E-learning is gradually gaining prominence in higher education, with universities enlarging provision and more students getting enrolled. The effectiveness of automated essay scoring (AES) is thus holding a strong appeal to universities for managing an increasing learning interest and reducing costs associated with human raters. The growth in…

One of the free platforms made by IT companies in the education sector in Indonesia can be used to facilitate online learning at home during the "COVID-19" pandemic. The platform is called the "SEVIMA EdLink." This platform needs to be known by academics and the wider community of education in the world. This platform provides…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of assessment method (essays vs. examinations) and instruction method (seminars vs. lectures) on student perceptions of the fairness of the assessment process. Department-specific combinations of these factors give a unique profile to the assessment process and to the way students interact with…

After passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, states assumed greater responsibility for designing their own accountability and assessment systems. ESSA requires states to measure "higher order thinking skills and understanding" and encourages the use of open-ended performance assessments, which are essential for…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) opened up new possibilities for how student and school success are defined and supported in American public education. States have greater responsibility for designing and building their assessment and accountability systems. These new opportunities to develop performance assessments are critically important…

This study has attempted to investigate the administered written tests in the language department of Islamic Azad University of Hamedan, Iran from validity, practicality and reliability points of view. To this end two steps were taken. First, examining 112 tests, we knew that the face validity of 50 tests had been threatened, 9 tests lacked…

The use of timed, essay examinations is a well-established means of evaluating student learning in higher education. The reliability of essay scoring is highly problematic and it appears that essay examination grades are highly dependent on language and organisational components of writing. Computer-assisted scoring of essays makes use of language…

As students increasingly rely on digital media to locate information, composition instructors must incorporate into writing instruction critical evaluation of and reflection on students' use of Web content. A growing problem in the composition class is underdeveloped critical digital literacy skills. To become fully literate, students need more…

An exploratory study of the effects of essay length on scoring reliability is presented. While results fail to confirm statistically a length effect that is either overall or in individual scorers, it is suggested that such an effect may emerge in a larger sample. Further research is suggested on the effects of length and grade level on marking.…

This study examined the reliability of scores assigned to the essays written by Kentucky students to meet the University Writing Requirement (UWR) at Eastern Kentucky University. Two sets of essays, 50 each, on the same prompt that had been read and scored in 1989 and 1997 by trained UWR scorers were read by 7 UWR scorers in 2000. A correlation…

A college faculty member who has graded Advanced Placement exam essays on U.S. government and politics, taken mostly by high school juniors and seniors, suggests that high school teachers and college faculty who assess the essays are not the best qualified persons to do so and that despite efforts to ensure consistency, the resulting scores are…

A faculty consultant to the Educational Testing Service for advanced placement (AP) test reading in U.S. government and politics responds to an article criticizing essay evaluation methods and criteria, finding in it a fundamental misunderstanding of the AP reading process and explaining why the essays are subject to less scrutiny for style,…

Some causes for reliability problems in tutor-marked assignments are discussed: factors relating to the questions such as ambiguous, overloaded, hidden agenda, and unrealistic questions; variations caused by differing tutor notes; and students not answering the question, scales and standards, rounding and partial scores, and bonus marks. (JMF)

Essay assignments provide a major portion of students' grades in most Open University curricula. The main educational objectives of essay questions are relevance and the ability to argue a thesis in the light of the course material. (JMF)

Investigates the reliability of measures of linguistic accuracy in second language writing. The study uses a holistic scale, error-free T-units, and an error classification system on the essays of English-as-a-Second-Language students and discusses why disagreements arise within a rater and between raters. (24 references) (Author/CK)