Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly vital role in transforming educational processes, none more so than in assessment.
Graide is all about removing the painfully mundane while maintaining the personal.
AI tools can make feedback more efficient, objective, and insightful, reducing marking time by as much as 89%.
Teacher feedback: Could a machine do your marking? | Tes
The need for AI in educational assessments
Inconsistency, inefficiency, and human error—traditional assessment methods have long been fraught with challenges.
Manual grading of exams and assignments in subjects like English and mathematics requires considerable time and effort.
Worse still, this often leads to delays in providing meaningful feedback.
Burdened with repetitive tasks, educators often struggle to maintain the quality and quantity of feedback needed to facilitate student growth.
The assessment process is crying out for an overhaul.
AI offers a powerful solution.
AI-driven assessment platforms such as Graide address these issues by automating routine tasks, along with enhancing the quality of feedback. By using advanced algorithms, AI provides a more consistent and detailed evaluation of student performance.
But the real benefit is that educators can then focus on those interactions that foster the deeper learning that really makes a long-lasting difference. That’s why many teachers enter the profession in the first place—to engage with learners and share a love of learning.
Put simply, delegate the drudgery to tech and enjoy more time teaching.
Let’s delve a little deeper into how AI-powered platforms like Graide are saving lots of English and math teachers the grunt work hated by so many.
AI in English language assessments
From grammar and syntax to content and creativity, assessing English language skills involves evaluating a range of aspects.
AI can be particularly effective in automating the evaluation of the more mechanical elements, making it easier for educators to provide comprehensive and consistent feedback.
1. Automated grammar and syntax evaluation
One of the key strengths of AI in English language assessment is its ability to evaluate grammar and syntax automatically. AI algorithms can identify common grammatical and syntactical errors, allowing teachers to provide quick corrections without spending excessive time on each individual response.
Large classes create reams of marking.
Automated assessment cuts down considerably on time and red ink.
2. Content analysis and structural feedback
AI is also capable of analyzing the content and structure of student writing, allowing for a more nuanced assessment of their work. The coherence, content relevance, and clarity of arguments are essential components of English language assessment. AI can help by analyzing these aspects and highlighting areas that need improvement, for example, weak thesis statements, lack of evidence, or disorganized argument flow.
And AI-powered assessment, like Graide, accelerates the process. Students receive timely feedback highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of their work, enabling them to refine their arguments and improve their writing long before they forget what that essay or paper was about.
3. Personalized feedback for student growth
One of the limitations of traditional grading is the lack of personalized feedback.
Teachers desperately want to provide meaningful insights to each and every student.
Time constraints make that challenging.
AI addresses this issue by enabling personalized feedback at scale. Graide’s platform is designed to offer tailored comments based on individual student performance, highlighting specific areas for improvement.
Take a platform tour to see how Graide works on text/essay questions.
AI in mathematics assessments
Traditional math grading, which entails verifying multiple steps in intricate calculations, can be tedious, complex, and time-consuming.
Using AI-assisted tools can significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of math assessments by automating these tasks.
1. Verification of numerical solutions
One of the core features of AI in mathematics assessments is its ability to verify numerical solutions.
Graide’s AI Mathematics Grading feature helps educators by automatically analyzing student responses, verifying calculations, and ensuring accuracy. This reduces the burden on educators, who would otherwise need to check each and every solution manually.
Better still, Graide's AI is designed to assess not only the final answer but also the intermediate steps taken by students.
We all know the importance of this in mathematics, where understanding the process is as crucial as arriving at the correct answer.
By analyzing each step, AI ensures that students receive feedback on the exact points where they made mistakes, helping them understand and correct their approach.
2. Step-by-step feedback on problem-solving
Pinpointing precisely where students’ answers go awry means developing that key foundational skill in mathematics—problem-solving.
The process is as important as the outcome.
It is essential for students to understand the method as much as arrive at the correct answer.
Step-by-step feedback on student solutions, identifying errors at each stage of the problem-solving process, is a game-changer. This enables students to see precisely where they went wrong and how they can correct their mistakes in the future.
For instance, if a student makes an error in applying a particular formula or miscalculates during an intermediate step, Graide’s AI highlights this error and provides specific guidance on how to correct it.
A word about consistency and fairness in grading
As with English, mathematics assessments require a consistent approach to grading, especially when evaluating multiple students' responses to the same problem.
Traditional grading can be influenced by subjective factors, and the sheer amount of marking leads to fatigue, which is when mistakes creep in.
AI, unlike humans, just goes on and on, offering the same grading criteria to every response, every time, whatever the time of day or night, ensuring fairness and objectivity across the board.
That means peace of mind for teacher and student.
Case Study: Jisc Pilot with Graide
The effectiveness of AI in educational assessments has been demonstrated through various pilot programs and collaborations. One notable example is the Jisc pilot involving Graide, which aimed to explore how AI could reduce educators' workload and improve the quality of assessment in STEM subjects. This pilot was conducted across several universities in the UK and focused on leveraging Graide’s AI capabilities to streamline the grading process.
The Jisc pilot revealed significant time savings, with the median grading times reduced by 74%.
Graide’s AI-enabled parallel marking of different sections of a paper allowed multiple teachers to assess their respective sections simultaneously, thereby minimizing time delays. Additionally, Graide provided rapid feedback to students, helping them identify areas for improvement ahead of exams and other assessments.
The pilot also highlighted the benefits of consistent and high-quality feedback. Graide analyzed student responses during marking, allowing educators to give detailed and constructive feedback on each student's approach, not just the final answer. The number of words of feedback given increased by a factor of 7.2. Students gain, therefore, a better understanding of the process, which is critical to subjects like math.
The success of the Jisc pilot underscores the potential of AI to revolutionize educational assessments and enhance the learning experience for students.
The most exciting thing is that AI is improving all the time.
The success of initiatives like the Jisc pilot demonstrates its potential not only to reduce workload but also to enhance the quality of education by providing meaningful insights into student performance.
As AI progresses, its role in education will only expand, offering new opportunities to improve learning outcomes and make education more accessible and effective.
By embracing AI in assessments, educators can focus more on what truly matters—guiding students on their learning journey and helping them reach their full potential.
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