Mathematical equation question

To create a mathematical equation question, follow the steps below. 

1. Navigate to your question bank or your course assignment. 
2. Click on New exercise, fill in a name and click Save.
3. Click New question and select Mathematical equation.
4. Formulate the question in the question box.
5. Fill in the number of points the question is worth.
6. Click the dropdown menu Equation solver* and select Review manually or Use equation solver. If you use the review manually option, you will have the possibility to add criteria with points to the grading scheme. If you use the equation solver, continue with the next step.
7. If the equation solver is selected, click the Pencil-icon and write the equation. Click the dropdown menu Equation operation and choose the operation. Examples of each operation are shown below.
8. Click Calculate solution to check whether the correct equation has been inserted. The solution which is expected from the participants will appear. If this is not the answer you would have expected, an incorrect equation has been entered in the previous step.
9. Click the more_vert-icon for more options.
10. Click Save.

This operation can be used to solve an equation for a specific variable. In the example below, the participant needs to solve the equation \(3+3x = 9\). In this case, the correct answer is \(2\), as:

• \(3+3x = 9\)
• \(3x = 6\)
• \(x = 2\)

As the equation is solved for \(x\), this is inserted in the 'Variable' field.

This operation can be used to  simplify equations to their smallest shape. In the example below, the participant needs to simplify the equation \(2^3\). In this case, the answer is \(8\).

This operation can be used for equations that contain brackets. The result will be an equation without brackets. For example, the participant needs to solve the equation \(10(10-1)\). The solution is \(90\), as:

• \(10(10-1)\)
• \(10(9)\)
• \(90\)

This operation is the opposite of expanding. The given equation will be written as an equation without brackets. In the example below, the participants need to factor \(2y+6\). The correct answer, in this case, is \(2(y+3)\).

This operation is used to calculate the derivative of a certain function f with respect to a variable x. The derivative of a function y = f(x) of a variable x is a measure of the rate at which the value y of the function changes with respect to the change of the variable x. In the example, the participant calculates the derivative of \(3x^5\). The correct answer is \(15x^4\).

This operation is used to calculate the integral of a certain function f with respect to a variable x on an interval [a,b]. In the example below, the participants need to solve \(\int 2xdx\). The correct answer is \(x^2\).

This operation is used to calculate the limit L of a certain function f of x as x approaches c. In the example below, the participants calculate the following: \(\lim {x \to 2} x^2\). The answer is 2, as:

• \(\lim {x \to 2} x^2\)
• If \(x=2\), \(x^2 = 2^2\)
• \(2^2 = 4\)

In this example the limit of function \(x^2\) is 4 when x approaches c, which in this case is 2. 

With this operation, participants calculate the sum of a sequence of any kind of number. In the example below, the participant needs to solve \(\sum_{k=1}^{3} k^2\). The correct answer is \(14\), as \(1^2 + 2^2 + 3^2 = 1+4+9 = 14\).

• Bonus
  This marks the question as a bonus question, which means the number of points awarded with this question will be counted until the maximum amount of points achievable for this assignment is reached. The points of the bonus question are not included in the maximum amount of points that can be achieved for the assignment If the participant answers the question incorrectly, this will not be detracted from the number of points and the mark.
  
  
• Skippable 
  You will first need to assign which students are exempt from answering this question within the settings of your course. You can then enable which questions can be skipped by these students. During the taking session, students will see the content_cut next to the question to indicate that it is skippable for them. Although they can still see the question, they are not able to answer it. The number of points for this question will not be counted in their results. It is not possible to change this setting after the test has been taken.
  
  
• Partial scoring
  Participants will receive points when their answer is partly correct. For example, if the total number of points they can receive for a question is 2 and their answer is 50% correct, they will still receive 1 point. Without this option, they can only receive 0 or the maximum number of points.

To add a grading scheme to a mathematical equation question, follow the steps below.

1. Click Grading scheme tab at the top of the assignment or question bank exercise.
2. Go to the question for which you want to set the grading scheme.
3. Click the more_horiz-icon and click Edit. 
4. The only option is to add grading criteria. Sliders and rubrics are not available for this question type. To add a criterion, click on the plus (+) symbol. Add the number of points and the text of the criteria.
5. Click the more_vert-icon for more grading options.
6. Click Save.

• Start with zero points
  If this option is enabled the marking of this question will always start at zero points and the points will be added up when selecting the criteria. When this option is disabled, the marking will start with the maximum amount of points that can be awarded for this question and selecting the criteria will be subtracted from this maximum. This means that the criteria should be added as minus points to the total amount. The reviewer can then select the criteria if the participant did not meet the criteria with their answer. The points for that criteria will be detracted from the total amount of points.
  
  
• Limit minimum to zero points
  With this option enabled, it’s not possible to go below zero points when selecting the different criteria. It is still possible to manually adjust the number of points to go below zero with the adjustment option during reviewing.
  
  
• Limit maximum to total points
  In the grading settings it’s possible to set the maximum amount of points achievable with the question, separate from the points per criteria When this number deviates from the maximum amount achievable by adding up the criteria points, this option will cap the maximum amount of points to this manually set number.

When the option ‘Feedback’ is enabled in the ‘Accessibility’ settings of your assignment, Ans will give hints when a student is solving equations or other mathematical questions. An example of how this will look for the student:

When hints are not desired, you need to disable ‘Feedback’ in the assignment settings.