The TI-Nspire for Beginners (TI-Nspire

by Lucas Allen

The third edition of this book has been updated for the 2016-17 school year. At a breakneck pace, students, teachers, and schools around the world are adopting the TI-Nspire as their graphing calculator of choice. However, with the popular TI-83/84 series dominating math classrooms around the world for over a decade, many students and teachers are still scrambling to figure out how to use the powerful new TI-Nspire. This brief TI-Nspire tutorial book is a simple way to get started on the TI-Nspire graphing calculator. Whether you are a high school student who's never picked up a graphing calculator or a teacher looking to get current with the latest technology, you'll find numerous tutorials in this book to get you started. Button press sequences and dozens of screen captures will help guide you through the process of learning to use the TI-Nspire. Since this book is full of tutorials for beginners, the focus is on the basics of the TI-Nspire. Whether your target mathematics level is Algebra I, Calculus, or anywhere in between, you'll find that these tutorials will help you achieve a comfort level with the Nspire. While numerous features of the Nspire are touched on, the focus in this volume is on basic navigation and settings of the Nspire, calculator features, and graphing features. Examples are explained for every type of window, including spreadsheets and data and statistics. The third edition of these TI-Nspire tutorials are written for TI-Nspire OS 4.2, the latest version of the operating system, released in 2016. If you have an older version of the operating system on your TI-Nspire, you will find directions in the book on where to turn to update your calculator at no additional cost. If you have an older grayscale version of the TI-Nspire, it will only upgrade to version 3.9. With an older grayscale TI-Nspire, you can still take advantage of most, but not all, of the tutorials in this book. Lucas Allen taught in the public high schools of Illinois for over a decade. He focused much of his effort into learning and teaching with the TI-Nspire, implementing it both into remedial math classes and advanced AP Calculus and AP Statistics courses. As the coach of the Morton High School math team, his coaching strategies with the TI-Nspire CAS have resulted in numerous trophies at the state finals, including the 2012 Illinois math team state championship. He blogs about mathematics technologies, including the TI-Nspire.

84 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2012

Reviews

[Jonathan Donihue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I needed!

I recently purchased the TI Nspire CXii CAS. It's quite a step up from the TI 84 I was using. I was having a really hard time, though, figuring out how to use it. This book has been a perfect introduction to the calculator. I'm going to, immediately, purchase and read the second book in the series.

Just yesterday, I was frustrated. Today I'm lovin' my new calculator. Thanks, Mr Allen. You're a godsend!

[Alan Fahrner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful Quick Introduction

This was a helpful quick introduction to my new TI-Nspire CX CAS. There were some times where I think it may have assumed too much of a newbie finding a required key (e.g. the first function that required a comma), but overall...a great way to start to learn the power of a tremendous tool.

I plan on buying his next book on the actual CAS features, so this one had to be pretty good. :-)

[John R Potts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful Introduction to TI-Nspire Features

A worthwhile Kindle read!

Lucas is knowledgeable and a clear communiator.
A bit brief on examples but informative and well worth the cost .

[KENNETH J ELLIS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Becoming dated but still great

A small starter book that’s easy to keep at hand. It’s becoming dated because oud the newer OS but still a great book to start with

[Frank De · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, short introduction to the TI Nspire

This short volume is a well illustrated but short intro to the calculator. Easy to read and follow, well written.

[Harris Bruch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs more extensive details.

I like the basic material, but I would like to see more detailed explanations. I would like to see more examples.