OBJECT ORIENTED PROGRAMMING

Object Oriented Programming



Object Oriented Programming

Introduction

The problem of managing large numbers of students in programming classes is a common one. Most course grading environments include document flow, grading, and record keeping. Document flow includes distribution of assignments, program submission, and the return of graded programs with feedback. Some environments provide a simplified, user-friendly interface to facilitate the programming process for novices; others use more advanced programming environments such as UNIX. Some environments use human graders, while others fully automate the grading process. The student may receive immediate feedback on programs at the time of submission, as with the TRY system and the homework checker of Arnow (Canup, 1998, pp. 135).

Growing enrollment in distance education has increased student-to-lecturer ratios and, therefore, increased the workload of the lecturer. This growing enrollment has resulted in mounting efforts to develop automatic grading systems in an effort to reduce this workload. While research in the design and development of automatic grading systems has a long history in computer education, only a few attempts have been made to automatically assess spreadsheet and database skills.

Although these systems disclose only minimal information, the student is alerted to problems that prevent the program from compiling, running, or passing a test case, and is allowed to fix the problems and resubmit the assignment. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how concepts of testing can be used to specify programming assignments that are amenable to automated grading. The SPRAE framework is used to guide the preparation of a testable specification and the derivation of program checking scripts. These processes are incorporated into an existing program submission and grading environment (PSGE) developed by the author. PSGE, which closely resembles the TRY system, will be described in the next section, but it is not the major focus of this paper.

Drivers for the use of Computer-based Assessments

According to Tshibalo (2007), academic workload is increased in higher education and online assessments may help reduce this workload by helping lecturers manage the large volume of marking and assessment-related administration. Researchers also listed several drivers for the increasing use of e-assessments. He included both economic (that is, demand for portable qualifications and a cost-effective means of testing) and pedagogical drivers, and the most important pedagogical driver is that of rapid feedback in the form of both marks and comments, since they have the potential for the immediate shaping of learning (Arnow, 1995, pp. 13).

There are several drivers for the adoption of e-assessment, including perceived increases in student retention and the enhanced quality of the feedback the student receives. They also cited the flexibility of e-assessment for distance learning, the strategies it pro-vides to lectures for coping with large student numbers, the inherent objectivity in marking, and how it makes more effective use of a learning management system.

There are, however, some potential weaknesses and barriers to further increases in the use of computer-based assessments. As Swithenby (2006) pointed out, there is still some “cultural an-tipathy to computer-based ...