ERIC Number: ED585783
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Recurrence Quantification Analysis: A Technique for the Dynamical Analysis of Student Writing
Allen, Laura K.; Likens, Aaron D.; McNamara, Danielle S.
Grantee Submission, Paper presented at the Annual Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society International Conference (30th, 2017)
The current study examined the degree to which the quality and characteristics of students' essays could be modeled through dynamic natural language processing analyses. Undergraduate students (n = 131) wrote timed, persuasive essays in response to an argumentative writing prompt. Recurrent patterns of the words in the essays were then analyzed using recurrence quantification analysis (RQA). Results of correlation and regression analyses revealed that the RQA indices were significantly related to the quality of students' essays, at both holistic and sub-scale levels (e.g., organization, cohesion). Additionally, these indices were able to account for between 11% and 43% of the variance in students' holistic and sub-scale essay scores. Overall, our results suggest that dynamic techniques can be used to improve natural language processing assessments of student essays. [This paper was published in: "Proceedings of the Thirtieth International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference" (p.240-245). Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, 2017.]
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A120707