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NZQA IS taking the first step to phase in controversial "super-calculators" - maths machines that some experts warn will dumb down students' understanding of the subject - despite them being previously banned from all exams.
Computer Algebra System (CAS) calculators can do complex equations in a fraction of
the time it takes on paper. One calculus expert, Vaughan Mitchell, said it took under a minute to complete an equation on the calculator that longhand had taken about two or three minutes. Students would take twice as long, he said.
The devices can also download games; they cost up to $475 - almost six times more than the most popular current calculators.
The Ministry of Education is two years into a pilot study involving 22 schools. This year, the first batch of students will do a level one NCEA standard using the calculators. By 2008 and 2009, the exams are to be extended into levels two and three; and by 2010, the calculators will be allowed in all NCEA exams.
The ministry's report also noted that the price of CAS calculators would be "a significant barrier" for some families but suggested parents' spending priorities were wrong.
During the study, some students downloaded so many games that there was not enough memory left for the calculator to do maths in class.
The Casio website said many countries were already using the technology, but New Zealand would be the first to let 13- and 14-year-olds use it.
Katherine Rich, National's education spokesperson, said the minister needed to explain how the price barrier would be overcome for parents.
"No one wants to be a technology Luddite, but there would have to be very good reasons for introducing such technology. There are some families who are not able to [pay for] opportunities for their children already... I would hate to think that a bright calculus student would be disadvantaged simply because they came from a poor family."
Bali Haque, NZQA's deputy chief executive of qualifications, said the issue of cost would be addressed "when a decision is made on the final outcome of the pilot".
"It is important that learning and assessment reflect the realities of modern life. If calculators are to be used in professional life, it is important that ways to address this are considered."
Rory Barrett, head of mathematics at Maclean's College in Auckland, said the new calculators would make the subject "ridiculously easy".
He expressed concern about how long it would take teachers to learn how to use the calculators, let alone teach with them effectively.
Chris King, a senior mathematics lecturer at Auckland University, said the calculators let students move on to understanding maths, rather than slaving over the basics.
He was surprised they had been introduced at NCEA level, but said the world was becoming more complicated, and students' learning needed to evolve to keep up.
Mitchell, a former teacher and calculus and physics expert, said: "Ask almost any secondary math teacher what they feel the important part of a solution is, and not many will say the answer itself, but in fact the series of distinct logical steps the student has used to arrive at their answer. As a learning tool these are very useful, but as an assessment tool, they are of no use to secondary mathematics as it stands today."