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Manual Scaling of the Axes Terminal Side of Theta Extended For Polar Function Tracing New Max and Min Functions Plot Points to Stay Can Now be Open Circles Post-graph Menu Available after More Menu Choices Manual Scaling of the Axes
If you turn on the Auto scale axes check box, the x- and y-axes will be automatically scaled by Converge, according to your input at the Pregraph Input window prompts. Regardless of your input to these prompts, and regardless of the screen size of the Graph window, Converge will make sure that the axes are scaled with good results.If you turn off the Auto scale axes check box and click Next, you see the Manually scale axes with numbers you input window, which contains the following prompts.
When you manually scale the axes, you determine the actual numbers that get displayed on each axis. Converge will then display these numbers (the numbers at the Numbers on axis prompts) on the axes without regard for how they may appear on the axes. There are two ways to determine the numbers to be displayed on an axis. Method 1: You can enter the Smallest number, enter the Increment between numbers, and click Generate axis numbers. Converge then generates the contents of the Numbers on axis box. If you want, you can next edit the numbers in this box.Before the above Manually scale axes … window was displayed, Min X, Max X, Min Y, and Max Y were assigned to be –8, 8, -3, and 4 respectively. If Max Y had been equal to 5, then "4.5 5" would have been displayed to the right of the existing numbers in the Numbers on axis box for the y-axis. If the number zero (0) is included between two other numbers, in a Numbers on axis box, Converge will assume you do not want this number displayed on the axis, so 0 will not be included in the box. You can do manual axis scaling with an axes grid
or without an axes grid.
Method 2: You can ignore the Smallest number and Increment prompts (for example leave them blank), and just enter the actual numbers you want displayed on each axis in the Numbers on axis boxes. You must separate these numbers by spaces. An advantage of this method is that you can enter any of the numbers as
numerical expressions. For example, you can enter ARCSIN(3p
/2) as one of the numbers to be displayed on either axis. You can also use
this method to scale either or both axes using multiples of
p . For example, the following is a graph of
When you manually scale the axes, adjacent axis numbers do not have to be the same distance apart, for example:
If you don’t want any numbers on an axis you can just leave the appropriate Numbers on axis box blank. Also, the numbers in a Numbers on axis box do not have to be in any special order. The values of the Auto scale axes check box as well as all the values of the prompts in the Manually scale axes … window are saved in Converge function files, so when you graph with such a function file and click Express (to accept the default values in the file), the axes will be manually or automatically scaled depending on the state of the graphing environment when the file was saved.Transferring Functions Back & Forth Between Converge and Other Math Programs You can now configure Converge to transfer functions back and forth between Converge and Derive 6, Mathcad (version 2000 to 11), and Scientific NoteBook, Scientific Word, & Scientific WorkPlace (versions 4 and 5). You can also export functions of two variables to DPGraph (version 2003) for immediate graphing in DPGraph.You can configure Converge to work with other math programs as follows. From the main menu of Converge, select Options, select Options again. Click on the Other Math Programs tab to view :
Then click on the math program you want to use with Converge. In addition to transferring functions back and forth between Converge and the math program you select, Converge will also export functions of the form Z = F(X,Y) to DPGraph for immediate graphing.
Transferring functions bet. Converge & Derive Go to
Top With version 8.0 of Converge, special tool buttons and menu choices enabled you to conveniently transfer graphs, equations, tables, and any other subrectangle of the screen to Word. With version 9.0 you can, in the same kind of way, transfer such objects to EXP, Mathcad, and Scientific NoteBook, Scientific Word, and Scientific WorkPlace.To configure Converge for use with a word processor, select Options from the Options menu and click on the Word Processors tab. You then see the following.
Then click on the word processor you want to configure with Converge. If you click on a version of Word, many special prompts for Word will appear at the bottom of the window. (These special prompts appear in the above graphic.) After you configure Converge to work with a word processor, Converge graphics, tables of values, and matrices can generally be transferred to the word processor with just one click. Using Converge with Microsoft WordUsing Converge with EXP Using Converge with Mathcad Using Converge with Scientific NoteBook, Scientific Word, & Scientific WorkPlace Go to
Top The Graph menu selection F1 to F99 Global Functions replaces the previous selection graphing with Graph with F1 … F16 Globals. This menu choice has been greatly expanded and enhanced. If you select F1 to F99 Global Functions and then open the file
cos-arccos-2.ggf, you see: If you next click on the Graph button, you see:
Remarks:
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Top Change Constants via Spinners is a new menu choice in the Graph menu.
