TI handheld software applications: making connections accross the curriculum: software for TI graphing calculators enables' process of discovery. (Special Advertising Section).Most striking, when listening to educators talk about using TI handhelds in the classroom, is their universal agreement on the devices' most valuable property: Enabling the process of discovery by students. This theme recurs repeatedly, like an underlying drumbeat See Drumbeat 2000. , in myriad lesson plans and projects as recounted by math and science teachers, even teachers of English, history, economics, the social sciences and more. Among the many disciplines and grade levels, it is a shining common thread. "The best learning experiences are those in which students come to understand concepts by making connections," explains Douglas Smeltz, math teacher at Fort Hayes Fort Hayes, a military post in Columbus, Ohio, United States, was created by an act of the United States Congress in 1877. As of 2007, the property is primarily used for the Columbus School District's Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center and bus depot. Arts Academic High School in Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the capital and the largest city of the American state of Ohio. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. , and long-time instructor for the [T.sup.3] professional development program. It is only natural, he says, for teachers to embrace graphing calculators Graphing Calculator may refer to:
It takes a custom combination to provide this degree of portable power. Texas Instruments See TI. (company) Texas Instruments - (TI) A US electronics company. A TI engineer, Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit in 1958. Three TI employees left the company in 1982 to start Compaq. begins with tailored handheld technology--like the TI-83 Plus for high schools or TI-73 for middle schools--that includes Flash ROM Another term for flash memory. Since flash chips can be updated over and over, the ROM (read only) designation is somewhat misleading. "ROM" is used more to mean not volatile than not changeable. See flash memory. Flash ROM - Flash Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory capability and plenty of memory space to hold data and programs. Then software gets added. Known as an App, the software application for TI handhelds targets real-world classroom and curriculum needs. Practicing educators help Texas Instruments to develop Apps. Available programs concentrate on math and science, certainly, but there are other tools. CellSheet APP Suits Many Disciplines CellSheet is TI's spreadsheet program that many teachers consider a "must have" App, especially for high schoolers. "All high school math students should learn how to use a spreadsheet and this is an excellent way to get them started," says Nils Ahbel, an instructor at the Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is a private, coeducational boarding school located in Deerfield, Massachusetts. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus. in Deerfield, Mass. Moreover, combining a spreadsheet with TI handhelds' graphing and statistical functions greatly broadens these devices' use in social science, economics, business, and other classes. CellSheet's cells can contain text and numeric strings, variables, functions, formulas and more, while each spreadsheet may hold 999 rows and up to 26 columns. CellSheet on a TI graphing calculator proves ideal for lessons involving modeling and "what-if?" scenarios. Students can recalculate re·cal·cu·late tr.v. re·cal·cu·lat·ed, re·cal·cu·lat·ing, re·cal·cu·lates To calculate again, especially in order to eliminate errors or to incorporate additional factors or data. data in an instant, and toggle To alternate back and forth between two states. toggle - To change a bit from whatever state it is in to the other state; to change from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1. This comes from "toggle switches", such as standard light switches, though the word "toggle" actually refers to to various chart and graph views nearly as quickly. Ahbel, for example, particularly likes the way CellSheet illustrates recursive See recursion. recursive - recursion formulas. "[It] opens up the world of recursion In programming, the ability of a subroutine or program module to call itself. It is helpful for writing routines that solve problems by repeatedly processing the output of the same process. See recurse subdirectories. in a simple, user-friendly way," observes Ahbel. The Organizer App, for instance, supplies a personal calendar, to-do task list, appointment manager, and contacts database of phone numbers, e-mail and more. Weekly or daily timeline views help with class schedules and projects; it also remembers when tasks are due, so there's no excuse for missing homework assignments or faculty meetings. Versatile StudyCards App Doubles Up Learning Teachers of all disciplines also appreciate the purposeful simplicity of TI's StudyCards App, which leverages a tried-and-true technique. This free program lets students review electronic flashcards Electronic flashcards (or flash cards) are data types intended to be similar to paper flashcards used as a learning aid in primary schools or for memorization purposes in other environments. on their calculator's screen. Study Card stacks are already available for art, economics, English, foreign languages, geography, history, music and science. Also free is the PC computer software--StudyCards Creator--by which one makes the flash-cards. Text can be mixed with bitmapped graphics The representation of a digital image as a matrix of picture elements (pixels). All images acquired by digital cameras and camcorders, scanners and screen capture programs are bitmapped images. Also known as "raster graphics, images created in paint programs are also bitmapped images. or screen-shots and placed on cards. Teachers may integrate several levels of difficulty within one flashcard stack, or create multiple-choice flashcards. And students can create their own sets of cards, as personal study aids or, as some teachers suggest, for younger students to use in a cross-grade-level project. StudyCards stacks and friendly competition are how Norma Mackenzie, biology teacher at Charlotte Country Day School in N.C., helps her students learn the extensive vocabulary of science. "I read that Biology 1 has almost as much vocabulary as the first year of a foreign language," she says. She's made two flashcard stacks, one for evolution terms and one on circulation. "My students really enjoy playing a `game' to see how many they can answer," says Mackenzie, "and if they can beat their best score." Mackenzie adds that it's also possible for flashcards to pose questions that ask for interpretive answers and to ask relational questions. The value to foreign language learning is evident as well. "There will be many uses [students] will find for the StudyCards App" says Mackenzie. "My kids just enjoy playing with it. What is best of all is that they study without even knowing it--once making the card, and next, playing the game." Animations Key to Probability Simulation App The various math and science Apps developed by Texas Instruments for their Flash-enabled handhelds truly stand out. They're fast, fully featured, and exploit both the graphing and math abilities of TI's devices. Probability Simulation App, free for the TI-83 Plus and TI-73 calculators, is a great example of an exploratory tool. Created by independent developers CoreyTaylor and Rusty Wagner expressly to help students understand probability theory probability theory Branch of mathematics that deals with analysis of random events. Probability is the numerical assessment of likelihood on a scale from 0 (impossibility) to 1 (absolute certainty). , this App provides simple animations to demonstrate examples of six different trials: Tossing Coins, Rolling Dice, Picking Marbles out of a bag, Spinning a Spinner, Drawing Cards from a deck, and Random Numbers. For each simulation type, users may define various options including display of its bar graph or a table of the trials data, specifying number of trims to run, options for how to collect data, and options for weighting. The latter, for example, is how one would simulate loaded dice dice with one side made heavier than the others, so that the number on the opposite side will come up oftenest. See also: Load . Data can also be exported to specified lists for further analysis on the calculator. Fundamental Topics in Science App Promotes Discovery Greg Dodd, a chemistry teacher at George Washington High School Many high schools in the United States are named after George Washington, first President of the United States, including::
"My students particularly liked the exercises on scientific method, sig figs, and units & conversions" says Dodd. "Rather than lecture to them about the scientific method, I let them discover about it through interactions with the Topics in Science App" he explains by way of an example. "It's a compelling introduction that really sets the stage for learning science." Dodd's chemistry students also use the Significant Figures Calculator. After some practice with the App, "I ask them to write their own SigFig rules and then we compare them to rules in the text," he says. "My students have responded well to graphing calculators," concludes Dodd. "Students today are used to learning from TV and computers, so learning from a calculator App is a natural for them." GeoMaster App Helps Make Connections On the pure math side, GeoMaster enables students to explore geometric concepts that are difficult to express on paper. With this App for the TI-83 Plus, students can quickly and easily construct geometric objects right on their calculator, then interactively explore the inherent properties, measurements and transformations. "It's a dynamic geometry software program," explains Douglas Smeltz of Fort Hayes Arts Academic High SchooL "If they construct the object correctly, students can grab a vertex A corner point of a triangle or other geometric image. Vertices is the plural form of this term. See vertex shader. point and pull it, then watch the shape change accordingly." GeoMaster helps students make the connection between geometry and algebra, and geometry and functions. And one of its main strengths, Smeltz says he believes, is how it can change the normal learning process. Instead of gaining knowledge by deduction, students can engage in inductive inductive 1. eliciting a reaction within an organism. 2. inductive heating a form of radiofrequency hyperthermia that selectively heats muscle, blood and proteinaceous tissue, sparing fat and air-containing tissues. learning. Elaborating, he explains that students can develop their own theorems This is a list of theorems, by Wikipedia page. See also
The Source for Apps Investigation, exploration and discovery are powerful learning methodologies, and the Apps for Texas Instruments' graphing technology take full advantage. Find all these software Apps, and more, at TI's online store, education.ti.com, then click "shop." Simply select the handheld model, then browse the many free and low-cost ($7 to $15) Apps that are available. Site license and subscription pricing is available. |
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