Applicable
Mathematics Examination Questions
Ute Mueller
u.mueller@ecu.edu.au
Eng and Maths
Patricia Forster
forster@iinet.net.au
Institute of the Service Professions
Edith Cowan University
Australia
Abstract
Graphics
calculators were first allowed in Western Australian Tertiary Entrance Examinations
for mathematics and science subjects in 1998. In this paper, we report part
of an inquiry into the impact of the introduction of the technology on examination
questions in Applicable Mathematics. We consider examination papers since 1992,
when the current syllabus was first put in place. We provide an overview of
the changes in questions overall, and focus on linear programming, systems of
linear equations, and functional equations and inequalities. We detail changes
in the formulation, graphing and calculation requirements in questions on linear
programming, and in the methods for solving systems of linear equations. In
addition, we report on the shift in focus from finding and refining roots of
nonlinear equations to solving nonlinear inequalities and discuss its effect.
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