Ed464 950 - Exit Assessments: Evaluating Writing Ability Through Automated Essay Scoring - Paperback

by Mark D. Shermis (Author), Felecia D. Barrera (Author)

This paper describes ongoing work in automated essay scoring that will extend the applicability of models that are currently used for short-essay documents (i-e., less than 500 words). Sponsored by the Fund for ' Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE), the project would create norms for documents that might normally be found in an electronic portfolio such as critiques, self-reflective writing, reports of empirical research, and technical reports. These norms and the software are posted on a Web site and will be made available at no cost for a period of 5 years. The paper describes the project, the desired use of electronic portfolios, and the four major automated essay scoring programs: (1) Project Essay Grade; (2) IntelliMetric; (3) Intelligent Essay Assessor; and (4) e-rater. How this technology can help evaluate postsecondary general education/principles of undergraduate learning is also discussed. (Contains 19 references.) (Author/SLD.