VCE maths exams should ban calculators, return to pen and paper for better results

2 hours ago 2

Victorian students should be banned from using sophisticated calculators and VCE exams flipped to focus on “pen and paper” maths in a bid to improve understanding and ensure testing is a level playing field.

That’s the call of experts who want Victoria to follow the lead of NSW and Queensland, where super calculators – which can be programmed with shortcuts to complete involved computations faster and provide steps for the procedures – are banned in final year exams.

Tutor Devang Krishna supports the use of calculators in exams but knows the value of understanding mathematical methods.

Leading mathematics teacher John Kermond said the Computer Algebra System (CAS) calculators were the “fairy floss” of high school mathematics; they looked pretty but didn’t give students any substance.

He said it was important to understand the fundamentals of mathematics before using sophisticated calculators, but many students just wanted something that could “spit out” the answer.

“It’ll be about what programs can you use, what buttons can you press, it drives me mental,” Kermond said.

Instead of using calculators or a program, he gets students to work through the problems with pen and paper to show him where they get stuck in the equation or problem.

“I’ll go back to them in 10 minutes, and I’ll say: ‘How’s that question going?’ And the students will say, ‘it’s fine, I can do it now’, and that’s because I’ve forced them to actually … do the mathematics.”

The final VCE mathematics exams currently feature a two-hour section with calculators and a one-hour section where they cannot be used.

Kermond said if the super calculators weren’t banned, then exams should at least be flipped so that more time is spent without them.

He said that CAS calculators became “paperweights” after high school, since they’re not used in industry or at university.

Maths experts have called on VCE exams to rely more on pen and paper.

His stance was backed by a Monash University mathematics director who said the all-pervasive use of CAS calculators was hugely detrimental to learning, especially for students who went on to higher studies in engineering, mathematics or other STEM fields.

“In terms of student preparedness in mathematics, we’ve observed a significant decline over the last couple of years,” Professor Burkard Polster said.

“Even though students come [to Monash] with the same kind of qualification, with the same sort of marks, they’re able to do less and less – and part of this is definitely to be attributed to the way CAS calculators are pushed in school.”

Polster said private schools and tutoring centres were also “maxing out” what the pre-installed programs could do, which meant students were not on equal footing with their peers.

Super calculators can be programmed with shortcuts to complete involved computations faster and provide steps for the procedures.

“Depending on what kind of set-up you have, you may be able to do a question with [a] push of a button, where, if you have a less souped-up calculator, you really struggle because you have to do basically everything from scratch.”

The professor said the CAS calculators should be wiped and checked, placing students on a level playing field in exams.

“This will involve extra work on the side of the examiners but has to be done,” he said.

But Mathematics Association of Victoria boss Jennifer Bowden said the organisation was confident that the exam authority designed tests that did not advantage any CAS platform or programmed approach.

Bowden said her organisation never saw evidence that pre-programmed CAS calculators were more efficient.

“MAV recognises the powerful role of CAS calculators – and the programming they enable – in improving mathematical learning and efficiency, including the development of computational thinking,” she said.

But she said that in an ideal world, all students would be issued with vetted devices for exams to ensure consistency.

“However, this would not be a cost-effective approach in the current environment, nor an efficient use of public funds in the name of equity.”

Tutor Devang Krishna helps VCE students ahead of their maths exams and was surprised some experts wanted to see a shift away from their use.

“These calculators are still challenging to use,” he said.

Much of the time, he helps students understand the functions that can potentially help them, he said.

A Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority spokesperson said it publishes a list of approved calculators that allows a balanced focus on mathematical interpretation.

“The VCAA understands VCE examinations can be stressful and seeks to reassure students and their families it has measures in place to ensure all students are assessed fairly and equitably.”

The authority said all exam questions are tested on approved CAS devices to ensure that solutions can be reached using the basic functions of each device.