Implementing an Automated Assessment Tool Supporting Assessment and Feedback on Assessments for Novice Programmers in the Higher-Education Setting.

Abstract

Many Higher-Education (HE) providers in the UK have observed and reported the number of novice programming students is rising HESA1, with no proportional increase in teaching-staff numbers HESA2. Novice programming students need frequent practice eliciting immediate feedback NN1 and without this there is a potentially negative impact on their experience of and progression from HE. One solution to this problem is the automation of assessment and feedback on assessment. The poster and accompanying presentation gives consideration to this problem, Automated Assessment Tools (AATs) of the past, and moves to show question-types pertinent to novice programmers in the HE setting which have been iteratively incorporated into a new AAT. The flow of information to be facilitated between stakeholders (teaching-staff and students) in this new AAT is demonstrated from the different perspectives, in-order to promote discussion around the context and use of AATs and how AATs might form a part of the solution when seeking to improve teaching-staff and student experiences in HE, as student numbers continue to rise and remote/home-working becomes more a part of normal working patterns.