Algebra and moderation

Here is a simple way to assess students' understanding of algebraic functions. Suppose you gave a test and you are about to return them the paper. Ask them this:

Let's say your marks for this paper is x, and you are giving a choice to change your makes by using a certain function. Which function will you choose? You are only given one choice!

1. x+5
2. max(60, x+10)
3. 100-x
4. 10sqrt(x)
5. 20ln(x)

Which one would you choose and in what situation would you choose each of them?

Of course you can extend this problem into a two variable function. Suppose paper 1 is x and paper 2 is y. Which one would you choose as your marks?

1. (x+y)/2
2. sqrt(x^2+y^2)
3. sqrt(xy)
4. max(x , y)

You can come up with many other functions to assess the students' higher order thinking skills.

Activities for TI Graphing Calculators

The following website holds many mathematics activities using Texas Instruments (TI) GCs as pedagogical tools.
You can find the following topics in this website:

Algebra, Advance Algebra, Geometry, Pre-Calculus (ie Binomial Theorem, Trigonometry) and Calculus.

URL is http://www.timath.com/algebra1/archive/ti84-plus

Besides support for TI84, there seems to be more activites for TI inspire as well. TI inspire is also another great pedagogical tool for the classrooom. For more information on TI GCs, visit the following URL:

http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_ti84p.html