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Columbia, US (pte026/09.05.2005/12:51) - A professor of sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia has developed a computer programme that assesses - and grades - the work of his students. Students of Ed Brent's Introduction to Sociology course are encouraged to submit their essay drafts through the SAGrader software programme, which counts such things as what points their teacher wanted them to make, and also analyses how well they have explained concepts.
With students increasingly trying to take short cuts, which include plagiarism and pilfering from online sources, teachers have also discovered that they can use technology as well.
In the United States software is used in high school English classes to score papers and also GMAT, the standardised tests for admission to business schools.
Brent and his two teaching assistants still mark final papers but encourage their students to us the SAGrader because their chances of getting an 'A' is higher.
"I don't think we want to replace humans," Brent said. "But we want to do the fun stuff, the challenging stuff. And the computer can do the tedious but necessary stuff."
Those who oppose use of the programme say that it is easy to learn how to find its loopholes. Andy Jones from the University of California at Davis, for example, discovered that he could score 100 per cent on a submitted essay by 'confusing' the computer.
Sophomore Brady Didion from Brent's class submitted drafts of his papers until his final version included all the points that Brent had programmed the computer to assess.
The question is, whether the programme really does save teachers precious time, and whether keeping abreast with the developing outsmarting tactic of students will reduce learning and education to mere computer games.
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