If you select this menu choice, then after you determine the graphing
environment and get a graph, you see the dialog box:
If Demonstration Mode is turned on when you make this menu selection, the function in the default function file is:
Any function you use with this menu selection should contain one or more of the global constants A, B, C, and D in its defining equation. The student can change the values of the global constants A, B, C, and D within the displayed range of values and then quickly view the graph of the revised function in two ways.
The change in the value of the variable A (for example) caused by one spinner button click equals
For the example displayed in the graphic above, the amount of this change equals
When you click on a spinner button, the new value of the variable is displayed in the yellow box to the left of the button. Go to
Top The new Converge Main menu buttons
In previous versions of Converge, some labs contained some problems that involve use of Derive. These problems have been written so that they now involve the use of Mathcad. If you configure Converge to transfer functions back and forth between Converge and Mathcad, these problems involve the use the Mathcad. If you configure Converge to transfer functions back and forth between Converge and Derive, these problems involve the use the Derive. Go to
Top Before you can transfer objects from Converge to EXP, you must use the Converge Options menu to configure Converge for use with EXP.After you configure Converge to work with EXP, Converge graphics, tables of values, and matrices can be inserted into EXP with just one click. Transferring Graph and Equation windows from Converge to EXP To transfer the Equation and Graph windows, click
To transfer just the graph window, right-click on the graph window and select Insert Graph into EXP. To transfer just the equation window, right-click on the equation window and select Insert Equation Window into EXP. To transfer the contents of the Screen Files Menu to EXP, click the
Transferring Tables from Converge to EXP To transfer only some of the table rows to EXP, drag the mouse to highlight those rows you want to transfer, right-click on the Table Window, and select Insert Rows into EXP with Grid. To transfer the entire table to EXP, make sure no rows are highlighted. (You can click on the table to clear any highlighting.) Then select Insert Rows into EXP with Grid. Here is an example of the result of transferring a Converge table to EXP. The table as it appears in Converge:
The table after it is transferred to EXP:
Transferring Matrices from Converge to EXP  button. Then you will see the
dialog box:
You can then select the matrix you want to transfer, decide whether to enclose the matrix in square brackets or parentheses and whether to label the matrix with a letter name. Next click OK to transfer the matrix to EXP. Here is an example. A matrix as it appears in Converge:
The matrix after it is transferred to EXP:
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Top After you select Calculus, then Derivatives, then Graph F, F’, F’’ / Table / Trace the table you see now contains columns for the values of both the first and second derivatives. For example:
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Top The content, exercises, and problems in the Converge Student Labs have been revised based on two additional semesters of class testing of the labs. There are three new labs. One new lab is:
Another new lab is:
This lab involves polynomials and includes solving equations, solving inequalities, finding intersections of graphs, and the Bounds Theorem. The other new lab is:
This lab involving exponential & log functions includes solving equations, solving inequalities, and analyzing graphs of pairs of functions to determine the relationship between the functions (the functions might be inverses of each other, the functions might be equivalent, each graph might be the reflection of the other across the y-axis, and so on.) The labs now contain about 500 exercises and problems for the students to do using the computer. Go to
Top Teachers and professors are provided with a Professional version of Converge that includes the stand-alone program REC.EXE. This program is used to process (the encrypted) Student Record Files produced by students while completing lab assignments. The program can be executed independently or it can be executed from the Options menu in this special Professional version of Converge. Student Record Files keep track of many things that students do with
Converge, including the menu choices they make, the functions and equations
they enter, and many other things. The files contain the chronological order
in which do these things. If a student tries to modify such a file, it is
apparent they have done so because of an error message displayed by REC.EXE.
Student Record Files are used as security to make sure that the students
actually do the labs. What’s new in Converge 9.0 is that instructors can create Lab Inspection Files that can be used to determine if the student did a lab assignment. Here is an example of the input required to create a Lab Inspection File.
