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CIEA call for controlled approach to E-Assessment development
David Wright, CEO of the CIEA spoke at the Westminster Forum Keynote Seminar on Testing and Assessment, held in London on the 11 November 2009, alongside Greg Watson (OCR), Sue Kirkham (ASCL), Bob Penrose (Becta), and Warwick Mansell (freelance journalist).
The theme of the discussion focused on e-assessment and how e-assessment can be used as the future tool to replace, in some subjects, and in others, to run alongside human marking.
David Wright stated that although e-assessment has been embraced in America and most European countries including a recent pilot in Denmark, evidence suggests that e-assessment, in some contexts, is able to accurately mark a candidate's work in short factual responses. However, in more detailed assessments, such as those in English where examiners are required to interpret the response for its emotional as well as its technical content, it is far more difficult for a computer to provide an accurate response.
Some research conducted by the CIEA found that even some of the most memorable speeches, such as Churchill's "fight on the beaches" would fail if submitted as a school essay to the computerised system.
There were also a number of other texts from famous 20th Century authors which fell foul of the system including; Ernest Hemingway (The End of Something), William Golding (Lord of the Flies) and Roger Burgess (A Clockwork Orange).
These tests show that e-assessment is currently not a valid and reliable way to assess all work especially in a detailed subject such as English. Trials are ongoing and there will clearly be a place for e-assessment to run alongside human marking but to what extent is the underlying question.
To find out more about how technology is used as an assessment tool visit the CIEA Insights