ONLINE DESCRIPTIVE EXAMINATION SYSTEM
AT
GIAN
JYOTI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY,
PHASE
2, MOHALI
work
by:
Professor
Col SC Sood(Retd)
14 Oct 2011
- Evaluation has been an essential part of the education and is done through system of examinations. The students are to be evaluated against the subjects and topics covered over a period of time. Generally, the written examination is conducted for two to three hours and the work is to be evaluated as soon as possible. At college or institute level, a teacher is required to evaluate answer books of about 60 students per class. For proper evaluation, the examiner needs at least 15-20 minutes for each answer book. It means about 15-20 hours for each subject. Since we have only limited time available per day, the evaluation is spread over many days.
- When there is a large number of students examined, the evaluation requires considerable manual effort. In some cases, there are difficulties on account of poor handwriting. The task of evaluation is repetitive and boring. The quality of evaluation also varies in accordance with the mood of the examiner. The solution lies in automating the work using computers.
- In order to achieve computer based automation, online objective type tests based on multiple choice questions are being used to the extent possible. However, this technique lacks the capability of evaluating descriptive answers. In university examinations, both varieties of questions are included for evaluation of the students.
- Requirement of evaluating written work by computer software has been a daunting task. In some cases, it is semiautomatic whereby the students answer by typing online. The answers are saved on the server and evaluation is done manually. The project undertaken by Colonel SC Sood (Retd), Professor at Gian Jyoti Institute of Management and Technology, Phase 2, Mohali, aims at evaluating descriptive answers by using algorithms specially developed for the purpose. Concepts of artificial intelligence are also being incorporated. New algorithms have been developed for achievement of the said aim.
- First prototype of the above software has been developed, deployed and tested on 180 students. The software has been found to meets the requirements to a large extent. The web based solution has been developed using WordPress - the blogging tool and publishing platform, Ubuntu 11.04 - Linux operating system, Apache web server, MySQL database server, and PHP as server side scripting language. Javascript has been used as client side scripting language. Squirrelmail is being used as web based email application to meet email requirements for LAN/intranet based network within the Institute. All the software used in the project is free and open source. Therefore, the deployment cost would be limited to the extent of training manpower on the above software. Obviously the project is highly economical. Since the solution is web based, the client computers may use windows or linux operating system.
- Question paper is prepared by the subject teacher in consultation with the technical staff conversant with the project who assist in uploading the same in the desired format. The current version of the system caters for five questions. Students appear for the test online within the lab. User authentication has been incorporated. On successful login, each student gets the question paper and his/her blank answer book. They are required to answer the questions by typing in the space provided. The software facilitates saving of the typed work as per user convenience. In case of a system failure, the saved work is available to the student for continuation. After the specified time the students are required to save their work and logout. Results are computed on the click of a button. The software also facilitates manual viewing of the answers for each question for all the students as well as full answer book of a single student. For keeping hard copy of the written work, printing of all answer books has also been provided. In case the results are found at variance from the expected ones, the software can also be trained to adapt to the new changes. With subsequent research, the system may be adopted by all organisations as well as at university level. It would save enormous amount of man hours for evaluation of examinations. It would also save time, effort and paper as well as help to overcome other limitations of manual evaluation. Work for further improvement is going on.
