Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: Graphing by Hand



Raymond A. Rogoway wrote:


Question: Is there any value in teaching graphing by hand anymore?
I did it up to last year but things went so much faster and easier this
year when we went directly to computer graphing.

I always begin with at least one graph by hand lab. We are doing uniform
acceleration this week with the tape timer. I tried it with the CBL and it
worked great--fast too. But, based upon what we've done in class and what
I've seen on homework, I think they need to do some hand work.

My students look at a graph on their calculators and too often forget about
units. For example in an introductory lab using the CBL on d-t graphs the
students were surprised that graphs for fast and slow motions were
identical. (Actually the brighter ones were surprised, the rest just missed
the point altogether.) The program does a zoom-fit for every set of data and
thus the scale changes every time. Bottom line is they really did not
understand what they were seeing.

We'll use the computers next week.

Dave

--
* David Simmons St. John's Jesuit High School *
* 5901 Airport Hwy Toledo OH 43615 *
* <dsimmon@uoft02.utoledo.edu> *

I agree with the philosophy of doing at least one graph by hand. If nothing
else, it teaches them to appreciate the value of automated graphing.

With regard to the conventions, like labels and units, one of the
advantages of GA, is the ease with which labels and units can be entered
into the graphs, and how easy it is to choose convenient scales and to pick
different items to display on any axis. In general, GA is the easiest
graphing program I have ever had a chance to use. Its only disadvantage is
that you can't enter a function directly. But as i described in my earlier
posting, that is easy to get around.

At the high end, DeltaGraph allows you to enter the functions directly and
graph them, but is that capability worth the $200 (or thereabouts) that
they charge for the program?

Hugh

************************************************************
Hugh Haskell
<mailto://hhaskell@mindspring.com>

The box said "Requires Windows 95 or better." So I bought a Macintosh.
************************************************************