2. KEYS to Success
The following is a Get Started Guide to the TI Keyboards. Information applies to TI-83, TI-84, and TI-73 calculators, exceptions being noted.
TI-83’s/TI-84’s versus TI-73’s
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TI-8X’s are high school scientific calculators with graphing capabilities.
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TI-73’s were designed for upper elementary and middle school students. They combine elementary school topics, such as fractions, with more advanced topics, such as graphing linear functions.
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Comparing the two keyboards, you will see the TI-73 keyboard is less cluttered and more colorful — a marriage of the TI-Explorer and the TI-83/84.
The Keyboard Arrangement
- Much like a scientific calculator, numeral and operation keys are grouped according to purpose. Take a few minutes to discuss the key arrangement with your students.
- Unlike a scientic calculator, there are graphing keys. The very top row is the graphing row.
- Numeral keys are white and located front and center, with the ENTER (=) key located bottom right.
- The 2nd key (and TI-83/TI-84 ALPHA key) is located top left.
- For the TI-73, white fraction/decimal/mixed number keys are located above the numbers.
- Commonly used symbols, such as parentheses, have their own designated keys.
- There is an x variable key. On the TI-83/TI-84, this is located to the right of ALPHA. This key’s symbol changes depending on the calculator mode setting (function/parametric/polar/sequential, with x being the function mode independent variable.)
- On the TI-73, the x key is located below the fraction SIMP key. Students may need to be cautioned to not confuse this with the TI-73 multiplication key. (Speaking of multiplication, the * symbol is used to represent multipication on the Home Screen.)
- Four directional arrows (blue on the TI-8X’s, red on the TI-73’s) permit navigation around the Home Screen, as well as around other menus.
- CLEAR is located below the directional arrows. Pressing CLEAR clears the Home Screen. If you are in the middle of a line of text and press CLEAR, that single line of text only is cleared. Pressing it twice will clear any other entries on the screen. (Note: I found it helpful to frequently clear the home screen to allow students to better focus on the current entry.)
Hard and Soft Keys
- Calculator keys/buttons themselves may be referred to as hard keys. However, many keys have multiple functions. These other functions may be referred to as soft keys.
- Functions represented by yellow text are accessed by first pressing the 2nd key.
- The letters represented by green text are accessed by first pressing the ALPHA key. (This does not apply to the TI-73; its letters are accessed by pressing the 2nd key followed by the MATH key.)
- Consider the (-) key on the TI-83/TI-84. Pressing 2nd (-) accesses the calculator’s CATALOG menu. Pressing ALPHA (-) results in a “?” symbol that could be used when writing a program.
- Notice how the blinking cursor changes when either the 2nd or ALPHA modes are activated.
- 2nd ON turns off the calculator.
- 2nd QUIT is a very important command. This will immediately return you to the Home Screen, and can get you out of a lot of jams.
- Soft keys are often referred to only by their yellow/green text. 2nd QUIT is often referred to merely as “Quit.”
- 2nd ENTER is also a helpful key combination. Pressing this combination will paste the previous entry onto the Home Screen, allowing users to edit as they wish. (Remember my introductory checkbook balancing dilemma?!)
- DEL is a delete key that allows the user to delete an incorrectly entered numeral/symbol. 2nd DEL allows you to insert a missing numeral/symbol. Note how the cursor changes when the insert command is activated.
- The ^ symbol is used to indicate that the following numeral is an exponent. For example, the key combination of 2 ^ 3 represents 2 raised to the third power.
- Note the difference between the subtraction and the negative sign keys. They cannot be used interchangeably. Note the difference in their appearances on the Home Screen.
So… what have I missed?
Okay, this seemed like a good beginning. We’ll address other keys as we come to them.
- TI-Users: What other keys do we need to discuss?
- Ti-Beginners: What keys have you tried out, but still have questions about?
