...Criterion SM Online Essay Evaluation: An Application for Automated Evaluation of Student Essays Jill Burstein Educational Testing Service Rosedale Road, 18E Princeton, NJ 08541 jburstein@ets.org Martin Chodorow Department of Psychology Hunter College 695 Park Avenue New York, NY 10021 martin.chodorow@hunter.cuny.edu Claudia Leacock Educational Testing Service Rosedale Road, 18E Princeton, NJ 08541 cleacock@ets.org Abstract This paper describes a deployed educational technology application: the CriterionSM Online Essay Evaluation Service, a web-based system that provides automated scoring and evaluation of student essays. Criterion has two complementary applications: E-rater®, an automated essay scoring system and Critique Writing Analysis Tools, a suite of programs that detect errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics, that identify discourse elements in the essay, and that recognize elements of undesirable style. These evaluation capabilities provide students with feedback that is specific to their writing in order to help them improve their writing skills. Both applications employ natural language processing and machine learning techniques. All of these capabilities outperform baseline algorithms, and some of the tools agree with human judges as often as two judges agree with each other. 2. Application Description Criterion contains two complementary applications that are based on natural language processing (NLP) methods. The scoring application, e-rater®, extracts...
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...Standardized Testing Standardized testing has been a key part in education for awhile now, but how effective is it really? Does it truly grasp the students’ individualities to highlight their unique abilities? Of course it does not, how can it? If this is true, however, why are they still vital to earn a high school diploma? Education was once about the students, not about the score. It was about enjoying the time in the classroom, creating a desire to want to know more. Standardized tests have taken this away from classrooms, they have caused many pupils to not enjoy the material they are taught while also taking the individualism, the one on one individual experiences, out of the classrooms. Education is no longer about the individual student. It is about the student body, making everyone the same or “equal”. Education should be fun. It should make the student desire to learn more. Francine Prose discusses this in her essay, I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read. She talks of how each September she is more and more depressed when she receives her sons’ reading lists for the upcoming school year. Not only have the books they are forced to read not the best choices, but the information from the books is forced down the student’s throats. Students are not given the opportunity to read the books and enjoy them. Upon receiving the their assignments, they are also given worksheets and other assignments,outlining the information and key points they are expected understand...
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...Special Education For Children With Disabilities Millions of children in our nation are identified as being "children with disabilities". Prior to the 1960s, millions of children with disabilities received inadequate or inappropriate special education services from the public schools and another 1 million children were excluded from school altogether. Disabilities such as autism, poverty, and racism are just a few of the “disabilities” that have blocked the pathways of over a million people thought out the US. My goal for this paper is to thoroughly examine the three main factors that I personally believe have the most traumatic and continuous effect on society that will ultimately repeat itself and create a pattern of issues that society will be forced to resolve in the future. It is my desire and personal goal to acknowledge each issue that many children face, label and prove it to be a awful disability, an find a realistic resolution to each issue addressed as a disability. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, in the United States, 21 percent of children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty line. Although many of these families have working parents, low wages and unstable employment make it difficult to provide the necessary resources for proper childhood development. Not only does research indicate that poverty is a threat to a child's well-being, but it also affects his ability to learn. Regular attendance at school is important...
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...prove that intelligence is genetic. He used that information, and the government used it to make the U.S. immigration restriction act of 1924. In China there is a test to take if someone wanted to be a part of the government. It tests people’s knowledge of Confucian philosophy and poetry. Non-profit universities and educational organizations first made the SAT in 1926. The original test was ninety minutes long with three hundred and fifteen questions. It tested students in vocabulary, basic math, and early fill-in-the-blank analogies though in 2005 they replaced it for a writing section. At the end...
