From rapid production and delivery of multiple choice tests, to powerful automatic marking of short-answer questions, to sophisticated support for essays and hand drawn sketches, IAT have the solution with ExamOnline. ExamOnline now incorporates FreeText Author and FreeText Web Service.
ExamOnline is an innovative, intuitive eAssessment platform which allows you to create, deliver, and mark superb eAssessments, all using a simple and robust web interface. Download
If you think e-assessment is all about multiple choice and drag-and-drop, think again. With FreeText Author you can add machine marking of short-answer questions to your e-assessments. Download
Short-answer free-text questions, a favourite tool of teachers and examiners alike, can now be computer marked by natural language based assessment engines which aim to mimic human marking of free-text. But what are the capabilities and limitations of computerised marking of short-answer questions ? Download
Few paper-based summative examinations are composed of atomic, closed form assessment units, such as Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ). Rather, they typically consist of questions requiring short answer, extended answer, and essay type answers... Download
Assessment of medical, veterinary, or dental knowledge has traditionally relied on short-answer free-text questions, because they effectively assess understanding without offering prompts or clues. These questions can now be computer marked by natural language based assessment engines which aim to mimic human marking of free-text. Download
Paper outlining the early development of ExamOnline. Presented at CAA conference Loughborough July 2007. Download
Paper outlining the early development of IAT's free-text marking technology. Presented at the Manchester IAEA conference in October 2003. Download
Paper outlining the early development of the Dundee Progress Test of medical Knowledge. This test is now delivered on ExamOnline. Paper presented at CAA conference Loughborough July 2003. Download
Paper outlining the early development of IAT's free-text marking technology. Paper presented at CAA conference Loughborough July 2002. Download
Winner of the e-Assessment Scotland Summative e-Assessment Award 2009. Poster outlining the Dundee Progress Test, devloped and delivered on ExamOnline. Presented at "e-Assessment Scotland: Strategies across Sectors" - Dundee, 25th September 2009. Download
Poster outlining the early work into key feature problems at Keele University School of Medicine, under development using FreeText Author. Presented at "eLearning in Health: working together to enhance learning" - University of Warwick, 2009. Download
Poster outlining the Open University's work using short-answer free-text questions for formative and summative assessment. Developed using FreeText Author. Download
Sally Jordan and Tom Mitchell
Sally Jordan is a Staff Tutor in Science at the Open University in the East of England and a teaching fellow in the Centre for the Open Learning of Mathematics, Science, Computing and Technology (COLMSCT) and the Physics Innovations Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (piCETL). She is one of several COLMSCT fellows who are developing and evaluating innovative e-assessment products, with the aim of maximising the learning function of interactive computer-marked assessment. Tom Mitchell is the founder of Intelligent Assessment Technologies, and is the software architect responsible for designing the company’s FreeText and ExamOnline eAssessment products.
Abstract
A natural language based system has been used to author and mark short-answer free-text assessment tasks. Students attempt the questions online and are given tailored and relatively detailed feedback on incorrect and incomplete responses, and have the opportunity to repeat the task immediately so as to learn from the feedback provided. The answer matching has been developed in the light of student responses to the questions. A small number of the questions are now in low-stakes summative use, alongside other e-assessment tasks and tutor-marked assignments, to give students instantaneous feedback on constructed response items, to help them to monitor their progress and to encourage dialogue with their tutor. The answer matching has been demonstrated to be of similar or greater accuracy than specialist human markers. Students have been observed attempting the questions and have been seen to respond in differing ways to both the questions themselves and the feedback provided. We discuss features of appropriate items for assessment of this type.