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There was the little known, but powerful combo called "GROUP" and "ARCHIVE". GROUP allowed you to package together a set of programs. Archive would allow you

There was the little known, but powerful combo called "GROUP" and "ARCHIVE". GROUP allowed you to package together a set of programs. Archive would allow you to take that group and store it in the long term memory of the calculator. You can then "clear the memory" of the calculator, but can then immediately unarchive the grouped programs and get everything back how it was. That said, I don't recall my teachers ever getting too fussy about having us clear our memory; in fact, iirc one of them actually told us to write programs to handle some of the nastier formulas. Anyway, in my opinion, a good mathematics course should focus less on regurgitation of formulas, and more on problems solving---recognizing which theorems or strategies might apply to a problem and applying them to come up with a result.

imglorp 7y ago
Plus you probably learn more coding the algorithm into a calculator than you would learn regurgitating something from memory. That's a win either way.
- saddestcatever 7y ago
  Yes. For those that actually write the algorithm. For every other student in the class, copying someone else's code doesn't quite have the same benefit.... Students are humans. They will find the path of least resistance...
- vkou 7y ago
  You're measured on test scores, not on how much you learned. If the rules say 'no computer assistance', and you break those rules in a way the test monitors didn't expect, the only people you are cheating are other students.
- acjohnson55 7y ago
  That was how I justified it to myself when I did this and ran a fake memory cleared / program hiding program on my 83. Sorry not sorry.
wlesieutre 7y ago
Back in Algebra 1 my teacher had a policy that you were allowed to use any program that you wrote yourself. More teachers should do that, though it'd get challenging to enforce if it weren't just the one or two nerdy kids taking you up on it.
- gnicholas 7y ago
  I remember writing programs for my TI-85, and I learned those formulas better than if I'd just memorized them for the test. I don't think our teachers had any rules about this stuff, and they probably didn't even know it was possible. I think the bigger "loophole" is the ability to quickly solve simultaneous and and quadratic equations very easily using built-in functions on the calculators. This saves real time on tests like the SAT, because all you have to do is reorganize the equation to be in the right order, then tap in the coefficients to get the answer.
  - wlesieutre 7y ago
    The TI-89 is definitely not fair in a calculus class because it can solve most of the problems for you
    - madengr 7y ago
      Back when I was in calc, you actually had to show your work, so a calculator was pointless.
      - wlesieutre 7y ago
        Still helpful to have a calculator verify your answers even if you have to solve the problems yourself
      - analognoise 7y ago
        You check your work with the calculator in the extra time after you're done with the test.
      - 7y ago
tanr54ok 7y ago
Lol In the 90s the venerable ti82, 83, 85 just had battery backed ram. No long term memory. Get off my lawn.
- Izkata 7y ago
  Note that they didn't say a version number. The TI-83 Plus most definitely did have long-term ("archive") memory. I even still have mine in working order.
  - tanr54ok 7y ago
    I am aware of that. The “get off my lawn” is a reference to the fact that those of us who are older would not have had access to such modern conveniences as flash memory in high school, and that the poster is too young to be aware of TI calculators that didn’t have this feature. Anyway I used an HP48GX throughout high school (carrying a TI83 only if absolutely necessary). The HP had a pretty much universal following in France.
gmiller123456 7y ago
nyway, in my opinion, a good mathematics course should focus less on regurgitation of formulas, and more on problems solving Really depends on the goal of the course. I agree a lot of courses I took focused too much on memorizing equations, but if you haven't committed something to memory, odds are you won't recognize new problems it can be used to solve. So, yea, 99% of everything you memorize will be worthless, but the problem is predicting which 1% will be useful in the future.

imglorp 7y ago

Plus you probably learn more coding the algorithm into a calculator than you would learn regurgitating something from memory. That's a win either way.

saddestcatever 7y ago
Yes. For those that actually write the algorithm. For every other student in the class, copying someone else's code doesn't quite have the same benefit.... Students are humans. They will find the path of least resistance...
vkou 7y ago
You're measured on test scores, not on how much you learned. If the rules say 'no computer assistance', and you break those rules in a way the test monitors didn't expect, the only people you are cheating are other students.
acjohnson55 7y ago
That was how I justified it to myself when I did this and ran a fake memory cleared / program hiding program on my 83. Sorry not sorry.

wlesieutre 7y ago

Back in Algebra 1 my teacher had a policy that you were allowed to use any program that you wrote yourself. More teachers should do that, though it'd get challenging to enforce if it weren't just the one or two nerdy kids taking you up on it.

gnicholas 7y ago
I remember writing programs for my TI-85, and I learned those formulas better than if I'd just memorized them for the test. I don't think our teachers had any rules about this stuff, and they probably didn't even know it was possible. I think the bigger "loophole" is the ability to quickly solve simultaneous and and quadratic equations very easily using built-in functions on the calculators. This saves real time on tests like the SAT, because all you have to do is reorganize the equation to be in the right order, then tap in the coefficients to get the answer.
- wlesieutre 7y ago
  The TI-89 is definitely not fair in a calculus class because it can solve most of the problems for you
  - madengr 7y ago
    Back when I was in calc, you actually had to show your work, so a calculator was pointless.
    - wlesieutre 7y ago
      Still helpful to have a calculator verify your answers even if you have to solve the problems yourself
    - analognoise 7y ago
      You check your work with the calculator in the extra time after you're done with the test.
    - 7y ago

tanr54ok 7y ago

Lol In the 90s the venerable ti82, 83, 85 just had battery backed ram. No long term memory. Get off my lawn.

Izkata 7y ago
Note that they didn't say a version number. The TI-83 Plus most definitely did have long-term ("archive") memory. I even still have mine in working order.
- tanr54ok 7y ago
  I am aware of that. The “get off my lawn” is a reference to the fact that those of us who are older would not have had access to such modern conveniences as flash memory in high school, and that the poster is too young to be aware of TI calculators that didn’t have this feature. Anyway I used an HP48GX throughout high school (carrying a TI83 only if absolutely necessary). The HP had a pretty much universal following in France.

gmiller123456 7y ago

nyway, in my opinion, a good mathematics course should focus less on regurgitation of formulas, and more on problems solving Really depends on the goal of the course. I agree a lot of courses I took focused too much on memorizing equations, but if you haven't committed something to memory, odds are you won't recognize new problems it can be used to solve. So, yea, 99% of everything you memorize will be worthless, but the problem is predicting which 1% will be useful in the future.