E‐assessment and software testing

Abstract

Purpose

To overcome the high manual effort of assessments for teaching personnel, e‐assessment systems are used to assess students using information systems (IS). The purpose of this paper is to propose an extension of EASy, a system for e‐assessment of exercises that require higher‐order cognitive skills. The latest module allows assessing programming exercises in conjunction with particular test‐driven‐development and back‐to‐back testing.

Design/methodology/approach

EASy was developed following a design science research approach. To prove the effectiveness of the approach, the authors discuss findings from a survey that was conducted with almost 200 students from a programming lecture and present quantitative and qualitative findings.

Findings

Most students reflected positively on using EASy. EASy proves to be a versatile tool and the extension meets the authors' aims. Several details require further investigation, most notably usability and the support of tutors.

Research limitations/implications

E‐assessment is a field that requires much future research to enable commercial‐scale systems for assessment of higher‐order cognitive skills. The authors' research is currently limited in the number of exercise types the system supports.

Practical implications

EASy is a research tool despite being used in actual lectures. It is not yet a general e‐assessment solution.

Originality/value

While EASy is a research prototype, its usage in lectures demonstrates the practicability of using e‐assessment. EASy currently is one of the few systems with advanced capabilities. The paper strongly contributes to the knowledge base on building e‐assessment systems; thus, it is relevant both for practitioners seeking to establish e‐assessment and to researchers trying to understand the future needs towards comparable systems.

Citation

Usener, C.A., Majchrzak, T.A. and Kuchen, H. (2012), "E‐assessment and software testing", Interactive Technology and Smart Education, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 46-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/17415651211228095