Blessner, D. (2024, October), Helping Mathematically Under-Prepared Students Understand the Actual Trigonometric Functions  Paper presented at 2024 Fall ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Conference, Farmingdale State College, NY, New York. 10.18260/1-2--49440

\bibitem{asee_peer_49440}
  Blessner, D. (2024, October), \emph{Helping Mathematically Under-Prepared Students Understand the Actual Trigonometric Functions}
  Paper presented at 2024 Fall ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Conference, Farmingdale State College, NY, New York.
  10.18260/1-2--49440

Daniel Blessner.  "Helping Mathematically Under-Prepared Students Understand the Actual Trigonometric Functions".  2024 Fall ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Conference, Farmingdale State College, NY, New York, 2024, October.  ASEE Conferences, 2024.  https://peer.asee.org/49440 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_49440}
  Daniel Blessner.
  "Helping Mathematically Under-Prepared Students Understand the Actual Trigonometric Functions".
  \emph{2024 Fall ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Conference, Farmingdale State College, NY, New York, 2024, October}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2024.
  https://peer.asee.org/49440 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_49440
author = "Daniel Blessner"
title = "Helping Mathematically Under-Prepared Students Understand the Actual Trigonometric Functions"
booktitle = "2024 Fall ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Conference"
year = "2024"
month = "October"
address = "Farmingdale State College, NY, New York"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/49440}
number = {10.18260/1-2--49440}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Making surveying engineering education accessible to mathematically under-prepared students entering college is difficult due to the demanding mathematical requirements the major demands. One area of difficulty is understanding the trigonometric functions. Part of the problem is that the trigonometric functions seem mysterious because they are only seen as keys on a calculator. 
The trigonometric functions are classified as transcendental functions.  A transcendental function cannot be written as a finite combination of algebraic expressions. The key word is FINITE. This fact in most cases eliminates the equation form from ever being seen by students. Students know them only by the word’s sine, cosine, and tangent on a scientific calculator.
Below is the actual formula for sine function. 
y = f(x) = sin(x) = x – x3/6 + x5/120	
For simplicity, only the first three terms in the series will be used. Introducing students to these formulas will give the mathematically underprepared student the hands-on feel of working with familiar functions such as linear equations. 
This paper is intended to help under-prepared students understand the trigonometric functions and the notation used to represent them. Most students don’t realize that the f in f(x) is being replaced by sin, cos, and tan. It will then be explained that these formulas are programmed into their calculators and are accessible by the sin, cos, and tan keys on a calculator.  
This paper will contain an abbreviated chapter that highlights these changes and can be included in any trigonometry course. It will contain several fully worked example problems. The problems will contain the use of the actual functions where students only use a calculator to calculate the first three terms given in the trigonometric formulas. 
The effectiveness of using the actual truncated formulas will be measured in upcoming trigonometric classes with surveys.

AU  - Daniel Blessner
CY  - Farmingdale State College, NY, New York
DA  - 2024/10/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Helping Mathematically Under-Prepared Students Understand the Actual Trigonometric Functions
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/49440
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--49440
ER  -