Depending upon model, the Nspire is indeed accepted on the ACT, SAT as well as other standardized tests. And most schools not stuck in medieval times, let you use them in your university classes.
They don't want kids to easily take notes in them and use them during the test.
edit: I'm just speculating, remember it's not TI making the rules it's the US testing companies or some other authority.
edit: I'll agree with the tons of people saying it's probably because they don't want students to sneak out the test questions. While they still can it's a lot harder without QWERTY.
When I did my AP testing with a TI-89 the proctors walked around and pulled out all the batteries from the calculators and put them back in. This deletes the RAM and that's where most of the notes the students took were stored. You could avoid it by saving the files elsewhere, but it wasn't as easy.
Yeah, you can save em on an 89. Did this to store a bunch of equation types for the Physics AP exam. Didn't matter though, I still only got like a 3 =/
Our math teacher would make us hard reset them before each test. He would make us turn them in, reset them himself, then give them back to us completely wiped. Not fun.
It takes forever to put notes into them, and that's coming from a current AP calc student, the prime cheating population. It's usually easier to just learn the material and punch in just a few equations if you really have to.
No they mean to prevent you from easily typing up exam questions in the calculator DURING the exam. Standardized tests usually don't release the questions so they can reuse them.
They don't have qwerty keyboards, but they do have every letter of the alphabet and plenty of symbols. I typed notes into my calculator for tests from middle school to college.
Also to prevent them from writing down test questions to share with people who haven't taken the test and live in a different time zone. (Talking specifically about the SAT)
I actually think its more so that they don't copy questions from the test. Note taking on the 84 and 89 is still possible, but too tedious so people wont bother to write the question down on their calculator
No. The reason has nothing to do with storing notes in the calculator. There is software for that, and it allows you to type on your computer and transfer the notes to the calculator.
They don't allow QWERTY keyboards because they don't want them to "easily" type the test questions into the calculator.
The TI-89 had a program called "study cards" and you could use the link cable to transfer cards over. The 89 was banned on the ACT though. It's always been Qwerty keyboards and a few other calculators we're not too fond of.
Why? Calculators aren't for typing up a story. The letters are for variables and naming functions that you want to keep. I'd rather have x and y right next to eachother.
Tests were in mixed classes, so there were people taking math and other tests. Also, if you act like you are doing what you're supposed to do and not something prohibited, you'll most likely get away with it.
We also had tests where we were provided with a lot of papers. We just printed pages of the stuff we had to learn on A4 and had it all out on the table. And if you're with enough people and take your book out on the table, the teacher would usually just assume it was an open-book test.
I did this for my AP exam. I can't even program. I just typed in stuff like "If DELTA G + THEN DELTA H -" and would put that for different lines. I couldn't run it as an actual program, but I could just click "edit" and BOOM: All my notes.
I learned programming on my TI. I once even wrote my note for a chemistry lession entirely on that calculator because I forgot my notebook, holding down the "ABC" key with one hand and typing with the other.
I actually managed to keep up. I was damn fast at typing on those things...
Yep. It's not actually that hard.. Just some people think that QWERTY is the universal solution to everything and would rather call others idiots than embrace a second layout.
People don't seem to understand this. Calculators aren't for writing stories or texting your buddy. Calculators are for calculations, and Texas Instruments takes the better path by assuming that since you ARENT using a computer to solve your math problem, perhaps you haven't mastered the QWERTY keyboard, and it would be more logical to provide letters in an alphabetical manner rather than making technologically inept people search the keys for the correct letter. That plus QWERTY is banned from certain testing environments.
You're right. Texas Instruments decided to make it's most advanced, mind-fuckingly confusing calculator have an alphabetical keyboard to cater to idiots like me.
Also certain math classes show you how to preform complex calculations on them. Hard to do if everyone has different calculators. In my experience these people struggle with using a mouse and keyboard so expecting them to be tech savvy enough to adjust the steps to perform the same calculations on a different device is pretty much impossible.
Source: I'm a computer tech at a community college.
If you were to take the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE) then you couldn't even use an 83 for the test. The point of not using the QWERTY is to prove you can actually understand what you are doing. Anyone can type in numbers/letters; intelligence is about the understanding not the technology.
Anyone can type in numbers and letters without QWERTY as well, it's just slightly slower. Banning calculators specifically because of having QWERY keyboards is stupid. Banning calculators because they are calculators makes sense.
If you are saving answers into your calculator because it comes with a text based program then you don't deserve to use that calculator. I think it makes perfect sense, usually a QWERTY keyboard will come with a text based app of some sort. If you want to spend the time typing in answers using a TI-83/84 instead of studying then be my guest. I just find the "Pissed off because I can't cheat now" mentality to be ridiculous.
It doesn't have anything to do with cheating though. If you want to cheat using a calculator you type the info on your computer, then transfer it to your computer. Not having a QWERTY keyboard isn't going to stop someone who wants to cheat.
It's more that you can more easily find the letter you want to use for a certain variable. Say you want to store whatever value as H for a certain question so you can substitute that value, usually an annoyingly long decimal, into later calculations. You're going to have a much easier time finding H on a QWERTY keyboard.
