Use of the DECsystem-10 at Hatfield Polytechnic to Provide Monitoring of Performance in Multiple-choice Tests
Title:
Use of the DECsystem-10 at Hatfield Polytechnic to Provide Monitoring of Performance in Multiple-choice Tests
Author:
Fox, W. A.
Appeared in:
International journal of mathematical education in science and technology
Paging:
Volume 5 (1974) nr. 3-4 pages 631-641
Year:
1974-07
Contents:
In the past two-and-a-half years, much of the continuous assessment of students in the Part I of the Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Degrees at Hatfield Polytechnic has been made by using regular multiple-choice tests. In the case of the subject of Fluid Mechanics, the marking of the test papers has been done by computer, using a suite of programs written in BASIC that provides: a class list with scores; a summary for the lecturer which indicates how each question was answered by the class as a whole, and (ii) gives a histogram showing the overall performance of the class; a list, for each student, of helpful comments on each of the answers he chose, and includ ing a statement of his score; the means for a student, having received back his corrected paper, individually to access the appropriate program, from a time-sharing terminal, and have further at tempts at the test questions, getting back helpful comments from the computer. There is some evidence to suggest that the extra feedback, made possible by using the computer in this way, has helped to improve the appreciation of the fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics, of students entering for the Part I examination.
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