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Calculators for exams

  • Thread starter StevieG4captain
  • Start date
S

StevieG4captain

Member
Does anyone know if the following calculator is allowed in CT exams?

I've checked the institute's site for rules on calculators but it doesn't specify makes/models.

CASIO fx 991MS

http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPF-FX_991MS

Thanks

PS. The only consolation I can take from yesterday's oh-so-familiar exit from a major tournament is that I now hate football and have a few extra days to study. :( yipee!
 
looks fine to me, but who cares? ive seen countless graphic calculators in the exams before...
 
(i) Candidates must provide their own calculators.
(ii) Under no circumstances should hand-held personal computers, of any description, be taken into the examination room.
(iii) Calculators must be silent, have visual display only and be battery or solar operated.
(iv) Calculators with the following functions and facilities are not permitted data banks,
dictionaries, language translators, retrieval or manipulation of text, graphics display or
external communications.
(v) Any stored data and /or stored program facilities must be cleared before the calculator is taken into the examination room.
(vi) No extra time will be allowed for candidates who do not use calculators or whose
calculators break down in the course of the examination.
 
Yup - the FX-991-MS is an excellent choice! It does normal probabilities and solves quadratics and simultaneous equations.

Doesn't make the tea though.

Graphical calculators are out (if you see anyone using them in the exam then report them to the invigilators to get the disqualified - if you feel nice - tell the student you will - to give them a chance to use something else as the rules are very clear!) as are ones with programmability.
 
since the rules were introduced, i have seen graphic calculators in nearly every exam i sat. the invigilators are too old to know the difference it seems!
 
During the exam somebody who knows what they are looking for should walk around and check what everybody is using. I've seen people use graphical calculators too, more than once, and that's without even looking. :mad:
 
the problem here is in deciding what a graphical calculator is.

is it any calculator with a big screen or is it a calculator which can run java scripts. why don't the institute provide a list of allowable calculators, like other examining boards do?
 
kazikizi said:
the problem here is in deciding what a graphical calculator is.

is it any calculator with a big screen or is it a calculator which can run java scripts. why don't the institute provide a list of allowable calculators, like other examining boards do?
Click to expand...

I think the rules are very clear (see King's post). If they provided a list of allowable calculators they would have to keep it updated. Plus it might cause problems with international exams. The rules aren't the problem, it's the students (and possibly the invigilators for not knowing or inforcing the rules).
 
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Whilst on the subject, has anyone *ever* been disqualified by the invigilators during your exams? In one of mine a girls mobile rang! The whole room noticed, apart from the invigilators! If that had happened at school or uni she would have been disqualified from that and all future exams. Maybe I am just mean, I am sure it was just a mistake, but she shouldn't have had her phone in her pocket, and I think she should have been disqualified. To my mind, that is worse than using a graphical calculator. I'm not sure how much help one would really be anyway? :confused:
 
King said:
(iv) Calculators with the following functions and facilities are not permitted data banks, dictionaries, language translators, retrieval or manipulation of text, graphics display or external communications.
Click to expand...

(iv) graphics display... what is a graphics display? is it a dot matrix screen or is it a high resolution colour screen? I have seen some "non-graphical" calculators with colour screen and touch pads aswell.

King said:
(v) Any stored data and /or stored program facilities must be cleared before the calculator is taken into the examination room.
Click to expand...

(v) don't "non-graphical" calculators do this kind of stuff e.g. regressions and statsy stuff. My Casio does.

The instructions have not fully specified what kind of calculators are not allowed. I still think they need to publish a list of allowable calculators, or better still change the entire examining system to Open Book, like they do for engineering exams.
 
kazikizi said:
(iv) graphics display... what is a graphics display?
Click to expand...
A calculator that draws graphs.


kazikizi said:
(v) don't "non-graphical" calculators do this kind of stuff e.g. regressions and statsy stuff. My Casio does.
Click to expand...
It's not saying your calculator must not be capable of storing data, just that you must clear the data before the exam.
 
heh i wonder if i could make a healthy living if i sold pre-programmed actuarial calculators, featuring mortality tables from the formula book and standard annuities etc!
 
Gareth said:
heh i wonder if i could make a healthy living if i sold pre-programmed actuarial calculators, featuring mortality tables from the formula book and standard annuities etc!
Click to expand...

These can be found at the Texas Instruments website and can be downloaded for use with your TI calculator. You can even program your calculator to workout certain things and store them as built-in functions.


Little Actuary,
so should they completely ban calculators from the exam? I'd like them to make actiarial exams Open Book and allow every possible cheating instrument there is on the planet.
 
kazikizi said:
Little Actuary,
so should they completely ban calculators from the exam?
Click to expand...
No :confused: I think the rules are fine as they stand.
 
Little Miss Actuary said:
No :confused: I think the rules are fine as they stand.
Click to expand...
So do you want to continue to see people with graphical calculators in the exam? If you say yes then you have contradicted yourself. If you say no then you want the rules to change.
 
kazikizi said:
So do you want to continue to see people with graphical calculators in the exam? If you say yes then you have contradicted yourself. If you say no then you want the rules to change.
Click to expand...
Under the current rules you can not take in graphical calculators. :confused:
 
i dont think they give an advantage anyway. i've stuck with the same trusty calculator since i started my degree and have never felt limited by it in the exams.
 
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I don't think it would really help much either, however it is the prinicple. We should all be able to use one, or nobody should. They shouldn't say you can't and then turn a blind eye to people who do.
 
Little actuary,

Now you have confused me.... they rules say that graphical calculators are not allowed. And in your previous post you implied that they were infact allowed. So are they allowed or not allowed? I need to know because I am writing in September for the first time.
 
kazikizi said:
Little actuary,

Now you have confused me.... they rules say that graphical calculators are not allowed. And in your previous post you implied that they were infact allowed. So are they allowed or not allowed? I need to know because I am writing in September for the first time.
Click to expand...

You are NOT allowed graphical calculators. Where did I say you are?
 
Little Miss Actuary said:
You are NOT allowed graphical calculators. Where did I say you are?
Click to expand...
You said it in one of the previous posts, which you have now edited.

So can you take a calculator with a large screen but doesn't draw graphs?
 
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