a color LCD graphing calculator that does hundreds of more things than the Ti-84. But it doesn't have CAS (which is bittersweet considering it is allowed on tests, but it doesn't have CAS which is an awesome feature.). I never thought color would be such a big deal until I started using it.
i don't have a calculator preference, but the one i use is the ti 30xs multiview. it has plenty of easily accessible storage variables, and a neat equation solver.
I had to buy it back in 8th grade for my algebra honors course. I've used it through high school and college math courses. However, I've been using it more as a financial calculator in my finance and accounting courses over the past few years.
I prefer this calculator over other financial calculators because everything can be seen on the screen. I hate having to do 1 step at a time and/or not being able to see my previously entered numbers.
I know what I'm doing in most calculus and finance related problems, so I usually do most of my math mentally and the 83 helps me organize my mind a little bit better than most calculators.
TVM Solver.... a time saver.
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