Impact on school assessment where use of graphic calculators is mandatory in a related public examination (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 2003
This paper reports an inquiry into assessment items classed as 'extended pieces of work' in Applicable Mathematics, in Western Australia. The principal purpose was to identify opportunities for graphics calculator use in 'extended pieces' implemented in schools. Ownership of the technology is widespread because it is mandated for the Applicable Mathematics tertiary entrance examination, which students sit at the end of the Year 12 course. Twenty-one of the twenty-eight pieces that were collected allowed for calculator use and, frequently, choosing to use the technology would have advantaged students, for instance, in supporting conjecture. Practical applications that would not be feasible to solve without the technology were included. Regression analysis and the random number generator were utilized. Overall, availability of the technology has widened the scope of approaches in 'extended pieces of work' in potentially valuable ways. Issues are how conjectures were elicited and calls for 'black box' use of the calculator.
Graphics calculator use in examinations: accident or design?
2000
As graphics calculators become more available, interest will focus on how to incorporate them appropriately into curriculum structures, and particularly into examinations. We describe and exemplify a typology of use of graphics calculators in mathematics examinations, from the perspective of people designing examinations, together with some principles for the awarding of partial credit to student responses. This typology can be
2015
Over the past two decades, graphics calculators have been prominent in many discussions of technology in mathematics education. This paper describes how they have become part of teaching, learning and assessment in school mathematics in each of three different countries: Australia, Singapore and the United States of America, as well as directions for future use. Critical issues associated with effective implementation of graphics calculators into the school mathematics curriculum are highlighted, including the nature of school mathematics, examination practices, Computer Algebra Systems, the support of teachers and students, curriculum change and development, the focus on learning, dealing with inherent limitations of graphics calculators, school and university differences, future technologies.
International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 2001
The paper describes an inquiry into students' uses of graphics calculators in the Tertiary Entrance Examination of Calculus in Western Australia for 1998, which was the rst year that calculators were allowed for the examination. The prevalence of calculator usage and marks allocated for six questions are considered, based on data collected from examination markers. The nature of calculator usage is described, including errors made, based on our perusal of examination scripts and interviews with students, teachers and markers. A comparative analysis of boys' and girls' performance, as measured by raw examination scores on the examination for 1995-1998 is given. The results suggest that the main areas of diYculty for students are interpreting graphics calculator outputs and knowing when use of graphics calculators is appropriate or possible. While initial indications are that the eVect of introducing the calculators is non-discriminatory between boys and girls, no claims can be made without longer-term analysis.
Assessment and the graphics calculator
As graphics calculators become more accessible, issues of assessment will become more important. The main reason for this is that graphics calculators provide students with significant mathematical capabilities, some of which are described here. Some of the issues that need to be addressed in formal assessment are identified. These issues include the appropriateness of some traditional kinds of questions, the significance of programming, the relevance of differences between calculators, the desirability of assessing efficient calculator use and the need to consider what students should be expected to record in an examination.
Calculators in mathematics education: A rapid evolution of tools, with differential effects
The Didactical Challenge of Symbolic Calculators Turning a Computational Device into a Mathematical Instrument, 9-40, 2005
The appearance of more and more complex tools in mathematics classes is not a response to an institutional need of school. It is, rather, the expression within this institution of a huge social phenomenon (the increase in the number of screens and machines) arising from the utilization of computerized tools by certain branches of mathematics and science.