Automated Essay Scoring
Automated Essay Scoring is a new term in the education sector. Most institutions are borrowing the method to come up with more straightforward ways of grading students’ essays. Generally, the technique has been brought into demand by the rising costs of providing education and the need to lower the time spent in marking students’ essays. The method has, however, faced significant backlash from experts who have questioned continuously the authenticity of the method. The method of machine marking has been employed efficiently in marking multiple answer examinations. Experts have even applauded the effectiveness of the automation of marking multiple answer exams. However, the introduction of the method into essay marking has brought unexpected reactions from experts. Opponents of the system have argued that the system is a method of encouraging substandard education since students will only consider repeating keywords in essays without creating the required meaning. The advocates of the system, on the other side, argue that automated essay scoring does away with cases of individual bias between students and markers. Automated essay scoring is a significant improvement in education and will ensure fairness in the marking of student essays since individual bias and mistakes are avoided.
The marking of essays has, for a long time, been faced by significant challenges. Some students have been suffering from the individual bias of the markers, while others have benefitted from undeserved marks. Such limitations have necessitated the development of a system that will be founded on fairness in the marking of essays. The scoring, in this case, is adequately evaluated in terms of grammar use, punctuation, and the message created by the student. The only issue of concern among researchers is whether the automated essay system is in a position to identify the argument passed by a student. The system is improved in line with natural language and can quickly identify when a student is passing a relevant or irrelevant argument. Therefore, the automated essay scoring is the way to go for institutions that aim at improving effectiveness and time-consciousness in the essay exam departments.
Jennifer Little is one of the advocates for automated essay scoring. Little (2001) wrote an article concerning the need for computerized essay evaluation of essays in education institutions. The article was written at a time when technology was not at its peak as it is currently. However, Jennifer Little was confident that the education sector needed more than just policies and that actions were needed to propel the sector ahead. Generally, Jennifer Little’s argument is based on the need to reduce the time spend on essay marking. Also, the cost of offering education was growing significantly, and the amount of manpower needed to mark essays manually was an additional burden to the already burdened institutions. The reliability of Jennifer Little’s article is based on the methods used for data collection as well as its scholarly nature.
The automated essay scoring was, however, not received in good faith by most experts. Greene (2018) gave a bold claim concerning the unfulfilled dream of individuals who had been advocating for automated essay scoring. The article by Peter Greene appears to be a confirmation that the dream by Jennifer Little in the 2001 article may take a little longer before being achieved. According to Greene, automated essay evaluation has remained an unachieved dream, and companies have been trying day-in-day-out to come up with perfect systems. However, the systems have always been questioned, creating more complications in the automation process. Generally, automation of essay scoring involves the use of robotics, and some experts have been giving erroneous benefits, according to Greene. The argument by Greene, for example, agrees with only two arguments as brought forward by Jennifer Little. Generally, Automated essay scoring is cheap and time-conscious. However, the claim that automated essay scoring is free from bias is criticized by Greene. Besides, the robots are created as a result of combined human bias.
Automated essay scoring has more benefits than most people would recognize. First, the ability to track mistakes among students improves the quality of essays written by students. Shermis, Garvan contacted a study, and Diao in 2008 to replicate the results of another study done by Shermis et al. in 2004. The researchers assessed the impact of automated essay scoring among students who had written essays. The system is automated in that students are presented with feedback on the errors committed while writing the essay. Then, the students are given a second chance to rewrite the same essay. Generally, the researchers find out that the performance of the students improved significantly after the first correction. The article is reliable in that the results obtained are similar to those from a previous study, although the data utilized was not similar. Moreover, the comparison of results with previous research ensures that cases of bias are avoided.
Tovia Smith has a different idea on the automation of essay marking, however. Research by Smith (2018) shows his fear at the rate at which states were choosing the automated essay scoring as a way of solving educational challenges. According to Smith, automated marking is only efficient for examinations based on superficial questions. Also, Smith is concerned about the rate at which automated essay scoring is transforming essay writing from being creative-based to perfection-based. Generally, automated essay scoring operates on probabilistic models. Therefore, students who learn how to improve the probability of a word being spotted by the system end up scoring high grades at the expense of creative students.
Automated essay scoring should, however, be embraced with the knowledge that technology has taken the stage in the present world. Students should be trained to change their understanding of creativity to meet the requirements of the automation processes. Also, the arguments raised by experts who are against the automation process are not founded on substantial evidence. Generally, automated essay scoring is the way forward for institutions and will save significant resources.
In sum, automated essay scoring is a significant improvement in education and will ensure fairness in the marking of student essays since individual bias and mistakes are avoided. The automated essay scoring is, however, not received in good faith by most experts. Generally, automation of essay scoring involves the use of robotics, and some experts have been giving erroneous benefits. However, the arguments raised by experts who are against the automation process are not founded on substantial evidence. Therefore, automated essay scoring is the way forward for institutions and will save significant resources.
References
Little, J. J. (2001). Computerized Evaluation of Essays. Expert Systems.
Peter Greene, (2018). Automated Essay Scoring Remains An Empty Dream. I look at K-12 policies and practices from the classroom perspective
Shermis, M. D., Garvan, C. W., & Diao, Y. (2008). The Impact of Automated Essay Scoring on Writing Outcomes. Online Submission.
Smith, T. (2018). More states opting to’robo-grade’student essays by computer. Retrieved from NPR: https://www. npr. org/2018/06/30/624373367/more-states-opting-to-robo-grade- student-essays-by-computer.