An automatic evaluation system for technical education at the University level

A Web-based automatic evaluation system for students of engineering faculties is described. The system, named Test on Line (ToL), can verify the possession of ideas, the ability to combine them into deductions, and the capability to make simple numerical calculations for otherwise practical exercises. ToL has been extensively in use for basic physics courses at the engineering faculties of the Turin Politecnico since the beginning of 1999. Consequently, the accumulated statistical data amount to approximately four thousand individual tests and show the credibility both of the method and of its results. ToL generates, for each student, a proposed mark (which can be verified by an oral colloquium on demand by the candidate) and a simple cognitive profile showing possible cognitional, logical, or practical weaknesses in the different topics of the study matter. The core of the platform consists of a database of questions, a selection algorithm, and an evaluation procedure. The instrument and the method are being refined; the major improvements under construction are listed.