Automated Assessment of Student Self-explanation During Source Code Comprehension

This paper presents a novel method to automatically assess self-explanations generated by students during code comprehension activities. The self-explanations are produced in the context of an online learning environment that asks students to freely explain Java code examples line-by-line. We explor...

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Main Authors: Jeevan Chapagain, Lasang Tamang, Rabin Banjade, Priti Oli, Vasile Rus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: LibraryPress@UF 2022-05-01
Series:Proceedings of the International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.flvc.org/FLAIRS/article/view/130540
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author Jeevan Chapagain
Lasang Tamang
Rabin Banjade
Priti Oli
Vasile Rus
author_facet Jeevan Chapagain
Lasang Tamang
Rabin Banjade
Priti Oli
Vasile Rus
author_sort Jeevan Chapagain
collection DOAJ
description This paper presents a novel method to automatically assess self-explanations generated by students during code comprehension activities. The self-explanations are produced in the context of an online learning environment that asks students to freely explain Java code examples line-by-line. We explored a number of models consisting of textual features in conjunction with machine learning algorithms such as Support Vector Regression (SVR), Decision Trees (DT), and Random Forests (RF). Support Vector Regression (SVR) performed best having a correlation score with human judgments of 0.7088. The best model used a combination of features such as semantic measures obtained using a Sentence BERT pre-trained model and from previously developed semantic algorithms used in a state-of-the-art intelligent tutoring system.
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institution DOAJ
issn 2334-0754
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language English
publishDate 2022-05-01
publisher LibraryPress@UF
record_format Article
series Proceedings of the International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference
spelling doaj-art-dfb6bd2fb60049e482e78d32cc91db922025-08-20T03:05:26ZengLibraryPress@UFProceedings of the International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference2334-07542334-07622022-05-013510.32473/flairs.v35i.13054066739Automated Assessment of Student Self-explanation During Source Code ComprehensionJeevan Chapagain0Lasang TamangRabin BanjadePriti OliVasile RusUniversity of MemphisThis paper presents a novel method to automatically assess self-explanations generated by students during code comprehension activities. The self-explanations are produced in the context of an online learning environment that asks students to freely explain Java code examples line-by-line. We explored a number of models consisting of textual features in conjunction with machine learning algorithms such as Support Vector Regression (SVR), Decision Trees (DT), and Random Forests (RF). Support Vector Regression (SVR) performed best having a correlation score with human judgments of 0.7088. The best model used a combination of features such as semantic measures obtained using a Sentence BERT pre-trained model and from previously developed semantic algorithms used in a state-of-the-art intelligent tutoring system.https://journals.flvc.org/FLAIRS/article/view/130540self-explanationsource code comprehensionsemantic similarity
spellingShingle Jeevan Chapagain
Lasang Tamang
Rabin Banjade
Priti Oli
Vasile Rus
Automated Assessment of Student Self-explanation During Source Code Comprehension
Proceedings of the International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference
self-explanation
source code comprehension
semantic similarity
title Automated Assessment of Student Self-explanation During Source Code Comprehension
title_full Automated Assessment of Student Self-explanation During Source Code Comprehension
title_fullStr Automated Assessment of Student Self-explanation During Source Code Comprehension
title_full_unstemmed Automated Assessment of Student Self-explanation During Source Code Comprehension
title_short Automated Assessment of Student Self-explanation During Source Code Comprehension
title_sort automated assessment of student self explanation during source code comprehension
topic self-explanation
source code comprehension
semantic similarity
url https://journals.flvc.org/FLAIRS/article/view/130540
work_keys_str_mv AT jeevanchapagain automatedassessmentofstudentselfexplanationduringsourcecodecomprehension
AT lasangtamang automatedassessmentofstudentselfexplanationduringsourcecodecomprehension
AT rabinbanjade automatedassessmentofstudentselfexplanationduringsourcecodecomprehension
AT pritioli automatedassessmentofstudentselfexplanationduringsourcecodecomprehension
AT vasilerus automatedassessmentofstudentselfexplanationduringsourcecodecomprehension