Calculator Tool
- Matthew Harrington
Feature Summary & Requirements
The Calculator Tool does exactly what it says on the tin. It makes a calculator available to learners in order to help them make mathematical calculations.
The requirements of a calculator tool are simple - it needs to provide the standard functions of the calculator it is designed to emulate, whether that is a basic calculator or a scientific calculator.
Beyond this, all requirements related to the calculator are essentially tied to the calculator’s functionality and visibility - calculators are relatively standard in nature, with standards existing in academic circles for acceptable calculators.
The necessity of this tool existing is debatable, given advanced calculators exist both on most desktop computers as a default application, as well as in-browser through Google and other websites, but the primary value of providing a calculator in-app is ensuring that the calculator used is standardised between learners, providing data to learning analysts regarding calculator usage, and capturing calculator usage when undertaking proctored exams.
Prospective User Stories
The following user stories apply to an idealised version of the calculator:
As a learner, I require access to two forms of calculator - a simple calculator, and a more advanced scientific calculator for advanced subjects.
As a learner, I would like to interact with the calculator much as I would a standard physical calculator, with buttons for different functions provided.
As a more advanced learner, I would like to be able to instead write equations in notation form.
As a course author, I need to control when the calculator is visible to learners.
As a course author, I would like to control which functions of the calculator are available to learners when the calculator is made available.
As an online learning manager, I need to ensure that the calculator provided to learners meets my organisation’s standards, with different functionality enabled and disabled by default.
As a course data analyst, I would like to see data on how my learners are using the calculators, including most commonly entered equations on each page of content to capture common calculation errors.
As a member of course staff, I would like to enable the calculator for individual learners with additional accommodation needs.
As a course author restricting usage of the calculator in a timed exam or similar high-stakes exam attempt, I would like to be able to restrict in-app calculator usage in other units to ensure that my restrictions are not as easily bypassed.
Comparable Tools
Windows 11 has a surprisingly robust calculator with additional functionality and modes beyond what is commonly found on most physical calculators, and serves as an example of how a digital calculator can be expanded:
Moodle does not provide a native calculator, but plugins such as Simple Calculator exist, and Moodle users have used many… somewhat interesting hacks to implement a calculator in their problems.
Canvas originally did not include a calculator, but has added one in New Quizzes.
The calculator can be enabled for use in Quizzes, but not in course content
The Basic calculator only displays numbers and basic mathematical functions (add, subtract, multiply, divide). The Scientific calculator displays more options for advanced calculations.
The KTH Royal Institute of Technology has the following to note about the Canvas calculator (may be outdated, but matches other community discussions):
The calculator can be set so that it is only allowed on certain questions, but students still have access to the calculator if they can navigate between the questions that allow calculators and those that do not. However, students want control over their own time and the order in which they answer questions, so locking down the order is not recommended.
The recommendation to prevent unauthorized use of the calculator is to separate the questions into two different quizzes, one with questions where the calculator is allowed and one with questions to be answered without a calculator.
Also, remember that students can go between two quizzes if they are both available at the same time. If the two quizzes are instead open at different times, students can not jump between them.
Current State - Open edX
The Open edX calculator is limited in scope, allowing only the use of notation rather than providing a literal calculator interface:
This makes it naturally extremely advanced in nature, while lacking many standard functions of an actual calculator. This makes it not particularly fit for purpose, and not comparable to the Canvas calculator, let alone more advanced digital calculators.
Current Gaps & Potential Improvements
Open edX only allows you to display the calculator across the entire course, not on certain pages or for certain problems. This means the calculator is either always present or not, which makes nuanced use impossible.
The Open edX calculator only allows learners to write equations in the form of notation, rather than providing a literal calculator to users.
Enabling the calculator is buried in Advanced Settings.
The instructions tell the user to visit the help centre - an edX-specific provision that is not linked to users.
In all honesty, if this feature is considered a priority, it needs a fundamental replacement, not augmentation, as what is currently provided does not really meet the requirements of an in-app calculator. I could list more deficiencies at length, but the underlying issue is that the calculator tool does not actually provide a calculator, just a formula-input bar. This is sufficient for a small number of use-cases, but not wider usage.