Incorporating "computer-graded" components into electronic lessons

Learning occurs at many levels. Students advance from basic knowledge of skills to use of those skills in analysis, synthesis design and evaluation. Faculty, however, have the task of grading student work in all of those areas. Demands on faculty time limit what can be done. Especially in courses early in the curriculum, an attempt to bring synthesis and design into a course means that time for grading design may come from time for grading basic skills. This dilemma could conceivably be resolved in either direction-put the time into grading work on basic skills or put the time into synthesis and design. However, the preferred direction of resolution is to put the time into synthesis and design if it is possible to take care of grading work in basic skills. This paper discusses an attempt to automate grading work on basic skills in electrical engineering. The grading program was written in an inexpensive authoring system and can be adapted to other disciplines.