The Case for CAS - Classification scheme for examination questions

Home > CAS Table of Contents > Classification scheme for examination questions

The Case for CAS

Classification scheme for examination questions

We propose a scheme for classifying our questions with respect to the role a CAS plays in the solution. Necessarily in practise any attempt to classify is faced with the possible fuzziness of the categories used.

C0	Exercises where the use of CAS is of little or no help. More importantly, the typing would take more time than solving the problem by-hand (this of course depends on the students' skill).
C1	Traditional exercises (by-hand or using scientific calculators) that are solved faster or even trivialised by CAS (emphasis usually on manual skills).
C2	Exercises that essentially test the ability of using CAS competently.
C3	Exercises starting from traditional ones that are extended to CAS-exercises (e.g. by including formal parameters or using realistic data).
C4	Exercises that are difficult or time consuming to solve without CAS or those that can only be solved with the aid of CAS.
C0	Exercises where the use of CAS is of little or no help. More importantly, the typing would take more time than solving the problem by-hand (this of course depends on the students' skill).

The following simple examples (pdf) illustrate the classification

Reference:	Lokar M. & M.: CAS and the Slovene External Examination. In "The International Journal of Computer Algebra in Mathematics Education", 2001. Vol. 8, No 1.
Note:	Most of the exercises in The Case for CAS are of type C3 and C4. Such exercises often lead to new methods of teaching (investigations, group work etc.).