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...Homework and Testing 1 Homework and Testing Assigning Homework How much is too much? As with classroom assignments, homework should never be given as busy work. It should have a purpose with a goal. And as I mentioned in the Behavioral Approach to Learning, homework should NEVER be given as punishment. The kid will associate homework with punishment. This may interest you. Harris Cooper (1998) analyzed more than 100 research studies on homework in American schools. He found that homework had a very small connection with test scores at the elementary level. If anything, the more homework an elementary school student had, the more negative their attitude was toward school. Plus it takes away from their social time, which is an important part of growing up. Kids need to learn social skills. Too much homework causes stress, as you probably know very well by now. Kids need to have down time too! Why does homework have such a small effect at the elementary level? One reason is that young children have limited attention spans and are very distractible. It is difficult to do homework in a house that has many distractions. Teachers need to work with parents and help students find a quiet space to do homework. Most professional organization in education agrees that homework should never exceed 10 - 20 minutes per day in grades K - 2. In grades 3 - 6 homework should never exceed 30 - 60 minutes per day. Another reason elementary school children do not benefit much from homework is...
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...Critical Thinking Student Development Unit 2005/06 [pic] [pic] Welcome! This booklet contains all the handouts and information that you will need for the Critical Thinking workshop held at the Student Development Unit. As well as the exercises we’ll be working on during the session, you will also find guidance that you can keep for future reference, such as advice on active learning and intelligence, models for critical thinking skills, and questions to help you think critically. When you are asked to complete an academic assignment, your tutor will be looking for evidence of these three skills: • Gathering of complex material • Making sense of that complex material • Communicating your understanding of that complex material to an informed reader.[1] The ‘making sense’ stage is the one we tend to neglect out of fear that we may not have anything of value to contribute. But, as the eminent thinker Edward De Bono puts it: ‘Thinking is a skill that can be improved by training, by practice and through learning how to do it better. Thinking is no different from any other skill and we can get better at the skill of thinking if we have the will to do so.’[2] We hope that this handbook will help you to develop strongly argued and well-structured pieces of work, and encourage you to build critical thinking into every aspect of your academic life. Be prepared to make some changes to how you work – if you always...
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...and conduct preliminary interviews have confirmed that interviews alone are not particularly good selection tool to distinguish the productivity, skills, behavior and the motivation of the employee. Using interviews alone does not give sufficient information for effective selection decision making, particularly in areas that are not amenable to training, such as cognitive ability and attitude ( Webster, 2010). Psychological assessments are used in succession planning, employee screening, pre-employment decisions, and employee counseling situations. From a purely financial view, if psychological testing can prevent you from making one bad hire, it probably saves you tens of thousands of dollars. From an organizational perspective, there is no better growth strategy than using every tool available to hire and develop the best people (Lakin, 2011). Engaging in pre-employment testing methods is of utmost importance in today’s workforce. First, Human Resource managers and hiring managers want to select the most qualified candidates to fill open positions within their organizations because the most qualified...
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...and effect Interpreting diagrammatic information Comparing and contrast Proofreading and editing Text Used 1. 2. Main Text: Oshima, A & Hogue. ( 1997). Introduction to Academic Writing. New York: AddisonWesley, Longman Zimmerman. (2003).English for Science. Singapore: Prentice Hall Additional Text Brannan, B. (2003). A Writer’s Workshop: Crafting Paragraphs, Building Essays. McGraw Hill Trible,C. (2003). Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press Method of Assessment 2 Assignments + 1 Test Assignment 1 -15% (Outlines) Assignment 2 – 15% (interpreting data) Test – 10% (Grammar/proofreading) Final Examination- 60% Section A- Essay Section B- Grammar Section C- Interpreting Graphic Data LECTURE 1 INTRODUCTION TO EFFECTIVE WRITING SKILLS What is Science Writing? Science writers are responsible for covering fields that are experiencing some of the most rapid advances in history, from the stunning advances in biotechnology to the exotic discoveries in astrophysics. A science writer may include coverage of new discoveries about viruses, the brain, evolution, artificial intelligence, planets around other suns, and the global environment, to name a few topics Aims and objectives for writing for science To provide students with the necessary knowledge of the writing process, drafting, revising and editing. To expose students to the different modes of writing for science To provide student with the language forms to describe and interpret simple graphical...
