Computer-based assessment: from objective tests to automated essay grading. Now for automated essay writing?

Assessment of student learning is an important task undertaken by educators. However it can be time consuming and costly for humans to grade student work. Technology has been available to assist teachers in grading objective tests for several decades; however these true-false and multiple choice tests do not capture the deeper aspects of student learning. Essay writing can be used to assess this deeper learning, which includes a student's ability to synthesize his/her thoughts, and argue for propositions. Automated essay grading systems are now starting to be used in the educational sector with some success. They can reduce the cost of grading, and they also eliminate the inconsistencies that are found amongst human graders when marking the same essay. The next development in essay processing technology is automated essay writing. This development will present a new set of challenges for educators. The detection of automatically generated essays may be difficult, and students may be given credit for writing which does not reflect their true ability. An understanding ofhow these systems would work, and the characteristics of the generated essays, is thus needed in order to detect them. This paper describes the components we believe an automated essay generator would need to have, and the results of building a prototype of the first of these components, the Gatherer

Old Fields and New Fields: Ceramics and the Expanded Field of Sculpture

Part One of this research considers the relationship of ceramics to sculpture through the lens of art vs. craft criticism. Utilizing Rosalind Krauss\u27 concept of the expanded field of sculpture as a focal point, this research examines contradictions in Krauss\u27 argument for the exclusion of ceramic media from the mantle of sculpture, as well as current responses to this exclusion as it exists today. The responses considered aim to argue for ceramics\u27 place in the expanded field, and to question the need for further criticism on this issue, suggesting there are more relevant questions facing the field of ceramics than the medium\u27s classification as an artform or craft. Part Two addresses my functional, sculptural, and digital work made in response to these ideas for the group studio art thesis exhibition: Clear As Day

Why do doctored images distort memory?

Doctored images can cause people to believe in and remember experiences that never occurred, yet the underlying mechanism(s) responsible are not well understood. How does compelling false evidence distort autobiographical memory? Subjects were filmed observing and copying a Research Assistant performing simple actions, then they returned 2 days later for a memory test. Before taking the test, subjects viewed video-clips of simple actions, including actions that they neither observed nor performed earlier. We varied the format of the video-clips between-subjects to tap into the source-monitoring mechanisms responsible for the ‘doctored-evidence effect.’ The distribution of belief and memory distortions across conditions suggests that at least two mechanisms are involved: doctored images create an illusion of familiarity, and also enhance the perceived credibility of false suggestions. These findings offer insight into how external evidence influences source-monitoring

A review of human sensory dynamics for application to models of driver steering and speed control.

In comparison with the high level of knowledge about vehicle dynamics which exists nowadays, the role of the driver in the driver-vehicle system is still relatively poorly understood. A large variety of driver models exist for various applications; however, few of them take account of the driver's sensory dynamics, and those that do are limited in their scope and accuracy. A review of the literature has been carried out to consolidate information from previous studies which may be useful when incorporating human sensory systems into the design of a driver model. This includes information on sensory dynamics, delays, thresholds and integration of multiple sensory stimuli. This review should provide a basis for further study into sensory perception during driving.This work was supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P505445/1) (studentship for Nash).This is the published version. It first appeared from Springer at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00422-016-0682-x

Target discovery focused approaches to overcome bottlenecks in the exploitation of antimycobacterial natural products

Tuberculosis is a major global health hazard. The search for new antimycobacterials has focused on such as screening combinational chemistry libraries or designing chemicals to target predefined pockets of essential bacterial proteins. The relative ineffectiveness of these has led to a reappraisal of natural products for new antimycobacterial drug leads. However, progress has been limited, we suggest through a failure in many cases to define the drug target and optimize the hits using this information. We highlight methods of target discovery needed to develop a drug into a candidate for clinical trials. We incorporate these into suggested analysis pipelines which could inform the research strategies to accelerate the development of new drug leads from natural products

Producing facial composite sketches in remote cognitive interviews:a preliminary investigation

Justice systems around the world are increasingly turning to videoconferencing as a means to reduce delays and reduce costs in legal processes. This preliminary research examined whether interviewing a witness remotely - without physical co-presence of the witness and interviewer - could facilitate the production of quality facial composite sketches of suspects. In Study 1, 42 adults briefly viewed a photograph of a face. The next day they participated in Cognitive Interviews with a forensic artist, conducted either face-to-face or remotely via videoconference. In Study 2, 20 adults participated in videoconferenced interviews, and we manipulated the method by which they viewed the developing sketch. In both studies, independent groups of volunteers rated the likeness of the composites to the original photographs. The data suggest that remote interviews elicited effective composites; however, in Study 1 these composites were considered poorer matches to the photographs than were those produced in face-to-face interviews. The differences were small, but significant. Participants perceived several disadvantages to remote interviewing, but also several advantages including less pressure and better concentration. The results of Study 2 suggested that different sketch presentation methods offered different benefits. We propose that remote interviewing could be a useful tool for investigators in certain circumstances