Professor Develops Software to help Grade Essays.

The article presents information according to which Ed Brent, a professor of sociology at the University of Missouri in Columbia has developed a computer program that not only grades his students' essays but also gives feedback on how they can improve their work. The program simply runs through the students' papers to see if those elements are thoroughly presented, analyzing the semantics and assessing the writer's understanding of the topic. If a student leaves something out or gets something wrong, the program will flag those mistakes, to help the student improve the next draft.