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...ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 1. Involves studying the thought processes of humans 2. Deals with representing those processes via machines * 1960’s * One of original chat bots * Programmed as Rogerian Psychotherapist. (Ask Q’s) * 1960’s * One of original chat bots * Programmed as Rogerian Psychotherapist. (Ask Q’s) Development of Eliza Development of Eliza Testing for intelligence: * The Turing Test * Alan Turing * How to determine if machine is truly capable of intelligence? * Theory of Multiple Intelligence: * Verbal * Math * Analytical * Emotional * Bodily * Cultural Theory of Multiple Intelligence: * Verbal * Math * Analytical * Emotional * Bodily * Cultural Interaction? * Does it act like a human? Areas of AI: * Natural Language Processing- Build language systems of Interaction for business * Ex. Google Translate * Text Mining * Voice generation and recognition (SIRI) * Analyzes input and builds a response * Must think about: * Speech-phonology * How words are formed-morphology * How sentences are formed-Grammar syntax * What do words and sentences mean- Semantics * How does context affect language?- Pragmatics * Speech Recognition * Robotics and Sensory Systems * Visual Recognition * Ie. Baxter folding shirt * Used by customs *...
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...Constantine-Simms University of Essex (UK) & Marciea Monique McMillian University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA) ABSTRACT The publication of Hernstein & Murray’s (1994) “The Bell Curve” appears to be the latest expression of pseudo scientific theories with respect to race and intelligence. This paper gives an historical and ideological insight behind the development and application of intelligence tests by citing examples of their impact on legislation, social policy and intervention programmes in relation to Blacks. More importantly, a discussion of cultural bias in test design focuses on the response of Black psychologists who developed Black intelligence tests that portray whites as intellectually inferior in the same manner that Blacks are portrayed as intellectually inferior on tests devised by white psychologist. Furthermore, The hereditary perspective of intelligence is challenged by empirical evidence that centres on children with white ancestry to assess whether white genes influence intelligence while citing several sources that support the environmental explanation of the race gap in test scores. Consequently, this discussion questions the reliability and validity of intelligence tests that are used to reinforce the Black intellectual inferiority myth. The conclusive argument suggests in no uncertain terms that the Bell Curve is nothing more than the repackaging of racist pseudo-scientific conclusions by right wing academics, intent on rekindling a political...
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...administered orally, on paper, on a computer, or in a confined area that requires a test taker to physically perform a set of skills. Tests vary in style, rigor and requirements. For example, in a closed book test, a test taker is often required to rely upon memory to respond to specific items whereas in an open book test, a test taker may use one or more supplementary tools such as a reference book or calculator when responding to an item. A test may be administered formally or informally. An example of an informal test would be a reading test administered by a parent to a child. An example of a formal test would be a final examination administered by a teacher in a classroom or an I.Q. test administered by a psychologist in a clinic. Formal testing often results in a grade or a test score.[1] A test score may be interpreted with regards to a norm or criterion, or occasionally both. The norm may be established independently, or by statisticalanalysis of a large number of participants. A standardized test is any test that is administered and scored in a consistent manner to ensure legal defensibility.[2]Standardized tests are often used in education, professional certification, psychology (e.g., MMPI), the military, and many other fields. A non-standardized test is usually flexible in scope and format, variable in difficulty and significance. Since these tests are usually developed by individual instructors, the format and difficulty of these tests may not be widely adopted or used...
