Calculations and formulae can be used in Accelerus.
| • | In assessment items so that the results stored in the items are not entered manually by teachers, but are automatically calculated. |
| ➢ | Calculations may be added in subject assessment items set up by Accelerus administrators or subject coordinators. Such calculations may be added via a Subject record in the Accelerus program or via Assess Subjects in Accelerus Web, where the user has subject level permissions to administer assessment items. |
| ➢ | Class teachers may add calculations to subject level items and their own class level assessment items, when working in their class records, whether in the Accelerus program or in Accelerus Web. |
The calculation processes available to all users who may add calculations, whether they have a school, subject or class role, are virtually the same, with the exception of graphic functions that may only be imported into the Accelerus database by those with system privileges.
The calculation procedures for assessment items allow a selection of predefined calculations, some of which are across-class and across-subject calculations. However, the majority of calculations involve the use of functions and operators to build a formula, drawing upon the available fields in the school's Accelerus database.
When adding calculations in the client and web versions of Accelerus, the functionality is basically the same, although there will, of necessity, be cosmetic differences.
| • | In analyses, set up in the Analyser window, the Calculation Editor may be activated from three of its intermediary operators – the Filter, Formula and Aggregate operators. |
These all involve data manipulation of some sort, via the setting-up of user-defined calculation formulae.
Whether setting up formulae in assessment items or in the Analyser, a Calculation Editor window is used, with the same functionality.
The main differences in the calculation processes for assessment items and for analyses are:
| • | The Analyser does not use the Calculation Editor to store calculated results in assessment items in the database. |
Data extracted or calculated in the Analyser is not available for inclusion in students’ reports, for example. Any calculations performed by the Analyser are stored in memory only, so that analyses can be run and re-run, as required.
| • | The available database fields that may be inserted into formulae vary between the two. |
Basically, a calculation in a subject has available to it very specific fields that exist in the subject and the available fields reflect these. The Analyser has more generic fields available.
| • | When used for assessment items, the Calculation Editor has an additional section at the top, containing a Calculation Type field where the type of calculation is selected. Once Formula is selected in the dropdown list, the Calculation Editor is displays in the same way as when opened for a formula in the Analyser window. |
However, despite these differences, basically the same Calculation Editor window is used, with the same procedures and functionality, allowing you to build a formula, while drawing upon available fields, functions and operators.
