Math Formula Scoring Methods

When authoring a math question you'll have the option to choose from 10 different scoring methods. Each scoring method will have a different set of options.  In this article we will cover each scoring method, and listed below you'll find more information on all of the available options.

 

equivSymbolic

The equivSymbolic method checks that the value entered by the student is mathematically equivalent to the value that the Author has set in validation, even if they are in different forms.

Use equivSymbolic when working with equations, or other input with variables, where order or form is not important. For example, if the task is to multiply 3 and 2, any response that is mathematically equal to 6 will be considered as correct, such as 61,122,3+3,6.0.

equivSymbolic accepts decimals, fractions, variables, and percentage.

 

equivLiteral

The equivLiteral method checks if the response from the student is literally equal to the correct value specified by the Author. This means that the form, order, elements, and values entered by the student should match the value in validation. Responses that are mathematically equal, but are in a form other than the one specified by Authors, will return false. Use equivLiteral when you want to strictly specify a particular form of the mathematical expression as the correct answer.

Note that equivLiteral ignores parentheses which have no specific meaning, by default.

 

equivValue

The equivLiteral method checks if the response from the student is literally equal to the correct value specified by the Author. This means that the form, order, elements, and values entered by the student should match the value in validation. Responses that are mathematically equal, but are in a form other than the one specified by Authors, will return false. Use equivLiteral when you want to strictly specify a particular form of the mathematical expression as the correct answer.

Note that equivLiteral ignores parentheses which have no specific meaning, by default.

 

isSimplified

The isSimplified method checks if a value is in its most simplified version. isSimplified does not take any value property, and is generally used as a supporting method in conjunction with equivSymbolic.

 

isFactorised

The isFactorised method checks that a mathematical expression is in factorised form. It can handle polynomials up to degree 2, with a single variable.

When using isFactorised, Field must be specified. Authors can select between integers, real numbers or complex numbers, depending on the type of expression they are dealing with. isFactorised doesn’t take any value property, and is generally used as a supporting method in conjunction with equivSymbolic.

 

isExpanded

The isExpanded method checks that an expression is in its most expanded form.

isExpanded doesn’t take any value property, and is generally used as a supporting method in conjunction with equivSymbolic.

 

isTrue 

The isTrue method checks that an expression has a comparison, or equality, that is true. This means that when this method is used alone, any true equation entered by the student will be marked as correct.

Expressions that include a relational (‘<’, ‘<=’, ‘>’ or ‘>=’) or equality (‘=’) operator are evaluated for their truthfulness.

 

isUnit

The isUnit method checks if an expression contains the expected units. isUnit is commonly used in conjunction with equivValue.

 

stringMatch

 The stringMatch method is used for literal string comparison. This compares the value set by authors in validation against the student's response, and evaluates whether they are the same or not. stringMatch is a simple comparison method: it does not take the syntax and data type set in the validation area into account.

 

equivSyntax

equivSyntax compares a LaTeX string against a syntax pattern specified in validation settings.

This method is a purely syntactic check and is unaffected by numeric values. Use equivSyntax as a supporting method in combination with equivSymbolic and equivValue to constrain possible response options.

 

Options

Allow decimal marks

Authors can specify what separators can be used by the student. From the Thousand Separator drop down menu you can select dot, comma, and/or space. The Decimal Separator menu contains the option for either a dot or a comma. Note that the specified thousand separator and decimal separator cannot be the same, e.g. both dot.

Ignore text

This refers to LaTeX text only, and when enabled will ignore any LaTeX text the student enters in the response area.

Compare sides

Used when comparing two constant equations, when both sides of an equation have not been fully specified, such as {{response}} + {{response}} = {{response}}. By default, expressions such as this will validate as isTrue. This means that as long as the expression is mathematically correct it will be correct, even if the value(s) entered is different to that specified in the validation area. However, enabling Compare Sides ensures that the response given is symbolically equal to the equation set in the validation area.

Significant decimal places

This option specifies the number of significant decimal places. Maximum value is 10.

Ignore order

Ignores the order of expressions. E.g. both x+1 and 1+x will be considered correct. If this is not enabled, equivLiteral will not accept the correct response specified by the Author in a different order, even if it is an acceptable answer.

Inverse result

Enabling this means that the value specified in the Value field will not be accepted as the correct answer. It is a useful way of excluding very specific answers from validation.
Use case: Students are asked to enter something symbolically equivalent to (x+2)2, however you don't want them to enter the same expression and score points for such response. In this case adding an additional scoring method equivLiteral and enabling Inverse Result will exclude (x+2)2 from correct response options. 

Allow interval

This option must be enabled when the students are expected to insert interval notation in the response area. Otherwise, the response will not validate correctly.

Ignore trailing zeros

This option allows equivLiteral to ignore zeros after decimal separators in students responses. For example, when this option is enabled, 1000 and 1000.000 will be treated as equal.

Ignore coefficient of 1

When enabled, the coefficient of 1 before an integer will be ignored. E.g. equivLiteral will treat 1x+2 and x+2 as equal.

Tolerance

A plus-minus (±) value can be added by authors to the value field in the validation area. This means that students can give a response with tolerance that will be deemed as correct. For example, if the valid response set by the author is 10±1.5 the student can respond with any value from 8.5 to 11.5 and get points. Tolerance works only with the the equivValue method. See Example 5 below.

Allow thousands separator

Authors can specify what separators can be used by the student. From the Thousand Separator drop down menu you can select dot, comma, and/or space. The Decimal Separator menu contains the option for either a dot or a comma. Note that the specified thousand separator and decimal separator cannot be the same, e.g. both dot.

Ignore leading and trailing spaces

Ignores spaces before and after a value, i.e. " a " will be treated as "a".

Treat multiple spaces as one

Multiple spaces will be ignored and treated as one, i.e "a   b" is the same as "a b".

Rule

Select the syntax rule to match students response against.

Argument

Select the syntax rule argument if needed.