Test Preparation

Because you likely will be bringing a graphing calculator to use when you take the Praxis Middle School Mathematics test, you should have your calculator on hand and use it. Select a calculator that you will feel comfortable using. Don’t purchase a high-powered calculator that will require an investment of your time to learn while you are preparing for the test.

A word of caution: Graphing calculators are very powerful tools, but you should be aware they can make errors!

One situation in which errors might occur is when the calculator is finding the roots or zeros of a high-degree polynomial. The algorithm that the calculator uses to find the roots of the polynomial forces the calculator to round numbers to a certain number of decimal places before the final result is obtained. thus yielding inaccurate answers.

Another situation in which errors commonly occur is when the calculator is drawing the graph of a function. Your choice of viewing window dimensions can give results that are visually very misleading. For instance, you can be led to believe that a function has only two zeros when, in fact, it has three zeros, Changing the dimensions for the viewing window can clear up the problem in most cases; however, not every time.

The point of this discussion is to make  you aware that such mistakes can happen. Therefore, you should use your mathematical expertise to evaluate all your calculator’s answers for reliability and accuracy.

Good luck on the test and on your new career as a middle school mathematics teacher!