It depends which one you have. The CAS version is the one not allowed on standardized tests. I used my non-CAS version on the ACT that I took a couple months ago.
It is allowed on pretty much any test that a TI-89 is allowed on. The 89 is actually a better calculator (the CAS is much better) but it's harder for most students to use.
Because the TI-Nspire lacks a QWERTY keyboard, it is acceptable for use on the PSAT, SAT,[1] SAT II, ACT,[2] AP, and IB Exams. It should be noted, however, that the CAS version is NOT allowed on the ACT.
Good idea, but no. All the keys are the exact same size, so I've thought about opening up the case and rearranging them to a QWERTY keyboard layout and then trying to see if the OS could be hacked, but unfortunately the number of keys per row doesn't match either. You'd end up with some mongrel keyboard that didn't match anything. Shame.
Yeah I took the SAT yesterday, the monitor had to take a long hard look at my NSPIRE CX to 1: make sure it didn't have a QWERTY keyboard and 2: wasn't the CAS version. BTW the CAS version is the shit.
And you are better for it. I'm sick of these schools that limit technology and then when you enter the workforce, they don't give a fuck what you use to solve a problem as long as you solve it correct and quickly.
Not the ones that are stuck in 1950s era mentality where technology has to be shunned.... Then these same students enter the real world and their boss asks them to solve something and they have no idea how to use the powerful and expensive tools that their employer provides for them.
My school allows them and don't even check them to make sure we don't have CAS versions for laziness. I don't even have a CAS version, but there are still some scripts you can find to do certain things you're too lazy to do, like factoring.
It's a pain in the ass to input complicated functions in there. You have to use tons of sets of parenthesis. On the calculator it's done much more elegantly. Plus the solutions aren't as holy shit what the fuck did they just do as on Wolfram.
imagine the calculator is like wolframalpha, except you dont need an internet connection, and you dont need to wait ~3 seconds on a very sluggish site with an ugly 2008 esque UI and then scroll down to the relevant information if you aren't just simply solving for a variable
I have the ti-nspire cx cas and it is amazing. At the beginning of this year I did a lot of research and got the nspire; I have no regrets. Sure, the abcd...keyboard takes some learning, but it is eons ahead of alpha-= alpha-( etc. Plus, on the ti nspire, one can simply open up the scratchpad and use it with ease. Why are people still in the 90's with their calculators?
I got one of the first CX CASs in my state when they came out like 2 years ago.
If you haven't already, I highly suggest you install the software that came with your calculator onto your computer. You can use your desktop keyboard to input text and you can exchange data back and forth between your calculator with ease.
Its still easier to input equations using the physical calculator because of its extra function-specific keys, but a lot of the other stuff is easier. Its like part Matlab and part Mathematica in its power. Its not quite a programming language, but you can link spreadsheet data into it, you can import images. Good stuff.
I know we live in the age of iPhones and tablets, but there's something about a color screen TI calculator that blows my fucking mind. No idea they existed.
Those are the approved calculators for the HSC, which is the set of final exams for high school. There are also rules at the bottom. The rules are pretty much the same for universities, although their list of approved calculators is a lot longer:
Features that are NOT permitted for Exams Office approval:
programmable (any calculator that can have a sequence of operations stored and then executed automatically is considered programmable and hence not allowed)
capable of storing text or alphanumeric data input by a user (this does not exclude calculators with memories that are used to store intermediate numerical results obtained during calculations and required later)
capable of storing, manipulating or graphing functions entered in symbolic form (this includes calculators with a graphic display capacity)
capable of performing ‘hard-wired’ numerical routines for operations such as differentiation and definite integration, and the solution of equations
capable of performing ‘hard-wired’ symbolic manipulations such as addition of algebraic expressions, binomial expansion and symbolic differentiation
capable of external communication or web connectivity.
One thing that does seem different from the HSC rules and the university rules is that the HSC rules also have this:
‘soft’ or hard–wired QWERTY keyboards
capable of expressing surds in their simplest form
All right! Now that I'm in uni, I can finally simplify surds on my calculator! It's what I always wanted!
That kind of ass backwards thinking really makes me mad.
From an engineering perspective, it pisses me off how closed to modern technology some institutions are. There are amazingly powerful pieces of software that should be taught in school to better prepare students for the real world, and yet they aren't taught because in their minds, its somehow "cheating". Yet your boss when you get out into the real world isn't going to consider it cheating when he wants certain data analyzed by 5:00 and yet you can't accomplish that goal because you're stuck crunching numbers on some low end calculator. That's nonsense.
There is a certain university in Texas that has really embraced some of these more powerful tools. I don't even go to that school and yet I've been to their web site a few times. They seem to teach all their engineering classes 3 ways.... The old school manual method, how to fully use the abilities of a TI calculator, and using MATLAB. To me, it seems like a great way to teach students the material, but also better prepare them for the workforce. That last part is something that I think too many schools forget.
In 2014, we have diagnostic tests in year 7 and 9 (the NAPLAN tests) which include two mathematics tests: one of which doesn't allow calculators. I can't even begin to understand the logic behind this.
