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SOPanthers18 wrote:

PotatoBoi wrote:

Unome wrote: Calculators are not allowed. I know this particularly well, having discovered this three days prior to a tournament and having to revise my test significantly.

The weird thing is that both the Chandra Observatory video and the annotated test sample reference being able to use calculators: " This year’s rules allow the use of calculators to solve questions, so numerical questions may include real data as opposed to “clean” numbers."

Do they really expect us to do cube roots in our head though? I mean, all the regionals and invitational tests I've taken had math questions that we couldn't solve because we didn't have calculators...

I have been to a competition were a teams calculators were specifically taken away, and the test ended up being half calculations. I went to a different competition were calculators were given to every team because they said we would need them, and we the test ended up being all multiple choice with no calculations whatsoever.

Unome wrote:

Girlpower05 wrote:Does anyone have information about what will be included in the 2019 Solar System event?

It'll probably be the same topic.

Based on previous years, pretty much.

zannash wrote:

SOPanthers18 wrote:

PotatoBoi wrote: The weird thing is that both the Chandra Observatory video and the annotated test sample reference being able to use calculators: " This year’s rules allow the use of calculators to solve questions, so numerical questions may include real data as opposed to “clean” numbers."

Do they really expect us to do cube roots in our head though? I mean, all the regionals and invitational tests I've taken had math questions that we couldn't solve because we didn't have calculators...

I have been to a competition were a teams calculators were specifically taken away, and the test ended up being half calculations. I went to a different competition were calculators were given to every team because they said we would need them, and we the test ended up being all multiple choice with no calculations whatsoever.

Now I regret not paying more attention to the Solar Sys thread...I'll read through this thread and maybe see if that annotated test / video can be edited (probably can't be, it's a bit late and my involvement in Solar Sys is fairly low).

Still, under Event Parameters, the official rules make this clear...I can understand that cube roots are tough, though for some numbers they are convenient. Worst case put some on the notesheet?

zannash wrote:

SOPanthers18 wrote:

PotatoBoi wrote: The weird thing is that both the Chandra Observatory video and the annotated test sample reference being able to use calculators: " This year’s rules allow the use of calculators to solve questions, so numerical questions may include real data as opposed to “clean” numbers."

Do they really expect us to do cube roots in our head though? I mean, all the regionals and invitational tests I've taken had math questions that we couldn't solve because we didn't have calculators...

I have been to a competition were a teams calculators were specifically taken away, and the test ended up being half calculations. I went to a different competition were calculators were given to every team because they said we would need them, and we the test ended up being all multiple choice with no calculations whatsoever.

I've been to competiitions where they wrote the test with calculation questions and then took them off the test because we weren't allowed to have calculators. Then there was the one with a bunch of nasty calculation problems and we weren't allowed a calculator. I guess it depends on the test, but it would be nice of them to let us use them next year.

emmalasagna wrote: I've been to competiitions where they wrote the test with calculation questions and then took them off the test because we weren't allowed to have calculators. Then there was the one with a bunch of nasty calculation problems and we weren't allowed a calculator. I guess it depends on the test, but it would be nice of them to let us use them next year.

I never explained what happened...For last season there were debates for calculator vs. no calculator (the rules writers chose no, as the rules indicate), but that isn't noted in the annotated test. After I posted, the I tried to email people to make a note on the Solar System page as there was no FAQ (nobody submitted one...https://www.soinc.org/events/frequently-asked-questions is one official way to submit a rules question). Unfortunately, everyone was busy, and nothing much could be done at this point.

I've had this problem with tests posted on soinc.org not getting updates I want. I don't have much say or anything, but it is frustrating...sorry:/. On the note of allowing calculators, I have no clue what they're deciding, but I feel like it shouldn't make a huge difference as long as test writers understand. I think no calculator can be nice if the intent is to emphasize concepts / understanding images, which seems to be the trend in these events. This is from my experience, might be wrong, but many competitors seem to try concept questions more and still mess them up. Math questions don't get as many tries, and usually many except a few get them wrong anyway (or else they are so simple that they encourage plug and chug).