HP48G and Calculus Teaching

Abstract

All the mathematics that we learn in pre-college are needed for college calculus learning which means students have a lot of basic mathematics concepts to master. These basic mathematics concepts they are important in learning college calculus that in turn is the fundamental for further studying in mathematics as well as the knowledge for understanding the physical world.

Before the technology enters the classroom, the calculus teaching and leaning is based on the manipulation of symbols. The analytical symbol manipulation is so abstract that it turns off a lot of our best students. After the technology enters the classroom, the calculus teaching could be taught by numerically, graphically and analytically.

In this paper, we demonstrate, with the help of HP48GX calculator as the teaching aid, the teaching and learning of (1) finite difference and the differentiation, (2) the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus and (3) the exploration and assessment by graphics calculator.