U070 – Using the equation editor

So you want to use mathematical formulas and equations. Nice! How does the setup work?

Configuration view

In a Worksheet or Quiz widget, add a question of the Equations type. Under General > Equation editor, you will find this table:

The colors of these buttons determine which options your students will see when they want to fill in a formula in the blank. You can click any of these buttons to change its color.

  • A greenish button means that the formula or symbol will be visible and useable by your students.
  • A reddish button means that the formula or symbol will not be visible and useable by your students.
  • A bluish button means that the formula or symbol will be visible and useable by your students if it is either required for the answer, or if other symbols in the group are required for the answer.

Which buttons should you include?

Depending on the exact exercise, the availability and especially absence of certain symbols may act as a giveaway for your students as to which symbols/functions they'll need to use. Depending on how hard you want to make the exercise, on one hand, you might not want to restrict the options too much, and possibly include symbols/functions that your students don't actually need. On the other hand, you do not want to overload them either, whether it be with symbols they don't know (yet), or symbols they definitely won't need for your exercise.

Striking a balance between the two will produce the most suitable outcome for both the exercise and your students' skill level.

Preview / student view

In the preview, i.e. student view, the available symbol options will appear as a pop-up as soon as the cursor is placed within the text input field. When the amount of two symbols spans more than two lines, a scrollbar will appear.

The upper white-in-black arrows in the left side of the box allow you to select parts of the formula input in case selecting its elements with the mouse is difficult or impossible. The lower regular arrows move the cursor around within the formula you have typed.

LaTeX Reference list

Here is a list of LaTeX notation codes that corresponds to the buttons in the equation editor:

\frac x y
\times
\cdot
\sqrt x
\sqrt [y] x
\x^y
\x_i
|
\bar x
\dot x
\hat x
\tilde x
\vec x
^\circ
\delta
\pi
\infty
\leq
\geq
\neq
\sim
\simeq
\approx
\in
\notin
\subset
\not\subset
\subseteq
\supset
\not\supset
\supseteq
\cup
\cap
\setminus
\varnothing
\exists
\nexists
\forall
\neg
\lor
\land
\mathbb{N}
\mathbb{Z}
\mathbb{Q}
\mathbb{R}
\mathbb{C}
\mathbb{P}
\mathbb{H}
\leftarrow
\rightarrow
\leftrightarrow
\uparrow
\downarrow
\updownarrow
\nearrow
\searrow
\Leftarrow
\Rightarrow
\Leftrightarrow
\Uparrow
\Downarrow
\Updownarrow
\leftrightharpoons
\rightleftharpoons
\sum
\prod
\coprod
\int
(\begin{smallmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{smallmatrix})
[\begin{smallmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{smallmatrix}]
{\begin{smallmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{smallmatrix}}
|\begin{smallmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{smallmatrix}|
\|\begin{smallmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{smallmatrix}\|
\|\begin{smallmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{smallmatrix}\|
\|\begin{smallmatrix} a & b \end{smallmatrix}\|
\alpha
\beta
\gamma
\delta
\epsilon
\zeta
\eta
\theta
\iota
\kappa
\lambda
\mu
\nu
\xi
o
\pi
\rho
\sigma
\tau
\upsilon
\phi
\chi
\psi
\omega
A
B
\Gamma
\Delta
E
Z
H
\Theta
I
K
\Lambda
M
N
\Xi
O
\Pi
P
\Sigma
\T
\Upsilon
\Phi
X
\Psi
\Omega

Extra

\stackrel\frown{AB}
\stackrel{\Large\frown}{ABC}
\stackrel{\LARGE\frown}{ABC}
\stackrel{\huge\frown}{ABC}
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