Use of Graphics Calculators in School Tests and Examinations

This paper reports on the outcomes of one component of a study carried out during 2001 to assess the impact of graphics calculator use on Year 12 school-based assessment in a situation where access to the calculator is assumed in the external tertiary entrance examination. The focus of the paper is on test and examination items that form part of the school-based assessment programs contributing to a student's final grade in the Western Australian Year 12 Tertiary Entrance Examination (TEE) subject Applicable Mathematics. Assessment items developed by participating schools during 2001 for use with Applicable Mathematics were collected and coded. While it was found that each of the participating schools was incorporating use of graphics calculators into questions to approximately the same extent, there was a wide variety of usage apparent within some curriculum components. This suggests there is scope for wider incorporation ofthe technology. Background Students in Western Australia sit for the external Tertiary Entrance Examinations (TEE) at the end of Year 12, and three mathematics subjects, Applicable Mathematics, Calculus and Discrete Mathematics, are examined. Applicable Mathematics, the focus of this paper, lies between Calculus (the most demanding) and Discrete Mathematics (the least demanding) in terms of difficulty. There are five components to Applicable Mathematics: Systems of Linear Equations and Matrices (25 hours of tuition time), Graphs and the Solution of Equations (18 hours), Descriptive Statistics (20 hours), Sets, Counting and Probability (18 hours) and Random Variables and their Distributions (24 hours). Each year, approximately 5000 students sit the TEE in Applicable Mathematics. Marks obtained in the TEE contribute 50% towards the student's assessment in the subject, and the other 50% of the assessment is school-based. In Applicable Mathematics, the school-based assessment is to consist of 25 to 50% from extended pieces of work and 50 to 75% from other forms of assessment. Tests and examinations figure prominently in the latter but it may include checklists, homework assignments and oral presentations. In this paper, we focus on tests and examinations. Since 1998, it has been assumed that students sitting for Applicable Mathematics and the other TEE mathematics subjects have access to graphics calculators. With the exception of the Hewlett-Packard HP-38G and HP-39G that have limited symbolic capabilities, calculators approved for use are non-symbolic. Given their inclusion in the TEE, it follows that students would make regular use of graphics calculators during mathematics lessons and for assessment tasks throughout Year 11 and 12, in order that