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

摘要

[Abstract]: Quality encompasses a very broad range of ideas in learningudmaterials, yet the accuracy of the content is often overlookedudas a measure of quality. Various aspects of accuracy are brieflyudconsidered, and the issue of computational accuracy is thenudconsidered further. When learning materials are producedudcontaining the results of mathematical computations, accuracyudis essential: but how can the results of these computationsudbe known to be correct? A solution is to embed the instructionsudfor performing the calculations in the materials, and letudthe computer calculate the result and place it in the text. Inudthis way, quality is built into the learning materials by design,udnot evaluated after the event. This is all accomplished usingudthe ideas of literate programming, applied to the learning materialsudcontext. A small example demonstrates how remarkablyudeasy the ideas are to apply in practice using the appropriateudtechnology. Given that the technology is available andudis easy to use, it would appear imperative that the approachuddiscussed is adopted to improve quality in learning materialsudcontaining computational results.