Calculators | Casio | FAQ

Casio FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

By Steve Ottaway, Padbury SHS
If you use or quote from the following FAQ, please acknowledge the author above.

Why should a teacher create a program on a graphic calculator? I don't understand programs. I don't understand the language. I wont be able to teach my students how to program. The students won't know anything, they'll just use programs. The students will not want to learn how to program! Who should I teach to program?

1.   Why should a teacher create a program on a graphic calculator?

• It makes repetitive tasks easier.
• Great for checking student work (follow through marking).
• It's a learning experience for the teacher.
• It helps to reinforce the logical, sequential nature of much of mathematics.
• It's possible on relatively cheap portable computers.

2.   I don't understand programs.

You are probably selling yourself short. The video player that you use, the microwave oven you use, the digital watch you use, maybe the washing machine all require programs.
Every maths algorithm you use is a type of program. Rule of order, Quadratic formula, Solving triangles and Statistics calculations to name but a few.

3.   I don't understand the language.

OK programs do require some new language to be used, but it can be looked up and you will not be tested on the topic. The learning is interesting and the feeling of satisfaction when a program works is one that we hope our students will occasionally experience as they learn and master a new topic.

4.   I won't be able to teach my students how to program.

This is hardly a logical objection. If a teacher must always know more than the student, the world is surely on a rapid downward spiral in the smart department. Your job is to teach and this includes motivating, showing and being a learner yourself. Technology is here and to ignore it would be potentially risky.

5.   The students won't know anything, they'll just use programs.

After teaching factorisation of trinomials how many kids really know whats going on? Besides why was factorisation important anyway? Was it to help us graph? Why did we graph anyway? Likewise many topics which we've always assumed were very important? Difference patterns are a case in point, how many of us resorted to the "this number goes here, trust me" type approach and then congratulate ourselves on a job well done but fail to help the students make a connection to gradients and calculus?

6.   The students will not want to learn how to program!

Now you're reaching for excuses. Sure some kids (and some maths teachers) resist the actual task of programming, but nearly all quite enjoy using a program and many do accept the challenge of trying to construct a program.

7.   Who should I teach to program?

Who could benefit by an exposure to the need for precision and a set of logical procedures?

So far I've done small programming tasks with students in year nine who are doing a pre MIP course, students of Foundations of Mathematics, students of Geometry and Trigonometry and students in Applicable Mathematics. As well I've taken several very basic introductory sessions for teachers of Mathematics.

My short term successes have been varied and the uptake by session participants has also showed variation. About normal for anything I've taught! (Including assessable and non-assessable topics.)

My next task is to try and get non-mathematics teaching staff to use graphic calculators rather than the $3.50 specials that they use to do their marks.