This 90-page workshop guide is an introduction to the TI-83 graphing calculator, with applications to introductory physics topics.

The manual's purpose is to outline a workshop that will familiarize physics teachers with the graphing calculator and its potential as a problem-solving, computational, and data analysis tool in physics courses.

The primary audience for this resource is physics workshop leaders; the secondary audience is the high school physics teachers who either participate in the workshops or use the resource directly.

This resource is one of several Physics Teacher Resource Agent (PTRA) workshop guides published by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Acknowledging the infusion of technology, particularly the graphing calculator, into the mathematics curriculum, the authors' goal is to introduce this tool to physics teachers as well.

The manual includes workshop-planning suggestions, a bibliography, transparency masters, an introduction to the TI-83 written for novices, and exercises in which the graphing calculator is used to solve problems in optics, kinematics, radioactive decay, and simple harmonic motion. The final section addresses programming the TI-83.

The step-by-step instructions for using the TI-83 are clear, and the sample physics problems illustrate graphing calculator applications, including curve fitting, calculating the area beneath a curve, solving parametric equations, and analyzing data sets.

This resource will help workshop leaders plan an introduction to the graphing calculator and its applications in physics. Teachers also can use the manual as a self-study guide. Several of the activities are appropriate for physics students.

This manual was written prior to publication of the National Science Education Standards; reviewers noted that professional development providers will want to consider the ideas in this book in relation to those standards. They may also want to consult NCTM's 2000 publication, Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, for current ideas about the role of graphing calculators in standards-based secondary mathematics curricula.

Reviewers recommended that each workshop participant have a calculator to work through exercises; the manual indicates that Texas Instruments is willing to loan calculators for use in workshops (p. 1.4).