This experimental project investigated the reliability and validity of rubrics in assessment of students' written responses to a social science "writing prompt". The participants were asked to grade one of the two samples of writing assuming it was written by a graduate student. In fact both samples were prepared by the authors. The…

Physics teachers are most effective when their students are active learners who think and participate in every class. This extends beyond the classroom too: ideally, students would tackle challenging questions and exercises after every class--not just before the exam or the night before the weekly homework is due. Just-in-Time-Teaching was…

We present a novel approach to the automated marking of student programming assignments. Our technique quantifies the structural similarity between unmarked student submissions and marked solutions, and is the basis by which we assign marks. This is accomplished through an efficient novel graph similarity measure ("AssignSim"). Our experiments…

This research builds on the behavior learning theory that suggests a response from a student, followed by a quick feedback and another response from the student will increase student learning. An experiment was performed that allowed students to submit particular homework projects (response) early. The early submissions were graded promptly and…

The following report of descriptive statistics addresses the matriculating class of 2001-2007 according to their Law School Admission Council (LSAC) index. Generally, this report will offer information on the first time bar and ultimate performance on the Bar Exam of TMSL students. In addition, graduating GPA according to the LSAC index will also…

Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in New Orleans, LA in April 2011. The current study examined the differential validity of the SAT for predicting cumulative GPA through the second-year of college by college major, as well as the differential prediction of cumulative GPA by college major among…

Background: This article reports a study into the double marking of Liberal Studies in Hong Kong. This is now a compulsory subject in Hong Kong's Years 10-12 curriculum which, when first examined in the new Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education in 2012, will increase its candidature from its current 3,300 to 80,000. Aims: To examine the…

Automatic Essay Assessor (AEA) is a system that utilizes information retrieval techniques such as Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA), and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for automatic essay grading. The system uses learning materials and relatively few teacher-graded essays for calibrating the scoring…

University classes in marketing are often large and therefore require teams of teachers to cover all of the necessary activities. A major problem with teaching teams is the inconsistency that results from myriad individuals offering subjective opinions (Preston 1997). This innovation uses the latest moderation techniques along with Audience…

The validity of assessments, including grading, is paramount to education considering the high stakes decisions and inferences that are made based on grades. This investigation examined the validity of grading practices for middle school teachers in a large, suburban school district in the southeast. In this study, 118 reading and mathematics…

Students often view their course grades as a mysterious equation of teacher-given grades, teacher-given grace, and some other ethereal components based on luck. However, giving students the power to earn points based on numerous daily/weekly assignments and attendance makes the grading process objective and personal, freeing the instructor to…

If a grade is to be trusted as an authentic representation of a student's level of academic achievement, one of the requirements is that all the elements that contribute to that grade must qualify as achievement, and not be something else. The implications of taking this proposition literally turn out to be far reaching. Many elements that are…

This study was designed to explore children's understanding of formative assessment and its effects on their learning, in order to establish what learners perceive as important to help them improve their learning. The study found that children have a good understanding of the concepts of feedback, and can articulate clearly the elements most…

The purpose of this study was to survey assessment and grading practices employed by secondary music teachers throughout the southwestern region of the United States. Three main research questions guided the study: (1) What types of school district frameworks and classroom contexts are secondary music teachers operating within? (2) Which specific…

By providing students with the opportunities to receive a high quality education regardless of their social or cultural background, inclusive education is a new area that goes beyond traditional integration approaches. These approaches hope to provide the educative system with the ability to adapt to the diversity of its students. Technologies for…