Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
ASSESSmEnt
TA or the instructor. CourseMarker 5 is also another
software system that enables automatic assessment
of learners. According to Higgins & Hegazy &
Symeonidis & Tsintsifas (2003), CourseMarker
is an extended version of Ceilidh system so that it
addresses issues and limitations of its assessment
system. In other words, CourseMarker not only
has Ceilidh features but also adds new features
such as scalability, performance, maintainability,
extensibility, and usability. CourseMarker can
assess various types of student works such as
multiple choice questionnaires, essays, computer
programs in different languages and etc. It also
supports object-oriented languages. In Course-
Marker, feedback to students is not limited to a
mark but also a set of details is given in order to
improve the performance of students' learning
process. In other words, CourseMarker gives an
instant detailed feedback to students regarding
their missing marks and then the students can
correct their mistakes using the feedbacks.
The most important benefit of CAA is the
ability of setting a number of topic-related assess-
ments at the end of each topic in order to engage
the students. Students are required to answer the
questions in order to pass each topic. Compared
to the traditional methods, more activity of the
learners is required since a test is necessary for
each topic. However, this will make sure that
students have a fair grasp of the topic before they
move on to the next topic. The next advantage
is the quick feedback given to students so that
they get an immediate warning if their answer is
wrong. As a result, students have the opportunity
to correct their answer which in turn results in a
quicker learning process. The other benefit of
CAA is that unlike traditional methods, increas-
ing the number of students does not reduce the
performance of the assessment process. It makes it
possible to perform assessments for a large number
of students efficiently. Saving time for is another
advantage of CAA and increasing the number of
students does not really affect the amount of time
needed for assessment. Moreover, the process is
Due to the increased number of students and classes
in universities and other educational institutions,
traditional assessment can be time consuming, dif-
ficult and error prone. Computer Aided Assessment
(CAA) refers to the use of computer technology
as part of the assessment process and is a rapidly
developing research area as new technologies are
harnessed. Assessing students' answers to a set of
questions in order to either evaluate their ability
or giving them instant feedback has become an
important part of learning management systems.
Assessment can be categorized as summative and
formative assessment. Summative assessment is
used to evaluate students and their ability over
the learning material. Formative assessment is
used to enhance students' learning by giving them
immediate feedback. Formative assessment does
not normally contribute in the marking process.
Assessment can be done in different areas
such as Mathematical capabilities of learners,
programming skills, language abilities and etc.
There are software systems that enable automatic
assessment, such as Web Work 4 . Its goal is to make
homework more effective and efficient. Each Web
Work problem set is personalized. That is, each
student has a different version of each problem;
for example the numerical values in the formulas
may be slightly different. Students complete the
assignments, log onto the Internet and enter their
answers using a Web browser. Web Work system
responds students by telling them whether an
answer (or a set of answers) is correct or not and
also records whether the student answered the
question correctly or not. The students are free to
try a problem as many times as they wish until the
due date. A key educational benefit of this system
is that if a student gets a wrong answer, he gets
immediate feedback while the problem is still
fresh in his mind. The student can then correct
a careless mistake, review the relevant material
before approaching the problem again, or seek
help (frequently via e-mail) from his friends, the
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