Criterion E: Use of Technology

0    The student uses a calculator or computer for only routine calculations.
1    The student attempts to use a calculator or computer in a manner that could enhance the development of the task.
2    The student makes limited use of a calculator or computer in a manner that enhances the development of the task.
3    The student makes full and resourceful use of a calculator or computer in a manner that significantly enhances the development of the task.

In this case from the Binomial Probability task, the student not only clearly indicates that he only found ordinary scientific-calculator-type functions to use, but that he did not use the specialized "binompdf" function specified in the task. (He also got numerical answers that did not correspond to his own stated formula, which isn't shown, but I included that part because if he had used the command given in the task, he likely would have discovered his error.) Spelling "caret" as "carrot" is just funny.

This student has attempted to use a calculator's combinations function here, but it has been done incorrectly and her description of its use is not very clear.

This graph was produced on a graphing calculator, which is fine, and was hand-labeled, which is also fine. What's missing is any indication as to how the graph was obtained. For all the reader knows, the points could have been drawn on the screen with the pen tool.  If they are plotted lists, then the lists should be provided. If it's a piecewise function, then that function should appear. To score high on technology, some communication of  how the technology was used is essential.

This student has correctly described how to use values from Pascal's triangle to compute the probabilities. Later, she used the "binompdf" command to solve more problems. But here she misses the use of the nCr (combinations/binomial coefficient) command which would have allowed her to find probabilities without first constructing huge versions of the coefficient triangle. It's a major way in which the calculator would have enhanced the response to the task.

In this graph, the dots should be connected, since the points represent the concentration of a medication in the bloodstream. It is continuously removed, and doesn't appear and disappear for an instant every half-hour. As a result of his failure to consider the continuity of the function, he draws an incorrect conclusion about the minimum value of the function and where it occurs.

This first example is, well, really impressive. He wrote a calculator program to evaluate probabilities using the formula that he had stated. Then the program checks his computed result by using the "binompdf" command. It's not necessary to go this far to earn E3, but you can see clearly why he deserved that mark. I think the title must mean "Probability Master." 

This used tables -- and presumably a spreadsheet, although I cannot be sure -- to generate four consecutive lists of values on which she could run exponential regressions. There are some errors, as I point out in my comments to her, but the usage of technology was excellent. Had she added the right values in the first place, this process would have gotten a correct function.

Student 3

This student used a regression and plotted the results against the original data to check the fit. In a later part, he constructed a graph for repeated doses, followed by a spreadsheet to show how those values were arrived at. Then he found four separate regressions to make a piecewise function to fit the data. Overall, it's very nicely done, and uses technology to the fullest.