# Prevent students from using the calculator for math input

**URL:** <https://cl.desmos.com/t/prevent-students-from-using-the-calculator-for-math-input/3010>\
**Category:** Questions\
**Tags:** patterns, validation, correctness\
**Created:** [March 27, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://cl.desmos.com/t/prevent-students-from-using-the-calculator-for-math-input/3010 "2021-03-27T19:09:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 12

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**Author:** ![JayChow](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/cl.desmos.com/jaychow/32/1674_2.png) [@JayChow](https://cl.desmos.com/u/JayChow)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://cl.desmos.com/t/prevent-students-from-using-the-calculator-for-math-input/3010/12 "2021-04-11T17:14:30Z")

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As noted previously, we strongly discourage the use of string matches for determining correctness. @ctlusto sums it up pretty well in this post from 2018 [Comparing latex values - #2 by ctlusto](https://cl.desmos.com/t/comparing-latex-values/63/2)

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_[View the full topic](https://cl.desmos.com/t/prevent-students-from-using-the-calculator-for-math-input/3010)._
