Evolution over Two Decades of CAS-Active Senior Secondary Mathematics Curriculum and Assessment

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) introduced the use of Computer Algebra System (CAS) technology (calculator and software) into the senior secondary mathematics curriculum and examination assessment in three phases, starting with a research-based pilot from 2000, followed by parallel implementation of CAS and non-CAS subjects from 2006 and culminating in transition to CAS-assumed subjects in 2010. This paper reports reflections on these developments over two decades from the perspectives of a researcher and the state mathematics manager (the authors) in consultation with four implementing teachers (the consultants). The authors critically examined the strategic design decisions that were made for the initiative over time. Then, with contributions from the four consultants, technical design issues relating to assessment and to teaching and the changes over a decade were investigated. A range of modifications have been made over the two decades, driven by changes in device capability and progressively increasing teaching expertise. The place of CAS in senior mathematics is now widely accepted, partly because an examination component not allowing any technology has been implemented. Examination questions have become more general, which may have added difficulty, but more questions involve setting up a real situation mathematically.