MYP Maths eAssessment - Part 1: Overview of structure and tools

As a greater number of schools begin adopting the eAssessment, it is a good idea to have a clear overview of what the MYP Mathematics assessment involves. The next few posts will aim to do just that! In this first part, let's look at the overall structure of the assessment and the tools available.

. Structure

• The MYP Mathematics eAssessment is an optional, on-screen examination that is externally assessed.

• There are two assessments available: standard mathematics and extended mathematics. There will be some questions which appear on both assessments.

• The number of marks available is 100, 25 for each criteria (reduced from 120 marks).

• Students have 5 minutes of reading time and 2 hours to answer the questions.

• There are three types of tasks split across 6 - 10 questions.

- A mixture of short and long response questions will assess knowing and

understanding.

- There will be an investigation to assess criterion B

- There will be a real life problem or two to assess criterion D with an extended written response required.

-Communication (criterion C) will be assessed throughout.

• One of the tasks will be linked to the selected global context (announced a few months prior to the assessment).

Tools and features

• Students can navigate to the homepage where they can see an overview of the questions - the criteria, marks available and an overview of the task, real life problem or investigation. Key concepts, related concepts, global context and criteria are in bold.

• On the toolbar there is a keyboard icon which can change the language.

• There is a highlighter for students to select words/phrases.

• The Desmos on screen calculator simulator can be selected from the toolbar. The screen can show multiple lines of calculation at a time. Students can capture the screen into their response box. The calculator takes up about half the screen, can be moved around but not shrunk.

• There is an interactive formula book - students click on the topic and that takes them to the relevant formulae. It takes up the whole page so students can’t look at the questions or write at the same time.

• The “Assistance” tab gives further instructions and allows students to finish early (not available in the first 60 minutes or final 15 minutes).

• There is a bookmark feature - students can click this icon to show questions they have previously bookmarked.

• The clock in the corner can be hidden, set to show time remaining or time passed.

Questions and answers

• Command terms are in bold (more on this in a later post).

• Questions may include images, graphs, videos, tables and interactive tools where pupils can draw, label, drag, measure, manipulate etc.

• In the response boxes students can insert special characters, have access to an equation editor/keyboard for more complex mathematical symbols and also input calculations directly from their calculator (useful for showing working).

Upcoming posts will include more on the content assessed, the formula books, command terms, mathematical notation used, preparation tips for students and teachers, technical information, common mistakes, and understanding the markscheme. If there is anything else you think is important to include, please leave a comment or send a message!