Instructors can now let Converge do the work of checking the Student Record File and with one click get an itemized report displayed side by side with the contents of the Student Record File .To prepare the report, Converge uses the Lab Inspection File to generate a list of actions that the student should have done in Converge when doing the lab. This list is called the Lab Inspection Checklist. This report displays the items on this Lab Inspection Checklist that the student did not do. This list contains the lab section numbers and problem numbers (where the actions should have been done). The report also displays the percent of the items on the Lab Inspection Checklist that the student actually did.Here is a short example of such a report. This report uses the Lab Inspection File created as in the above graphic. The report is on the left. The Student Record File contents are partly shown (and redacted) on the right.
The report shows that the student missed two items on the Lab Inspection Checklist. The student failed, as directed in the lab, to select Open a Function File in Section 2 of the lab. The student also failed to enter the function for Problem 4, so the student probably did not do Problem 4 (you can check the Student Record File to see if the student mistyped the function). The report shows that the student did 82% of the items on the Lab Inspection Checklist. (The above lab is relatively short and the number of items on the Lab Inspection Checklist is also relatively short.) When an instructor has many student labs to grade, the instructor will first click Open_Inspection_File! to Open the Lab Inspection File that he or she wants to use to inspect all the student record files. Then (with all the student record files in one folder) the instructor will click Open_SRF! to open a student record file and click Inspect! to get the lab inspection report for the file. The instructor will then open the next Student Record file and click Inspect! to inspect it, and so on. This process generally takes several seconds for each student record file. If the instructor wants to give a few extra credit points for doing a lab, he or she might want to just glance at the student’s lab report file (containing the answers to the lab exercises and problems). A more industrious instructor might decide to grade some selected problems using the answer keys for the labs. Instructors can also create CUSTOM Lab Inspection Files to determine if the student did a lab assignment that was authored entirely by the instructor. Custom Lab Inspection Files work the same way as the lab inspection files just discussed except that it takes longer to create them because the instructor has to input a lot more detail. Document Map can be used to Navigate Student Lab Answer KeysThe Word files containing the Student Lab answer keys now make use of Word's Document Map feature. Using this feature, teachers can click on an exercise or problem number in the Document Map pane and instantly view the answer to the exercise or problem.
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Top If Converge is available at student computers in a student computer lab and you want the students to turn in Student Record Files with their lab assignments, it would probably be a good idea to turn this option on. If this option is turned on, when Converge starts the student sees:
If the student clicks Yes, the student next sees:
Unless the student wants the Student Record File to be written on the hard drive, the student should now insert a formatted floppy disk in drive A: or a writeable CD disk in a CD-RW drive. Converge will check all the floppy and CD-RW drives in alphabetical order and the first such drive that contains a disk will be the default drive for reading & writing the Student Record File. If the student clicks OK, the student next sees:
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Top After resizing the Graph window, do not redraw any graphics until you click on the Graph window is a new toggle option. In Windows XP, when this option is turned off, the graphics in the Graph window are continuously redrawn while the user is dragging a border of the Graph window to change its size. This is desirable so long as you are not graphing a great many functions, so you will normally want to keep this options turned off. You may want to turn this option on if you are using Windows XP and you are graphing many complicated functions on the same axes. In this situation (when this option is turned on), you will probably find it is faster to resize the Graph window, then click in the window to cause the graphics in the window to be redrawn.Go to
Top When the Stop graphs at first point option is turned on ( This extension is displayed in a different color or line style from the terminal side of theta. In the following example, the terminal side of theta is displayed in solid blue and its extension in the negative direction of R is displayed as a dotted line.
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Top MIN and MAX are defined as follows.
Although the SGN function is not new, it has been previously undocumented:
Plot Points to Stay Can Now be Open Circles After you graph a function, select Get Values One-at-a-Time from the Post-graph menu and then select Plot Any Points to Stay, you are asked if you want the point plotted using solid dots or open circles.Post-graph Menu Available after More Menu Choices Most of the Post-graph menu is now active after activity is completed for many Calculus and Algebra/Trig menu choices. These menu choices are listed below. Calculus A few more menu choices are also now available after completing the following menu choice. Calculus |
is a new check box in the
Pregraph Input window.
.
and
depressed. 
.
. When the student clicks a
spinner button, the value of the variable selected in the Change value
of box is incremented up or down and the graph of the revised function
is automatically displayed. 
is depressed) and you have selected Draw terminal side of theta in the
Pregraph Input box prior to graphing a polar function, the terminal side of
theta is now extended to a line so students can more easily visualize the
plotted points for which the R-polar coordinate is negative. 
