Annotation of loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Significant_Figures.tex, revision 1.7
1.2 bowersj2 1: \label{Significant_Figures}
1.7 ! lira 2: A \textbf{significant figures} specification is an optional setting that
! 3: tells LON-CAPA how many significant
! 4: figures there are required for the answer, as either a single number, e.g. 3, or a range of
! 5: acceptable values, expressed as \textbf{min,max}. The significant figures field can be omitted if you do
! 6: not want to constrain the number of significant digits in the student answers.
! 7:
! 8: The system will check to
! 9: ensure that the student's answer contains the required significant digits,
1.4 lira 10: useful in many scientific calculations. For example, if the computer answer is {}``1.3'',
1.6 raeburn 11: and the problem requests three significant digits, specified by (entered without quotes)
1.4 lira 12: {}``3'', the system will require the students to type {}``1.30'',
1.1 bowersj2 13: even though numerically, {}``1.3'' and {}``1.30'' are the same. A significant
1.4 lira 14: figure specification of (entered without quotes) {}``3,4'' means both {}``1.30'' and {}``1.300''
1.7 ! lira 15: are acceptable.
! 16:
! 17: Authors should be clear in the problem statements to tell students the required
! 18: number or range of significant figures. If the student response does not contain
! 19: the correct number of significant digits, the LON-CAPA response will
! 20: tell students to increase or decrease the digits in their response, but it will not
! 21: tell them how many digits to use. These responses do not use up
! 22: the number of trials, but such responses are frustrating for students. If you would like to ensure
! 23: that at least three significant digits are used, then a specification such as 3,15
! 24: ensures at least three digits are used, but will quietly accept up to 15.
1.4 lira 25:
1.7 ! lira 26: Note that care must be used when using formatted computer answers together with
! 27: a significant digit specification.
! 28: You must ensure that the formatted answer provides enough significant digits.
1.4 lira 29: To test the formatted answer, LON-CAPA converts the computer answer,
30: as generated in the script block, according to the
1.7 ! lira 31: format attribute in the numericalresponse tag, e.g. 3f.
1.4 lira 32: Then LON-CAPA separately applies that number of significant
33: figures to the computer answer, and if that result
34: falls outside the range specified in the significant digit parameter,
1.7 ! lira 35: it "grades" the computer answer as SIG\_FAIL (i.e., not correct).
1.4 lira 36: It is a good idea to use the problem testing environment to test plenty of different
37: randomizations to make sure that your format and sig digits parameters are compatible.
1.7 ! lira 38: This helps ensure that the formatted answer has enough significant digits.
1.4 lira 39:
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