Towards electronic assessment of web-based textual responses

Abstract

Web-based learning should move away from static transmission of instruction to dynamic pages for effective interactive learning. Furthermore, automated assessment of learning should move beyond rigid quizzes or multiple-choice questions. This study describes the design, development, implementation, testing and evaluation of two prototypes of an electronic assessment tool to enhance the effectiveness of automated assessment. The tool was developed in the context of a distance-learning organisation and was built according to a development research model entailing a cyclic design-intervention-outcomes process. The first variant, E-Grader, was developed to test an algorithm for assigning marks to open-ended textual responses. The second variant, Web-Grader, was an interactive web-based extension of E-Grader. It provided immediate interactive support to students as they responded textually to content-based questions. This multi-disciplinary study incorporates principles and techniques from software engineering, formal computer science, database development and instructional design in the quest towards electronic assessment of web-based textual inputs.