IR-based framework of free-response mathematics assessment marking engine

This paper describes the framework of a marking engine for a free-response mathematics assessment. The objectives set for the engine are to achieve a line-by-line checking of intermediate steps and the final answer as well as assigning a score to each step that is reflective of its correctness. The framework is designed by adapting and applying basic operations and techniques from textual information retrieval. The development of this framework is the result of the findings from research undertaken by previous researchers from our institution. It serves as a theoretical background to formalize our current research in this area.