Tutoring math, you are surrounded by calculators.  The math tutor tells a story.

 
Years ago I realized that knowing “how to do” a process in math is being eclipsed by “how to use” a calculator. First, I saw the TI graphing calculator back in 1990. Very few people had one; those did weren’t always allowed to use it on tests. However, they were allowed on some tests and on “for-marks” homework. Back then, that calculator cost around $300, I was told. It was more than I was paying per university course.

One of my friends had one of those big TIs. At the time, I had a little “bare-bones” TI scientific (around $30). Sitting in the theatre seats of a 2nd semester calculus lecture, I challenged him to a race: who could (using our calculators) more quickly find the fifth root of 2. I won, of course; he didn’t know where to find the variable root function on his calculator. It was in a menu which itself he had to find. He did manage to get the answer around five minutes later.

While people were impressed with those big calculators, some were missing the point: having the expensive calculator with way more functions didn’t necessariy mean an advantage. I recall a calculus exam to which you could bring any device you wanted. Once again, for me it was the TI “bare-bones” scientific.

Today, the TI graphing calculator – itself around half the price it was then – is still great for graphing. However, in high school math, you don’t need the graphing function too often. That’s not to say it’s not handy – just that you don’t “need” it very often. Some teachers won’t allow its use on tests. I only use it to show other people how to – or else on rare occasions when I have a math problem of my own to solve outside of tutoring.

The TI “bare-bones” scientific is still great for high school and university math. Similar to the TI grapher, it’s around half the price it was in 1990. It – or its SHARP or CASIO equivalent – is what I still use – as well as most of my students most of the time. (For the last ten or fifteen years, most people prefer the SHARP scientific, which is usually a few dollars more.)

The calculator issue complicates learning math because it gives more choices. I’ll be continuing this vein in coming posts:)

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.