You’ve just gotten your new “big screen” calculator. You know, the kind that shows more than one line of entries, does graphs, tables, and a whole bunch of functions you haven’t the foggiest notion about (and you probably never will. I figure there’s around 20- 40 % of functions on a calculator that you’ll never learn, much less use. But hey, you never know.)
In mathematical aids we have evolved from an abacus to a slide rule to calculators. Now that you have one, you think you’ll never have to think so hard, or get the wrong answer again. Our tendency is, as human beings, to accept answers as correct if the generating source is a calculator. You soon find out this isn’t the case, however. You get error messages, weird-looking answers, and you still have to know how to do the math.
Even so, a calculator is pretty much indispensable in most math courses. So you have to remember that you have a brain and the calculator doesn't. Therefore it is only as smart as you and the numbers entered into them are. To make the most of your calculator, follow these rules of the road:
• get acquainted with a minimum of functions (and know them well) by reading the manual that came with it. No, you don’t have to read every page. Just the ”Getting Started” chapter will usually do. The rest you can learn as you go. (If you ever lose the manual--and who doesn’t--you can usually find it on the manufacturer’s website.)
• ALWAYS write the steps of the equation you are trying to solve as you go, even if it seems redundant. This includes each of the answers you get on the calculator. That way, if you make a mistake you can easily trace it back without having to start from the beginning.
• Do as much in your head as possible. I’ve seen students calculating 4 x 2. The more times you have to push buttons, the more possible errors/ typos you can make.
• There are a lot of good uses for your calculator you may not have thought of. For example, you can check fractional answers or radicals. You type in one fraction and change it to a decimal number, then the other and compare whatever weird decimal number you get to the first. It doesn’t matter what the number is as long as they match.
• Break the equation into chunks (after you’ve done all the figuring you can on your own). Be liberal with the use of parentheses, so the calculator will only do what you tell it to do, not what it think you should be doing. A long string of computations, if not meticulously entered, will default to the order of operations if you don’t break it down.
Follow these simple guidelines, and your calculator will be your best friend in math. Next to your tutor, of course!
