Other TI-83/84 Calculator Features Blog Post

In Chapter 8, there is a lot of features available for use, but it is interesting how most of them are pretty basic mathematical features. I already knew most of these concepts and even how to do them, but for most I didn’t know there was an option on the calculator to utilize them. For example, there are features to calculate permutations and combinations on the TI-83/84. I know how to calculate those by hand, but I didn’t know that calculating it on the calculator was possible. For Chapter 9, I knew there must be something that has to do with matrices on the calculator, but I had never used any of those features so was mostly all new to me. I found the row reduction echelon form feature very helpful, which also made me realize how easy solving a matrix could be with using these calculator features.

As mentioned before, I think one of the lessons that these features could help is a lesson over matrices. While it is important for the students to know how to solve a matrix by hand, these features can also come in handy when needing to solve matrices quickly or see the process of transforming a matrix from a different view. Another type of lesson that can be formed from these TI-83/84 calculator features is calculating permutations and combinations. In the lesson, different kinds of permutations and combinations can be calculated showcasing how different numbers can produce different answers.

All of these features can be applied to a large range of grade levels and class types. However, the first example lesson I provided about matrices would probably work best in an Algebra 2 class in high school. The second example lesson I provided would probably work best in a statistics class in high school, but there is also a possibility it could be applied to other advacned secondary math classes.