I, and I think many here, believe that RPN calculators are actually more elegant and easier to use than algebraic calculators. I find I can calculate 'while I'm thinking', and I like the security of seeing intermediate calculations while I work through it.
Whether or not younger children will accept RPN as part of their learning is up to them, but it would be pretty bad if we got them into RPN, only for these calculators to be banned from their exams. There is also quite a gap between the introduction to calculators (a least several years before GCSE), but they might need to use calculators in exams until beyond degree level.
Here are some nice quotes from the last thread:
keithdalby wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2017 11:38 amIn an exam, I think you can get away with using a DM42 because it doesn't natively handle graphing or symbolic integration etc. It does have nonvolatile storage, which isn't allowed, but you can clear that and show it is clear. You cannot IR communicate with other devices in the exam room.
If instead you simply have a pocket PC with physical keyboard (which is what I think you want, and which are already available), then that would be banned from the exam room without hesitation.
To me, it makes sense to keep pocket PCs and calculators as separate devices. But, I'm a teacher so I'm approaching this from a different perspective.
budmur wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2017 1:10 pmOn the NCEES exams, the DM 42 wouldn't be allowed because of the full alpha capabilities. It's not so much for cheating on the exam, but to prevent test questions from leaking out back to exam preparation mills. I got lucky because that policy wasn't in place when I took the exams, so I got to use my 42S. I'd hate to try and take them now. For me, the ability to give variables a real name, like "Head" or "Watts" versus "H" or "W" makes all the difference in the world in usability.
A bit of my own googling has found this from Trentham High Schoolkeithdalby wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2017 3:10 pmIn the UK at GCSE and A Level (and in some universities) there is a 'banned calculator' list rather than an 'allowed calculator' list, I believe. All calculators that can perform symbolic differentiation and integration are banned, but programmable calculators and graphing calculators are allowed in some exams, as long as their memory can be wiped.
As a physics teacher, I really only know about the physics exams, where graphing calculators are fine but symbolic calculus is not. The DM42 probably wouldn't be allowed because of the ability to store programs persistently, but invigilators wouldn't recognise it and it isn't on the banned list, so I reckon you'd get away with using it. Please note, I am not endorsing cheating!
The DM15 would be perfectly allowed with no caveats.
If you started loading Linux onto the calculators, they'd find their way onto the banned list pretty damned quickly.
But a more authoritative source, referenced by OCR, is this from the joint council for qualifications, which has this to say:To ensure compliance with examination regulations the following
calculators will be acceptable for use in GCSE Examinations:
- Aurora SC582
- Casio FX-83 series
- Casio FX-85 series
- Sharp ELW531 series
- Sharp EL53 and EL52 series
So it would seem like local schools might have their own rules about what is allowed, though the JCQ are far more lenient. However, they don't allow printed instructions or formulas on the case, which would be a problem with the DM-xxL series of calculators.Calculators must be:
-of a size suitable for use on the
desk;
-either battery or solar powered;
-free of lids, cases and covers which
have printed instructions or formulas
Calculators must not:
-be designed or adapted to offer any of these
facilities: -
--language translators;
--symbolic algebra manipulation;
--symbolic differentiation or integration;
--communication with other machines or
the internet;
-be borrowed from another candidate during
an examination for any reason;*
-have retrievable information stored in them -
this includes:
--databanks;
--dictionaries;
--mathematical formulas;
--text.
Maybe a wire-brushed DM-15L would be ok?! If anyone has info on other countries, I'd be interested.
Also I don't know if anyone would trust their treasured swissmicro with their kid, but that's a whole other question.