Researchers at the University of Delaware in the United States, have been carried out during this school year a study in schools in his district to test PEGWriting, a software able to assess and detect errors in shape, development, spelling and grammar in a newsroom. Its aim is to offer teachers useful diagnostic information about each student in this section, and can devote more time to what a machine can not understand the content and reasoning. By Patricia Pérez
Writing well is a necessary and valuable skills in professional, educational sphere but also social, hence the growing interest in finding reliable and efficient to improve and evaluate formulas. It works a team from the University of Delaware (UD), in the United States, coordinated by Professor Joshua Wilson, for what have tested a tool that aims to support education and also help struggling writers.
This is PEGWriting, a software based on the work of the investigating Ellis B. Page and marketed by the company Measurement Incorporated educational services, which bears the investigation. The software uses algorithms to measure more than 500 variables that can occur in a text, to deliver results and explanations on aspects of the quality of writing and the development of the idea, organization, style, word choice, structures and other details such as spelling and grammar.
So far, researchers have found that the assessments made by computer programs resemble those of a teacher in the flesh, so they strive to improve accuracy. However, Wilson’s study is the first to examine how the software can be used as a complement to education as a whole, and not simply as a machine independent correct.
According to the UD explains in a statement, the team demonstrated in previous research that teachers who use the software can spend more time explaining writing skills of the highest level, in relation to ideas, organization or choice of words. By contrast, using standard methods have to spend more time on spelling, punctuation, the capitalization and grammar.
The benefits of automation are there. If the software provides acceptable assessments, quickly pointing out errors, it reduces the time needed by the teacher to explain and, above all, to correct.
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Zero Reasoning
While a person can take five minutes to give an overall assessment of a writing, the automated system can process thousands at a time, providing results in seconds. However, computers are illiterate, do not understand. The scores awarded to the editors are based on mathematical equations, which assign values or subtracted according to the instructions of the controller. They do not understand how a student is progressing and have the necessary patience with someone who is beginning to learn English.
These software deficiencies are some of the reasons why many teachers including the National Council of Teachers of English – totally reject this type of program evaluation. However, the study of Wilson has shown the advantages to both teachers, and performance and student learning.
Instead of using the tool simply to deliver results fast correction, the researchers wanted to see the benefits throughout the school year. To do this, distributed free software subscriptions provided by Measurement Incorporated between teachers third, fourth and fifth grades of primary schools and Anna P. Mote Heritage, in the same district as the UD, to prove that in the past year.
As a result, educators do not rule out the idea of automation. Actually they use, like calculators or other electronic devices that use routinely questioned. “Math teachers you regret the day that students do not solve the math for themselves?” Wilson questioned.
To learn or gain?
The researcher listened to all sorts of criticism about the use of software in the classroom when he met with teachers in early June. Apparently, the students liked the aspects associated with a set program, increasing a little motivation to write. The immediate results of their qualifications, many struggled to raise their scores, either correcting errors or reviewing their work again and again. “It was fun. Many times during recess PEGWriting my students asked me,” he recalled a teacher.
However, the same type of rapid scoring discourage other students, who could not find a way to improve despite trying. “That shows the importance of the role of the teacher,” says Wilson, it must be he who helps the student to interpret and apply their explanations.
According to the teachers, some students were discouraged when the software did not accept the wording for some internal error. Others realized they could cut and paste to get higher scores, not understanding that plagiarism is not acceptable. Questions how are you the teacher’s role is essential.
The next step is to investigate how teachers can effectively use these tools and identify what type of training you can get more out.
Source: Agencies
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