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VCE students will be banned from using specific formulations and features on advanced model calculators in maths exams from next year.
Computer Algebra System (CAS) calculators, which have long been controversial in maths teaching circles, will still be allowed in to VCE exam halls, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) said, but their advanced shortcut function will be prohibited.
Under the new rules, only CAS calculators that can disable their “user-defined functions” (UDFs) – which can programme shortcuts to complete involved computations faster and provide steps for the procedures – will be permitted into the test venues, and student usage will be closely supervised by invigilators on the day.
The authority said it would be imposing the change for the 2027 exam cycle after it consulted hundreds of teachers and students. But the move stops short of NSW and Queensland, where exam authorities imposed outright bans on the calculators.
“Following broad consultation, the VCAA will require custom functionality – including User-Defined Functions (UDFs) – on Computer Algebra System (CAS) calculators to be restricted during VCE Mathematics examinations from 2027,” a spokesman for the authority said.
“As technologies evolve, the VCAA is proactively signalling the importance of students engaging with their teachers on the core mathematical skills outlined in the study designs.”
The CAS calculators will only be allowed in “restricted mode” which prevents the use of the advanced features.
The approved list of calculators would be sent to schools before the end of this term, the exam authority confirmed.
Detailed instructions on how to disable the functions will be given to schools and students after VCE exams this year.
The deputy principal and maths teacher at VCE powerhouse Ballarat Clarendon College, Greg Ashman, said the change was overdue.
“It’s one of the best ideas I’ve heard in a long time,” he said of the move. “If I had my way exams would be paper and pen.”
Ashman described the super calculators as “desperately unfair” because young people who could code, or downloaded programs to add to devices had an advantage compared to others.
“Using them still requires savvy and mathematical understanding, it’s not a complete replacement for thought, but it is unfair since some students will be able to program them to such an extent they have an advantage,” he said.
The teacher said the VCAA had a “wide-eyed” and optimistic view of technology in the past instead of a focus on ensuring young people built mathematical knowledge, rather than just skills in how to use a calculator.
Other experts wanted to know how the VCAA plan to police the measure in exams, and believe the changes don’t go far enough.
Professor Burkard Polster, from the School of Mathematics at Monash University, questioned how students could be monitored to ensure they weren’t using the functions and called for the calculators to be banned entirely.
“It’s hard to restrict anything and enforce it, even if they have to buy a new calculator, but even that won’t prevent people from circumventing [the rule] and doing fancy stuff,” he said.
Polster said that with these calculators, some students could get answers on exams with a push of a button, while others might take longer and do things from scratch.
“It’s not a level playing field at the moment,” he said of the existing calculators.
It also caused issues for students who went on to university to study engineering, mathematics or other STEM fields because they lacked a fundamental understanding of mathematics, Polster added.
In March, the VCAA sent a letter, seen by The Age, to principals acknowledging the sophistication of the user-defined functions that could be downloaded onto CAS calculators.
“[They] enable a broader and more advanced range of functionality than those that exist within the ‘native’ or ‘factory’ settings of the calculators,” the letter reads.
It said the sophistication of the calculations prompted the VCAA to consider whether additional controls were needed in examinations to support key knowledge and maths skills.
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Caroline Schelle is an education reporter, and joined The Age in 2022. She previously covered courts at AAP.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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