ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Mathematics => Topic started by: QuantumJG on February 14, 2010, 08:27:52 pm
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Hi guys,
My sister apparently needs a CAS calculator and she is only in year 9!
They are doing basic Pythagoras and other stuff that I thought you would only need a scientific calculator for. So does anyone have siblings in year 9 that use CAS calculators?
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My sister's in year 10 and she's been using one since year 8 when she took year 9 maths.
We used a CAS in year 9 too.
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Theyre probably just encouraging them to buy them now so they get more sue out of them later on. When I was in year 9 we did pythag on paper... Feels like yesterday.
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yeah my sis is getting one this year and shes in yr9
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i didnt even use a scientific in yr 9 :P
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My school got me to get one to "become familiar with the calculator".
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Certainly you wouldn't want a Year 9 to be familiar with using a calculator, to the extent of relying on it too much. Even if there are graphs, they should be simple enough to be hand-drawn...
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The textbooks that year 9 students use at my school are meant to be used in conjunction with CAS calculators because they have examples for the calculator. I think the aim is to familiarise the students with the calculator instead of learning it from scratch in VCE.
I first used the calc when i got into year 11 and it was a bit complicated to begin with, but I honestly don't think it's necessary to start it at year 9. As Edmund said, it may cause students to rely on it too much.
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who knows, they might be planning on increasing the difficulty of vce maths. if not, i really dont see the point in using a cas calc in yr 9. ive seen the effects, my cousin moving on to yr 10 struggles with the simplest of linear graphs 0.o
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Theyre probably just encouraging them to buy them now so they get more sue out of them later on. When I was in year 9 we did pythag on paper... Feels like yesterday.
Same.
Anyway with maths it's like:
years 7 - 9: scientific calculator
years 10 - 12: graphics calculator
uni: no calculator or if you need one then use computers to run simulations.
Oh well thanks guys.
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No calculator in uni?
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You can use programs like Mathematica, Matlab etc
Most of the stuff you do in uni you don't even need a calc for lol.
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My brother is in year 9 and has a CAS calculator that I have no idea how to use because it's far more complicated than anything I've ever seen... I guess MHS likes to groom them early...
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No calculator in uni?
Well in physics (probably for chemistry aswell) you need a scientific calculator. As TT said, you rely on computer programs for say doing computer models. This is crap because my programming skills are basically s**t.
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Yeah we got our CAS calcs in year 9 and im so greatful for it. also our teacher is like a sales rep for Casio and does lectures to other teachers on how to teach with the calcs so he taught us all these tips/tricks and shortcuts.
But yeah, one of the biggest challenges with the CAS is actually knowing how to use it, and if you can learn how to in year 9 it saves a lot of time later on.
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Even at my very average school we used CAS calculators from yr9(2006) onwards. I'm still not convinced this was the best idea, because they're really isn't enough to learn about them to require their use from yr9, and many students we're screwed over in VCE maths because they had become entirely dependent on CAS for the most simple things. It was incredible to see kids do really well on exam 2 papers for methods(>60/80) yet get well below 25/40 in exam 1 papers because they didnt develop the necessary skills.
ryley
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we havent become reliant on them at our school. as since year 9 we have had all maths tests held in two parts. one non-tech the other tech + summary book.