A system for automatically grading graphs in an educational setting

Abstract

Online educational tools which automatically grade student answers are typically restricted to structured input such as multiple choice, numbers, or structured text. This thesis describes the design and implementation of a tool which can automatically grade the unstructured graphical input of 2D graphs. Student answers are captured on a web interface which allows freeform drawings on a grid similar to drawing on graph paper. Automatic grading is accomplished by running a series of independent tests on a student's drawing. Using six criteria, a large variety of drawings can be graded, and the result of automatically grading a criterion often matches that of a human grader. In addition, to make this system accessible to teachers, an interface for choosing criteria has been designed and tested for use by teachers with little to no programming experience.