Assess for Less

The routine marking of 100s of scripts is a laborious and soul-destroying activity; the sort of thing computers, having no boredom threshold, ought to be able to do quickly and accurately for us. But this is easier said than done, especially in mathematics-based disciplines. I am in the middle of a 2-year project to promote the take-up of computer-aided assessment (CAA) in the Warwick Science Faculty – until now there wasn’t much of it. Local Requirements: In the last 10 months I have invited myself to science department teaching committees to find out their attitudes to CAA, how they might use it, and what hurdles, real or perceived, they face. I have picked the brains of many science colleagues with experience or interest in CAA, have nagged Warwick’s IT Services for better provision, and have received generous help from the E-Learning Lab, who have been enthusiastic supporters of the enterprise. I have been gently prodded into taking a broader view and thinking about good practice by the Centre for Academic Practice, who are doing the project evaluation….The credentials of software has been evaluated considering the following issues: technical; pedagogic; ease of use; robustness and maturity; cost; support; compliance….