TI Nspires Press to Test Requirements

TI Nspires Press to Test Requirements

Summer 2016

As documents can be stored on the TI-Nspire calculators, they must be put into “Press to Test” mode before entering into an exam room. This should happen for any subject if the calculator is taken in. The process different for IB Maths exams and other exam boards.

Nspires must be put into “Press to Test” mode immediately before the examination. If done earlier, a candidate must not have access to the calculator between the time it is put into “Press to Test” mode and the examination.

To put into Press to Test, when the calculator is switched off, press the ESC and ON buttons simultaneously, and the screen illustrated below is displayed:

Points to note:

• The angle settings here can be either degrees or radians, but it may still be necessary to set the graphing angle option from within the menu item 9 when inside a graphing page.
• The list of tick boxes are scrollable – don’t forget to scroll all the way down!
• Ticking the box prevents the function being available, so they must be unticked. The most useful and relevant ones are at the bottom of the list, such as logs to any base and polyroots etc.
• Going in and out of test mode uses a lot of power, so a calculator that hasn’t been fully charged may die as a result. Warn students!

For A level, ALL the boxes can be unticked. As a student walks into the exam hall, this screen should be displayed, and they should be seen to select the Enter Press-to-Test button.

Pressing ctrl – A should clear all of the boxes.

For IB,

Candidates must upgrade their Nspire to the latest operating system (currently 4.2.0.532) to use the “Press to Test” properly. Nspires which have not been updated and put into the correct “Press to Test” mode are not allowed in the examinations.

The following options in “Press to Test” mode must be ticked and therefore blocked.

Limit geometry functions

Disable function and conic grab and move

Disable vector functions, including eigenvectors and eigenvalues

Disable “isPrime” function

Disable differential equation graphing

Disable 3D graphing

Disable implicit graphing, conic templates, conic analysis, and geometric conics

The following options in “Press to Test” mode must be untickedand therefore allowed.

 Disable inequality graphing

 Limit trigonometric functions

 Disable logbx template and summation functions

 Disable Polynomial Root Finder and Simultaneous Equation Solver

For IB examinations, the Exams Office set each candidate’s TI Nspire up individually by transferring the correct settings from one of their calculators via the connection cable. However, this should also be done as a matter of course for all formal assessments.

To get out of Press to Test mode

This is achieved by attaching the calculator to another, using a cable. Both calculators must be switched on.

Go into a calculator window (not the home screen).

Press the DOCS button (below the ON button)

Select: option 9: Press to Test.

Select: Option 1: Exit Press-to-Test

Once selected, the calculator reboots. Once the rebooting starts, the calculator can be disconnected. You don’t have to wait until the reboot has completed (which takes a little while!).