DVD/Study Aid Review: Algebra and Graphing: TI-89 Calculator Tutor: Vol 1

 

As anyone who has ever tried to find anything in a graphing calculator manual, it can be a pain, and sometimes, even when you do find what you are looking for, they are written so badly it is hard to make sense of what it is saying. The TI-89 is a very powerful calculator and can do a lot (so much that many teachers do not allow students to use it on exams). But, it has a pretty steep learning curve, and it is easy to go an entire semester without never really knowing how to use it. This is a guide that can help you get acquainted with many of the most useful functions of the calculator so that you can quickly and efficiently do what you need to do, which is invaluable if your teacher does let you use it on your exams because you will not be wasting your time trying to navigate the calculator.

This is a three-disc DVD set that is actually the first of two volumes Jason put out. This volume basically introduces you to the calculator, the menus, how to navigate it, and then how to perform algebraic operations and graphing. Basically the kind of operations you would use it for in algebra and/or trig/precalculus. In this video, Jason is not in front of a whiteboard, but he is using the TI virtual software that reproduces the calculator on the computer and walking through what buttons you have to push or what menus you need to use to perform different operations. So, you can have your calculator out and follow along with what Jason is doing to really drill the lessons into your mind. I definitely recommend this (and volume two) if you have purchased the calculator since you will likely be going into higher-level math and science classes, and possibly engineering classes, and knowing how to use the calculator well will be a huge asset in any of those classes.