Using CAS Features Like a Champion: Get Started with the TI-Nspire CX CAS Graphing Calculator (TI-Nspire

by Lucas Allen

The third edition of this book has been updated for the 2016-17 school year. Following up his popular "Introduction to the TI-Nspire," teacher and author Lucas Allen continues his TI-Nspire (TM) Tutorials series with a look at the TI-Nspire CAS. The CAS, or computer algebra system, version of the TI-Nspire is popular at the high school and college level alike for its ability to manipulate not just numbers, but variables. For all the amazing growth that the TI-Nspire platform has shown over the last few years, there still remains a lack of quality resources available for the CAS version of the TI-Nspire. This brief book is designed to address the needs of students and teachers in search of help with their TI-Nspire CAS. In this second volume of the series, careful attention is given to the CAS specific features of the TI-Nspire CAS. Basic features such as expanding, factoring, and solving simple equations are covered as well as more advanced techniques such as solving complex equations, derivatives, integrals, and differential equations. Any student or teacher working with mathematics from algebra through calculus can benefit from the techniques taught in this book. The third edition of these TI-Nspire CX CAS tutorials are written for TI-Nspire CAS OS 4.2, the latest version of the operating system, released in 2016. If you have an older version of the operating system on your TI-Nspire CX CAS, you will find directions in the book on where to turn to update your calculator at no additional cost. If you have an older grayscale version of the TI-Nspire CAS, it will only upgrade to version 3.9. With an older grayscale TI-Nspire CAS, you can still take advantage of most, but not all, of the tutorials in this book. Lucas Allen has become an authority on the use of the TI-Nspire CAS since its release, as he was an early adopter of the device for use with the math team he coached in a public school in downstate Illinois for many years. In the spring of 2012, his team captured the Illinois math team state championship, beating out many of Chicago's elite private schools. In this book, you will learn many of the exact same strategies his team used on the TI-Nspire CAS. For over a decade, Allen taught mathematics at the high school level with students of every imaginable achievement level. He worked with the TI-Nspire CAS for a majority of his time as a classroom teacher. He blogs about graphing calculators and other mathematics technologies at Tech Powered Math.

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 5, 2012

Reviews

[Darwin's Beagle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good for what it designed to do, but I want more

I’m retired now and have time to follow some neglected interests. I was a science nerd and am interested in physics. The problem is my math skills have deteriorated in the 50 years I haven’t used calculus, linear algebra, probability, etc. So I am trying to relearn it. I bought a TI-Nspire CAS (which I really wish had been available back in my pencil and paper days) and realize I need to understand how to use it.

Mr. Allen’s books (this one and his introductory book [book 1]) are the easiest to read and allow me the fastest introduction to get up and running. They are excellent in giving an overview of what handheld can do. But there are many menu items that are not touched upon or hardly mentioned. This is by design of course. It keeps the books simple and easy to use. The student is expected to pick up skills for more advanced functions in course (s)he is taking. That is all good, but for me … I’m not taking courses. I’m trying to self-learn. And the procedures and explanations in other books are not as good as they are in this one. So I wish there were a book 3 going into detail about some of the advanced things it can do. I would especially like to learn more about the Notes tab. I would like to become proficient with the Geometry tab. It would be nice to have some Python programming. I would like to get a clue as to what the “Add Widget” option does … etc.

So while I think this is the best of the “how to” books I have found (and I want to stress that it does what it was intended to do … get you up and running … excellently) I would have liked more.

[Frank De · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, easy to follow

The second volume provides more details and better understanding of the TI nspire. However, based on the title I had hoped for more detailed info. The handheld can do so much more than what is described in this volume. This is not the use like a Champion yet, more like a determined Novice. Which is OK in itself no offense.