Building-in quality rather than assessing quality afterwards: a technological solution to ensuring computational accuracy in learning materials

Building-in quality rather than assessing quality afterwards: a technological solution to ensuring computational accuracy in learning materials

[Abstract]: Quality encompasses a very broad range of ideas in learning
materials, yet the accuracy of the content is often overlooked
as a measure of quality. Various aspects of accuracy are briefly
considered, and the issue of computational accuracy is then
considered further. When learning materials are produced
containing the results of mathematical computations, accuracy
is essential: but how can the results of these computations
be known to be correct? A solution is to embed the instructions
for performing the calculations in the materials, and let
the computer calculate the result and place it in the text. In
this way, quality is built into the learning materials by design,
not evaluated after the event. This is all accomplished using
the ideas of literate programming, applied to the learning materials
context. A small example demonstrates how remarkably
easy the ideas are to apply in practice using the appropriate
technology. Given that the technology is available and
is easy to use, it would appear imperative that the approach
discussed is adopted to improve quality in learning materials
containing computational results.

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