Marking for Structure using Boolean Feedback

Abstract

This paper presents evidence that marking student texts with well considered checklists is more effective than marking by hand. An experiment conducted on first-year students illustrated that the checklists developed to mark introductions, conclusions and paragraphs yielded better revision results than handwritten comments. Additional benefits made possible by the technique make a strong case for the use of such a technique in the marking of student texts. The marks assigned to the student texts also make a strong case for focusing on these specific textual features.

Keywords: Feedback, Second Language Writing, Checklist feedback, Text structure, Cohesion