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...Principles of Learning and Teaching STUDENTS AS LEARNERS – 35% THEORISTS LEV VYGOTSKY http://facultyweb.cortland.edu/andersmd/VYG/ VYG.HTML JEROME BRUNER http://tip.psychology.org/bruner.ht ml JOHN DEWEY http://www.infed.org/thinkers/e t-dewey.htm Importance of CULTURE humans use of tools and symbols to learn – culture dictates what we learn and how • Higher and Lower mental functions – elementary (or lower) functions gradually transform to HMF through culture • Central ROLE OF LANGUAGE: Language is made possible because of our culture (tools and symbols). The learning of language (or signs) is brought about by social processes, and language or signs ultimately make thought possible. Three stages in the development of speech a. Social speech – speech to control the behavior of others b. Egocentric speech – three to seven year olds – talking to themselves to learn c. Inner speech – soundless speech – thinking in our head • ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT: The discrepancy between a child's mental age [indicated by the static test] and the level he reaches in solving problems with assistance is the zone of his proximal development. _________________________________ ABRAHAM MASLOW http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/m aslow.html HEIRARCY OF NEEDS • Physiological needs • Safety needs • Belonging needs • Esteem needs • Self-actualization • Principles: learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge – DISCOVERY...
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...Actions Speak Louder Than Words One cannot learn to dance simply by watching. He must interact with the music, not through his mind but through is body. Calculating the mathematics of dance out on paper will help you no better understand it than watching a muted movie … blindfolded. In Michel de Montaigne’s narrative, “On Educating Children”, he explains how one must put forth character and intelligence before knowledge. It is simple to read then reread for the sake of memorization. For instance, during my toddler years I was able to recite the ABC’s forward and backwards, but if you had asked me to read The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, you would be in for a surprise, for I would had introduced characters and plots unknown to man-kind! My point being, just because I was able to regurgitate the alphabet, did not mean that I truly understood the each of the letters. It is through the action of practicing the ‘words’ when one can begin to naturally enrich his mind with understanding. Not all children are one in the same. In today’s educational system, children are treated as just that, identical. So it would come to no surprise to Montaigne that out of a class of 30 individuals, only one or two students would have properly understood the material that was “taught” to the whole class. Montaigne states, “Spewing up food exactly as you have swallowed it is evidence of a failure to digest and assimilate it; the stomach has not done its job if, during concoction, it...
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...Essay Questions (Ch 9) 1. Identify and briefly discuss the four distinguishing characteristics of a mature (well-functioning) group. The distinguishing characteristics includes (1) a clear purpose and mission, (2) well-understood norms and standards of conduct (3) a high level of group cohesion (4) a flexible status structure. Stating the purpose in terms specific goals enhances productivity over and above any performance benefits achieved through individual goal setting. Behavioral norms for high performance and productivity set above organizational norms characterizes high performing work groups. Smaller groups tend to be more cohesive than large groups, and cohesion based on attraction results in effective control over members with respect to important performance norms. Successful resolution of authority issues within a group result in a well understood status structure. This contributes to group functioning. 2. Describe the five stages of Tuckman's Group Development Process. What individual and group issues are addressed in each stage? Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning Individual How do I What's my What do the How can I Whta's issues fit in? role here? Others expect best perform next? ...
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...In brief: This chapter gives an overview of the selection process, testing concepts, types of tests, and selection techniques. It also addresses legal and ethical questions surrounding the area of testing and selection. Interesting issues: Most companies desire reference and background information to make employment decisions, however, most companies also have policies against giving out any information on current or past employees beyond basic job titles and dates of employement. Students need to see the tug-of-war between privacy rights and employer needs for background and predictive information. Lecture Outline I. The Selection Process A. Why the Careful Selection is Important 1. Performance 2. Costs 3. Legal Implications and Negligent Hiring II. Basic Testing Concepts A. Validity 1. Criterion Validity 2. Content Validity B. Reliability 1. Retest Estimate 2. Equivalent Form Estimate 3. Internal Consistency C. Sources of Unreliability 1. Poor Sampling of the Material 2. Chance Response Tendencies 3. Testing Conditions 4. Changes in the Person D. How to Validate a Test 1. Analyze the Job 2. Choose your Tests 3. Administer the Test a. concurrent validation b. predictive validation 4. Relate Test Scores and Criteria Figure 5-3 on page 178 shows a sample expectancy chart. 5. Cross-validation and Revalidation E. Testing Guidelines 1. Use Tests as Supplements 2. Validate the Tests 3. Analyze...
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