Essay Cheats Face Deterrent
Aberdeen Press and Journal
SECTION: News; Education; Colleges/Univs; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 197 words
An Academic at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, is further developing computer software to combat essay cheats. James Christie hopes improvements to SEAR, which analyses word-processed work for similar content and style, could lead to it being marketed as a service to universities across the UK. The programme analyses parameters from a small sample of essays such as vocabulary, sentence length and grammar and creates a formula to mark the style.
Field testing is under way to assess the feasibility of marketing SEAR as a tool to reduce the lecturer's burden.
Mr Christie, a lecturer in RGU's school of computing, said yesterday: "As most UK university students are expected to word process their essays this system could allow marking to be done directly by the PC quickly and accurately." He added: "Automated essay marking can be a useful tool against plagiarism." Meanwhile, RGU is holding an open day for people interested in a career in nursing or midwifery. It is being held at the faculty of health and social care at the university's Garthdee campus on Saturday, June 18, between 1-4pm. For more information contact Susan Cumming on 01224 262982.
COMPANY: ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY (92%);
LOAD-DATE: June 5, 2005
LANGUAGE: English