COMPUTER-GRADED VISUALIZATIONS: ENHANCING REDUCTION OF FORMAL LECTURES IN ONLINE AND SEATED CLASSES

The ability to automatically grade visualizations, including graphs, figures and sketches, has been added to the Instructional Computer Adaptive Test (ICAT) program. This allows the use of student-created products in online quizzes, without requiring manual grading. The objective of the ICAT program is to aid in student learning, with coupled assessment, outside of the classroom, prompting a reduction in formal lecture presentations in both online and seated classes. The use of multiple choice quizzes was considered a major limitation in the original implementation of ICAT, as student-created products have been shown to involve higher-level learning and visualizations have been shown to be critical to geologic instruction. The visualizations are graded using rubrics based upon the position of the student-generated material in comparison to a series of fields (shapes). Up to five shapes may be defined for each visualization. Both shapes and rubrics are individually defined for each visualization. As with all questions in ICAT, incorrect answers lead to instructional material that guides the student to the correct answer, and a correct answer must be given before the quiz is completed. The program assigns letter grades to the visualizations, unlike the multiple choice questions (which are either correct or not). The automatically generated grade reports provide a separate listing for visualization grades. The program has been developed for online introductory geology lectures and laboratories at NC State and was utilized in the online labs this fall. Visualization development will continue in the online labs this Spring and will be used in seated sections next Fall.