May be the following link interesting

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/11/28/lupton-30-tips-writing/

Happy New Year 2016

Dear Debra,

This is a sound academic discourse.

I look forward to read from experts.

I am willing to help.

Mean while, if you have any content or picture of how this should evolve, please share that also.

i am willing to skype and talk anytime between 1.30 p.m to 2.30 p.m (IST, +5.30 GMT).

If this time doesn't suit, then we can plan conveniently, such other time also (may be well scheduled prior to video call)

Best wishes

Krishnan:

Thank you for the planning guidance, which I think is a good start. I have included a link of an open source platform with an academic writing quiz. The latter is an idea of the platform.

Many thanks,

Debra

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=academic-writing

Dear @ Dr. Debra Sharon Ferdinand and @ Dr. Krishnan Umachandran,

I am exciting to utilize of your guidance. Thanks a million for your convenient question and guidance planning.

Best regards,

S. M. Mohammadizadeh

Please go through the attached link on guideline categories, for some more insight.

teaching.uncc.edu/podcast/preparing-multiple-choice-questions-part-2

Krishnan:

Thanks for link, which I would go thru.

Debra

May be the following link interesting

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/11/28/lupton-30-tips-writing/

Happy New Year 2016

Dear All,

I do not have such experience but would like to look at this project. Best regards and wish you a Happy New Year.

Dear Debra,

This will be a very involved project. If I understood correctly we are trying to develop software that will take a piece of academic write-up as input and would give assessment/suggestion about the write-up as output. First I believe a natural language processor will be necessary. This will check the grammatical correctness and will do necessary parsing for semantic analysis. At this point we have to decide the domain of the given write-up. This is so because for semantic analysis domain knowledge will be necessary. This part will be difficult. There are research activities for story understanding which may help for such analysis.

Anup:

Indeed, this is a very ambitious project and as you share your ideas, we'll be able to better conceptualize it. Of course, it's a collective effort of shared expertise, so I am hoping for persons with the expertise to come on board. In the meantime, I would try to research the different domains. The attached was shared by another RG colleague, which appears to be what we need, but the premium version requires an annual fee.

Many thanks,

Debra 

https://prowritingaid.com/

Dear Debra

Can we start collecting the

As a SAE, please lead with your responses, so that other can continue and value add

The above mentioned points are illustrative, you and other members can structure based on their expertise.

Good response Prof Krishnan

Dear Debra,

I visited the link you have cited but not gone into detail. Do you want to develop something like that. I think best way to start with should be to fix the abstract specification of the system we want to develop. We must first decide what really we want to built.

I could not understand why we should need multiple choice questions. Could you please explain their requirements in connection with the operational specification of the proposed system ?

Regards,

Anup 

Krishnan:

Thank you for the suggestions on the iterative start-up steps, which look very logical. I agree that we start collecting the questions, which would test students' knowledge on different aspects of academic writing such as the components of a "thesis statement" or the purpose of an "Introduction" in the thesis. The latter is partly a response to Anup's question. If resources permit we can also develop some automatic editing features so that students can receive feedback on the quality of their academic writing. In addition to questions, the content material would also need to be uploaded, so that students can use these in preparing for answering the online questions. I am tied up this week with meeting end-of-semester deadlines for turning in marks, so I'll set up a time next week, so we can meet via Skype (debra.ferdinand) to discuss the plan further. 

I thank you all for sharing your expertise to this academic writing initiative. 

Best regards,

Debra

Why make writing an algorithmic exercise when it is quite straightforward? There are principles of writing, including academic writing, in any language. It is the underlying concepts and principles that are important to writing expertise. My book on writing in English may help point the way: Secrets of writing killer essays & reports. It is available from Amazon.com.

Have you seen the latest development of Google Course Builder, easy to integrate if you use Google Apps for Education (GAfE). Let me know if you want to know more!

https://www.google.com/edu/openonline/edukit/quickstart.html

Jonas:

If it's not too much trouble, I think sharing your knowledge of Google Course Builder would be edifying for all of us. Thanks for willingly sharing your knowledge and expertise.

