Does anyone find it hard to use a CAS calculator?

[Stormbreaker-X]

I am doing further math this year so far I find graphing on the CAS calculator very hard (I don't use the calculator much) and I heard further math relies a lot on the CAS. Would I still be able to score well without using the CAS calculator in SACS and exams?

[Chessnutter]

When I first got the CAS, I absolutely despised it. I thought it was slow, clunky and needlessly complicated. I never made a document, and thought that entire system was pointless. After I had used it a while, I realised how powerful it was and how much easier it was to use than I thought. Initially, I think I was in the same feedback loop you are in right now. I didn't like the CAS, so I didn't "use the calculator much", so I didn't become good at using the CAS and then I didn't like the CAS and so on. Force yourself to use it, don't ever use the scientific one, otherwise you will never become better at it. That said, I still have never saved a document and still think they suck, I did everything in the scratchpad.

If you never use the CAS calc in a SAC or exam, don't expect to do very well. It is required for a reason, but it is probably easier to use than you think, after a bit of practice.



Ironically I started liking the CAS so much I started automating the work I was doing in CAS, for both Methods and Further. For Methods, I made a program which would find all important points on a graph, justify turning points, find asymptotes, visually show you what the graph would look like in the calculator page etc from just the function and domain. That one probably saved 10 minutes in my exam. For further, I made one to provide all transformations (x^2, y^2, log10(x), log10(y), 1/x, 1/y) to bivariate data to linearise it (making curvy lines straight) and sorted it by it's r^2 value. I also made one to show all working for finding the R value and the LSR line for bivariate data. These were so incredibly useful, I'm actually considering selling them.

[lonelywhale._]

you definitely need to know how to use your CAS calculator very well if you're doing further. Further is extremely reliant on CAS, you will not score well if you dont know how to use your CAS, or even worse, you don't use it at all. Force yourself to practice using it during the holidays and make sure you know where all the basic functions are, you'll get used to using it quite quickly. After that it's all about how to use it effectively. Sitting your SACs and exams for further without a CAS is not going to end well, some of the questions are close to impossible to do without it, theres a reason why a CAS is required.

[keltingmeith]

You know what else is really hard? Walking on two legs.

No no, for real, you ever watch a baby learn how to walk? It's fucking /hard/, and those guys struggle for months learning how to do it. You know what babies also learn how to do in a matter of years? Speak an entire language. Sure, there's a lot of words they need to learn, but they're able to effectively communicate usually by the age of 4. Most adults will spend decades trying to become bilingual - babies are actually really good at learning, and even they take months and months and sometimes up to a year learning how to walk on two legs. Try and find another species with flawless bipedal ability - you won't find many.

So, how does a baby learn to walk? They practice. They try a few times each day. Then if they fall down or get hurt, they just try again. They're diligent fuckers - they just keep going and going and going. And you know what else? That person was once you. Maybe not for walking, idk your circumstances you might not even have legs (in which case, this analogy was incredibly insensitive of me, and I'm sorry), but certainly other skills that you now take for granted.

And that's what you gotta do this time - practice a bit every day. Not all at once, you won't learn well that way, but every couple of days to a day, just spend 5-10 minutes using your calculator to do things. Maybe it'll just be making a new graph, or maybe you'll try out some new functions you've seen before but don't know how they work. But it's gotta be small bits of practice, regularly, and before you know it, you'll be better than everyone in your class, and possibly even your teachers (source: I was teaching my teachers by the end of the year about some of the calculator functions)

[fish58]

I am a Further Mathematics teacher and would highly recommend the following:

1. Find out what brand of calculator you are using. It will be either Casio or Texas Instruments
2. Get onto Youtube and type in your calculator model. There are hundreds of videos and many are very good
3. Every day you need to devote 60-80 minutes practicing using the videos as guides

I went from one school to a new school and had to learn how to teach with a new calculator and this is what I did.

It works 👍

If you become really comfortable and competent with your CAS calculator you can add many, many marks to your Sacs and for your VCAA examinations.

Good luck and start this process today

[plato]

I am doing further math this year so far I find graphing on the CAS calculator very hard (I don't use the calculator much) and I heard further math relies a lot on the CAS. Would I still be able to score well without using the CAS calculator in SACS and exams?

Further maths does not require graphing on the CAS calculator. While graphing could help to test some calculated answers, you only really need to use CAS to perform statistical calculations on tabulated data and the finance solver application for financial calculations. If you study matrices as an optional module, you will learn how to enter and manipulate these on CAS. You can get by without CAS for the other modules. So, yes, you can certainly score well without graphing on CAS.