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The new TI calculator for the PRM exam

Written by Mukul Pareek

So PRMIA announced a new default calculator for its exams.  If you missed the message from Sue Peterson, here it appears below.  The rest of this blog entry explains how to install and use the calculator:

"Pearson VUE has recently changed the type of calculator used on the PRM exams.  An online scientific calculator, Texas Instrument TI308XS, is now being used during the test delivery system. The user guide for the calculator can be found by clicking on the link: http://education.ti.com/calculators/downloads/US/Software/Download/en/6626/6638/TI30XSMultiViewGuide_en.pdf.    

Please do not hesitate to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions."

Installing the calculator

Andy Condurache, PRMIA's director of exams, provided me instructions on how to download and practice on an online version of the calculator.  I have tried these, and they work. 

1. Download the Pearson Vue Tutorial & Practice Exam by clicking here (or if the link does not work, cut and paste this in your browser: http://www.pearsonvue.com/athena/PearsonVueTutorialDemo.msi)
2. Click "run" if you have that option, otherwise click "save file" 
3. Open the saved file. (If you clicked "Run" skip this step)
4. Follow the Software Installation prompts 
5. Run the installed software
6. Check the box for the Practice Exam
7. Click on the "next" button until you get to the screen with the calculator icon in the upper left hand corner of the screen (this is around the fourth question). 
8. Click on the calculator icon to be able to practice on the TI308XS calculator.

Using the calculator

Again, remember that in addition to basic operations such as addition and subtraction, you must know how to do the following:

• calculate LN and EXP functions from this calculator,
• calculate roots, and
• raise a number to any given power (you may for example, need to calculate 1.06^(1/12))

I found it fairly easy & intuitive to do all of the above, in fact, it is easier than on the Windows calculator.

To calculate the natural log (ln) of any number:

Press ln, followed by the number, close the bracket ), and press

To calculate the exponent, ie the exp function in Excel, or e^n:

Note that to enter a negative number, you need to use the (-) button between enter and the decimal, marked by #3 below.  The image below is self-explanatory.  You use the green 2nd key to use the functions typed above the individual keys.  The image below shows how e^(-0.05*2) is calculated.

To raise a number to a power:

Straightforward - use the ^ key on the calculator.

Other observations:

This appears to be a great calculator, definitely better than the Windows one (described here: https://riskprep.com/blog/73-using-the-windows-calculator).  Couple of observations:

• You can use the up and down arrow keys, or the little keypad on the online calculator to go through previous calculations and results.
• Unfortunately, because this is a scientific calculator and not a financial one, it does not have comma separators for thousands and millions.  That is a pain, but hopefully for the PRMIA exam it won't matter much.
• Doesn't work on Macs.
• Big 80 MB file that requires program installation rights on the PC.