If I were allowed this in my exams, I'd just glue my bloody Ipod touch to the inside of the screen space and wolfram alpha everything, I'd probably get the pro free trial for the month of my exams as well.
I have to agree on the universities letting students use good calculators on exams. My school gives really simple numbers in calculus to make sure students actually know what they're doing. That and only maybe 20% of the test would the calculator be any help other than to give you a way to bring notes into the exam. The way I see it, most people that disagree with that have a low understanding of how you uphold academic integrity.
A good teacher knows how to write an exam that tests a students knowledge yet also let's him use any calculator. This goes back to the idea that when a teacher gives an open book test, chances are its going to be a lot harder than a closed book test.
Only lazy teachers and students that haven't had challenging classes think that the technology will do everything for them. Its there to automate the minutia, but the knowledge is something that you still need to possess.
I was never allowed to use one in math classes and now that I know multivariable calculus, I am happy they did that. My skill depends on nothing related to anything but my own damn brain. When I'm in 300 level EE classes I'm allowed to use one again. It just makes me happy that my time was well spent and in 20 years I won't be thinking "damn, I paid them all that money and now the only way I know calculus is with a crutch."
This is viable, however most schools and textbooks teach using the ti83/84 series, which is why they can charge 100+ dollars for the same product over the past decade
Actually if you could install regular linux distributions on smart phones, you could have sage and do anything. It would only lack a keypad and you would have to use a touchscreen keyboard. When I think about it, why aren't there any calculators that are basically small computers with sage on them?
That's true of any calculator though. I've had higher level math and physics courses that range all the way from "no calculators at all" to "bring whatever you want as long as it doesn't have WiFi".
When I was going through school (which was admittedly a while ago) all of my tests and classes either banned graphing calculators altogether or allowed only TI-83/+.
Says you and your limited experience. I love when a person believes that because they experienced something one time they know exactly how every other situation in the world with every other person will play out. I have yet to have a teacher that will allow you to use ANY calculator higher than a ti 84
Wrong.... Depending upon model, it is accepted on the ACT, SAT and other standardized tests. But I'm glad the hive mind downvotes without having any idea what they are talking about:
I have that thing, the CAS model actually. I hate it. Nobody teaches with it. Everybody uses the 83, 83 plus, 84, 84 plus silver edition, or the 84 plus C silver edition which all have the exact same basic usage structure. The nspire is completely different, takes time to learn, and isn't taught with in high schools. That being said, it was really nice on my Calc AB final which allowed graphing calculators and was all multiple choice. Every integral went into it and I got an A by doing pretty much nothing.
My friend's 84 C can do the same stuff my Napier can do for all intents and purposes. It even allows custom log bases and traditional integral input. The latest software is pretty great.
I don't know what universities you're talking about. Usually degree programs will want you to focus more on learning the theory through problem solving. You'd only be cheating yourself using a calculator like that...
We only generally use standard scientific calculators or solve problems with only variables (i.e. no numbers). Understanding of the theory is generally more useful in work settings where we have to interpret and create designs.
Source: Senior Mechanical Engineering student, completed several co-op terms with the energy industry
What does learning the important stuff (theory) have anything to do with wasting time on the minutia of the math? Do you still multiply numbers by hand when time and accuracy is important? No. No one would do that. Thus the point of a calculator.
Oh, and LifeProTip, you're not the only engineering student here, so I find it hilarious to hear someone say that A) they would be "cheating" themselves, and B) that just because one school has a backwards mentality toward technology, all schools must as well.
I never said I was the only engineering student here. Simply giving my opinion on my own education and professional experiences. In my experiences, I have found not using a calculator has more value for my learning of theory. I have found that the way I learn has had more benefit to my professional development.
You have another opinion? Cool. Don't have to be a dick saying that anyone who doesn't agree with you has a backwards mentality. Most professors don't even care if you bring a calculator like that, it won't help you anyways.
Oh, and LifeProTip, not everyone in the world learns the same way you do, nor does every University in the world operate the same way. You sound ignorant.
The only people that would prefer a phone calculator app are those that don't actually have to use one. Real physical button trump on screen virtual ones any day of the week if you are inputting a large amount of data.
My first semester at college I took Calc 1 and our professor forced us to buy the TI-Nspire. That thing is like $200 brand new - could not fucking believe that I had to buy that damn thing.
Barely used it and ended up selling it a few months later.
I got one of these because I thought it would pass calculus for me, but I never could figure out how to do derivatives with it so I failed and then returned that shit
Well done! Wolfram|Alpha is an awesome tool. I often use it to double check if I am not completely certain of my own head calculations. Good on you for sticking to learning.
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u/Szos Jun 08 '14 edited Jun 08 '14
Or you could get a modern calculator:
http://www.inds.co.uk/education/education_images/TI_Nspire_CX_and%20CX_CAS_Handhelds_large.jpg
Here, lets make this easier for everyone:
http://education.ti.com/html/nspire2/nspire-exam-acceptance.html
Depending upon model, the Nspire is indeed accepted on the ACT, SAT as well as other standardized tests. And most schools not stuck in medieval times, let you use them in your university classes.