Using a BAII Calculator for Statistics

[kimaya24]

Hi everyone,

I plan on taking Principles of Statistics DSST maybe next Friday. I called the test center yesterday to see what kind of calculator I could use and the lady basically told me that she didn't know (& I got the feeling she didn't really care!!). Anyway, I got the BAII calculator and I was wondering for anyone who used it for this test, how did you find out how to use it for statistics ??

I tried reading the booklet, but it might as well be in chinese!! I'm just looking for something that will show me how step by step what buttons to push for each type of problem, preferably with an example. I found one document online, but it only shows how to do Standard Deviation and Line Regression.

I don't know if they'll let me use the calculator or not (gonna bring a back up too), but I would like to learn how to use it in case they do let me. Any feedback is greatly appreciated

[burbuja0512]

http://www.getcollegecredit.com/download...080509.pdf

You'll see that the "use of non-programmable" calculators is permitted. I had to print up the copy of this for my Principles of Finance. My testing center only administers maybe 5 DSST's a month (lol fewer now that I'm done testing) and they're really not familiar with the requirements.

I showed my testing center the sheet and also mentioned that they could pull the same doc online and I was happy to show them on the DSST website. I had no issues at all.

[kimaya24]

http://www.getcollegecredit.com/download...080509.pdf

You'll see that the "use of non-programmable" calculators is permitted. I had to print up the copy of this for my Principles of Finance. My testing center only administers maybe 5 DSST's a month (lol fewer now that I'm done testing) and they're really not familiar with the requirements.

I showed my testing center the sheet and also mentioned that they could pull the same doc online and I was happy to show them on the DSST website. I had no issues at all.

I take my tests at University of Texas Arlington and I know they do a lot of testing. Honestly, I think the lady I talked to was too lazy to check, she said they didn't give that exam a lot and they wouldn't know until they got the info after I sign up?? Anyway, I was going to print out the fact sheet at least so they know I'm allowed to use a calculator cause she was like "Oh, well the test has an on screen calculator", but I'm trying to avoid that thing like the plague because I can't stand them!!

But I want to have it in case they do let me use it since I've seen where others have been allowed to.

[burbuja0512]

I take my tests at University of Texas Arlington and I know they do a lot of testing. Honestly, I think the lady I talked to was too lazy to check, she said they didn't give that exam a lot and they wouldn't know until they got the info after I sign up?? Anyway, I was going to print out the fact sheet at least so they know I'm allowed to use a calculator cause she was like "Oh, well the test has an on screen calculator", but I'm trying to avoid that thing like the plague because I can't stand them!!

But I want to have it in case they do let me use it since I've seen where others have been allowed to.

I was nervous about it too when I went to my testing center, printout in hand. However, they just glanced at it and it wasn't a big deal. Just go ahead and schedule it. Bring the fact sheet if you need it. Before you walk in to take the test, just say something non-confrontational like "Oh, I checked the fact sheet and it looks like I'm ok to use this calculator, but I wanted to make sure that there aren't any issues."

You'll be fine. Worst case scenario, you make them look it up online and that's it. Like I said, I was worried too, but it turned out to be a non-issue.

[bricabrac]

this is more of a finance calculator but you may be able to get by for basic stats. You really needed a statistical calc for ex TI30-TI36.

hope this is enough for your exam. see the statistics worksheet section and the appendix section
http://education.ti.com/guidebooks/finan...ook_EN.pdf
BA II PLUSâ„¢ Guidebook - Texas Instruments - US and Canada - Texas Instruments - US and Canada

not sure if this will help you (different calculator) but cant hurt to look at the reference charts
TI-30X IIB / TI-30X IIS Quick Reference Guide - Texas Instruments - US and Canada - Texas Instruments - US and Canada


If you plan to go further in stats get one of the statistical calculators. The TI84 is a graphing calc and awesome but prob more than you will need.

[clep3705]

Get a TI-30X II S at Wal-Mart for about $13. It is solar powered and has a two line display. It is a statistical calculator, not a business one.

For the DSST Statistics exam, you need to know the formulas. Instead of giving you the raw data values and calculating a SD from scratch, you're given intermediate results. In other words, they give you the sum of the X, the sum of the XY, etc. You have to know the formulas to know which value to plug where.

[kimaya24]

Thanks everyone. I got the BA II because I saw a lot of people that used it in the statistics forum and I am an accounting major so I knew I would use it either way, but I am going to go get the TI 30X II

[kimaya24]

Get a TI-30X II S at Wal-Mart for about $13. It is solar powered and has a two line display. It is a statistical calculator, not a business one.

For the DSST Statistics exam, you need to know the formulas. Instead of giving you the raw data values and calculating a SD from scratch, you're given intermediate results. In other words, they give you the sum of the X, the sum of the XY, etc. You have to know the formulas to know which value to plug where.

You can use the BAII to enter in the numbers in a set and it will automatically give you the mean and standard deviation for a population and sample (and some other numbers, but I don't know what they were) which was really cool and would be a real time saver, but I'm definately gonna get the TI-30X II as my back up)

[bricabrac]

Thanks everyone. I got the BA II because I saw a lot of people that used it in the statistics forum and I am an accounting major so I knew I would use it either way, but I am going to go get the TI 30X II

I had a feeling you were going to use it for multiple subjects. I find it easier to have at min two calcs on hand, a finance and a statistical. It will make your life so much easier. I learned early on when I got stuck during a test trying to make a calc work and ended up wasting precious time by doing the problem pen/paper.

Good luck on your exam!!

[royaldachshund]

Thank the Lord, the test is over. I've taken several CLEP and Dantes tests, but this is the only one I really, really panicked about. I'm in the BSN nursing program and I knew passing this exam would save me about $4000 and 16 weeks of additional school. I am grateful for InstantCert because the test questions did boast my confidence level. I'd purchased several books- Idiiot's guide to Statistics, Statistics for Dummies, the Cliff Notes for Statistics, etc...
I also bought a 30X IIS calculator and downloaded a manual about how to use it. After viewing the manual several times I was able to learn how to use it. It only cost $15. However, the exam I took provided an on line calculator and we were not supposed to use another one. But... as others had reported, there were very few questions requiring extensive calculations. The most questions asked requiring math were about finding the standard deviations. They did not ask a lot of questions about binomials, of which I was very grateful!!!! There were questions about means and medium, and one about mode. Also, identifying a few formulas: like variance and standard error. A few about degrees of freedom, z and t tables. They provided the tables at the very beginning but never looked at them again. I was concerned in the beginning with the slow speed of loading a few questions and the time limit of two hours. So, I finished with 7 minutes after answering the last questions. But, by that time, I was such a nervous and frustrated wreck, I doubt I could have reviewed them anyway. I wanted done!!!! They asked one question about descriptive statistics and used numbers versus adjectives in the answer. They asked about: R and L skewed bell curve with means/ medium higher or lower: a LOT about regression and correlation, bimodel curve, positive and negative relationship with scatter plots ( several of these), margin of error, null and alternative hypothesis, confidence levels, alpha and two tailed tests, don't forget to square the numbers, chi square,paired t test,p values, and type I and II errors.

They truly must have been generous with a curve as I passed it by much more than I thought I should have. Soooooo glad it's over. Good luck. Like others have said, just have a general understanding of definitions and "why" and you should do well.