231–240 of 460 posts
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I’d be in trouble: I use RPN calculators, and am practically crippled if I try to use anything else. Of course, I’d probably not be in as much trouble as whatever poor sod got stuck with my HP.
48?
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In prison, only non-programmable calculators were allowed. A friend somehow had gotten a TI-85 in. I programmed it to say "NON-PROGRAMMABLE CALCULATOR" as its startup message, so they wouldn't take it during a random search. I also wrote a basic stock portfolio manager - this was the only chance I had to program during my 5 years there.
Why would they care about a calculator?
This can be summed up pretty easily. The TI graphing calculator has no internet access and no ability to store notes. Neither ability can be easily added. As long as that is the case, they will win, because the test companies don't want to deal with people having internet access and notes. Now if Apple/Android made a simple way for a test proctor to put your phone into a single app only that you couldn't easily break…
On the SAT you can use programs and notes (obviously you are not supposed to share test content, but there is no specific prohibited on the notes feature. I think the ACT says you are not supposed to somewhere in the instructions but they do not clear the calculators. Only time I've had them clear the calculators was for some state-mandated EOGs that you could do with your eyes closed. And it can't be that hard to bu…
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You can easily store notes on a TI calculator. I had a TI-85 in college, and was occasionally guilty of writing TI-BASIC programs to make tests easier (for example, I had one which computed Euler's method).
In prison, only non-programmable calculators were allowed. A friend somehow had gotten a TI-85 in. I programmed it to say "NON-PROGRAMMABLE CALCULATOR" as its startup message, so they wouldn't take it during a random search. I also wrote a basic stock portfolio manager - this was the only chance I had to program during my 5 years there.
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That is an argument against allowing phone apps. But doesn't excuse requiring students to pay $100+ for antiquated technology.
Have we considered the radical option of, you know, not allowing calculators on tests? And not writing tests that rely on the use of a calculator?
Timely thing - I actually dusted off my TI-89 over the weekend doing taxes. There was something about a focused tool with a physical number that I was really desiring. I have fond memories of tapping around on it in high school. Turns out it sucks, and I wound up just buying one of the $5 solar basic calculators and was way happier. I can't wait for this monopoly to get blown up.
Opposite story here... I still use my TI-89 (or my even older TI-86) from time to time, even when sitting in front of a PC that has R, Maxima, Gnuplot, Axiom, Sage, etc. installed. There is something about the format of those old TI calculators that I find oddly appealing for whatever reason. That said, when I don't have a hand-held calculator handy, I usually just fire up bc or R when I need to do some quick calcula…
Those who prefer RPN should check out dc! It's my preferred calculator for simple calculations.
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Cheat-sheets are also far more "real world" than the fake environment many schools cling to. I don't know a single practicing engineer that doesn't have a note scribbled somewhere. My engineering school recognized this decades ago and adjusted accordingly. Now the math department? They were a different story. No calculators. Period. Ever. Made higher-level calculus... interesting. Thankfully I'd already had it in hig…
> Now the math department? They were a different story. No calculators. Period. Ever. Made higher-level calculus... interesting. When I took calculus the professor made sure that every arithmetic problem could be solved quickly. The trick he used was to carefully track factors when setting up the problem, so that the numbers never got very big, and also so that things had a way of cancelling (I can't tell you how man…
Usually the same rule applied in physics exams too...
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> This can be summed up pretty easily. The TI graphing calculator has no internet access and no ability to store notes. Neither ability can be easily added. There was a similar concern with typewriters when I wanted to type rather than hand write exams in law school in the '90s. By then most typewriters included some memory and some kind of display, with a delay between your typing and putting the characters on the p…
The law schools and bar exams have now settled on software that reboots a computer into a limited environment just for testing, where the administrators get to configure what kinds of features like copy and paste or spell-check are available (and of course, no stored memory from beforehand, or web access). The DC bar had just moved from typewriters (with the same "lines of memory" restriction you mentioned) to comput…
Reminds me of a “Leave It to Beaver” when Wally cheated (or tried to) by going to the bathroom and getting paper towels with the answers. It’s ridiculous to spend resources to lock down computers when there are much simpler ways to cheat.
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Look up the self app lock. That's the feature I just tested on my personal device that worked fine
It’s called “Guided Access”. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202612 . Works fine, AFAIK, but may be a bit of a hassle to set up for an entire class.