Automatic evaluation for e-learning using latent semantic analysis : A use case

Abstract

Assessment in education allows for obtaining, organizing, and presenting information about how much and how well the student is learning. The current paper aims at analysing and discussing some of the most state-of-the-art assessment systems in education. Later, thisworkpresents a specific use case developed for the Universitat ObertadeCatalunya, which is an online university. An automatic evaluation toolis proposed that allows the student to evaluate himself anytime and receive instant feedback. This tool is a web-based platform, and ithasbeen designedfor engineering subjects (i.e., with math symbolsandformulas) in Catalan and Spanish. Particularly, the technique usedfor automatic assessment is latent semantic analysis. Althoughthe experimental framework from the use case is quite challenging, results arepromising.