Debra

Dear Debra, you can see this link

http://evalcomix.uca.es/

It is an interesting tool to create assessment tools online

Debra, there could be several answers to your request. I am just wondering if you are interested of having a user-friendly spreadsheet on split-half reliability. Researchers will simply key in the sores and there will be automatic feedback on the difficulty index and discrimination index.

May be the auto assessment should enable process learning

Writing requires training and practice, from the common observations like

I believe that you-all have made a mistake in assuming this algorithmic auto-assessment method is appropriate for teaching and learning academic writing, or indeed writing of any kind. Indeed it is a defective way of learning anything subjective and meaningful. Not that it can't be done, it's just that I consider this approach to be the worst possible way to teach writing, and especially in applying like this to various language groups online. I would certainly assist with devising some more appropriate and nuanced method. 

Donald:

Thanks for sharing your perspective. We are still exploring how to address the challenge of enhancing students' academic writing. I now invite you to share on devising some more appropriate and nuanced method.

Many thanks,

Debra

Sotero:

Thanks for feedback. I think that would be an advanced level at this moment. The initial problem encountered was students having challenges in academic writing such as a clear thesis statement or purpose statement or statement of the problem.

I would like to ask if anyone is interested in getting the project off the ground, if you can post up your Skype ID so we can include you in our start-up meetings.

Many thanks,

Debra

The initial thoughts for developing the new tool has been evolved as a dataset. The work breakdown structure can be a base document to guide us and garner more from our fellow researchers who are aligned in the development of auto-test tool. As we further our communication on this, we can still see more clarity on the big picture coming to reality. Request more inputs and suggestions from everyone interested.

Data Auto –Test Product Development Work Breakdown Structure

dear krishnan umahandran,looks fine although will give athiught if it can be refined for the undergraduate level-kulvinder

Dear Debra

You can look at the link I find very interesting.

evalcomix.uca.es

Hi again Debra:

To analyse this problem of improving academic writing, you need first to decide what are the qualities of good academic writing. To do this you could do a lot worse than to follow my trail. First read my book, "Secrets of writing killer essays & reports," which covers a lot of ground. I have also recently written a draft paper, "A Blueprint for Analysis," which is available on ResearchGate. Certainly analysis and synthesis are critical components of academic writing and one of the major writerly qualities is the strength of the connecting story. This quality of story I have also addressed in a draft paper that's available in ResearchGate, entitled: "What is Story." And there's another draft piece too, "Words are Wolves."  All of this information should give you a head start in defining good academic writing, and it provides many clues on how to achieve that goal.

I will assist wherever I can with your project, though I have little interest in the assessment of academic writing.

Sincerely, Don

Dear All,

I suggest you that self-assessment can take many forms, including:

• writing conferences

• discussion (whole-class or small-group)

• reflection logs

• weekly self-evaluations

• self-assessment checklists and inventories

• teacher-student interviews

Regards

Hengky

Dear Hengky, Would it be possible for you to join us on skype today 5.00 pm (Jakarta time) regards

Krishnan Umachandran

Krishnan:

Thank you for meeting with me today on Skype to discuss the Auto-Test Product further.I will further refine the WBS sections with the details we discussed, so you can have a clearer idea of how the auto-test product is to be used.

Many thanks,

Debra

Dear All:

My humble apologies for getting my international times mixed up. Krishnan alerted me to the correct time when I Skyped him this morning. We would keep you informed on the updates and correct times for follow-up meetings.

Many thanks,

Debra

 Hello Everyone:

Our Skype meeting went well even though despite my mix-up in the international times and resulted in the attached that can be used as a template for developing the auto-test product further. Please post up your interest and feedback here for which product components you can volunteer services or any other ideas you may have for enhancing the product. I extend a special thanks to Krishnan for being very instrumental in producing the product template.

Many, many thanks,

Debra

Dear Debra

I see your ppt (Academic Writing Auto Assessment Evolution Template) very informative,

I hope all you support us with more other ones,

Regards,

Muslih AI