Computer programs are - in principle - ideal subjects for automated assessment. Not only can the correctness of a program be measured, but also its quality. However, there is no single correct approach to the problem of assessing programming assignments, and different practitioners may adopt different strategies, depending on the specific aims and objectives of the course they are teaching, and on their own style and preferences.

Our interest is both technical and educational, and we have investigated how new technologies can be used in an assessment system in ways which will benefit the teaching and learning processes. Our pedagogic foundation is that automatic assessment should not constrain the teacher to present or deliver their assessment material in any given style.

BOSS - Electronic Coursework Submission

Our research has resulted in the development of a tool to support electronic submission and assessment of coursework. The BOSS Online Submission System has been developed over a number of years as a tool to facilitate online submission and subsequent processing of programming assignments. The BOSS tool is capable of managing the whole process from coursework submission through to the return of final marks and feedback.

Students can submit their work using a web interface that transfers their work to a secure server. Once submitted the students' work can be automatically tested against defined criteria which can be reported back to the marker. BOSS allows for marked work to be moderated, feedback added and the results return to student via e-mail.

Our original motivation was for a tool, which would support computer programming modules, but it was also clear that an effective tool would—with minor adjustments—also be supportive of other types of material. The BOSS tool is now used at Warwick and several other institutions to manage the assessment of a variety of coursework including programming assignments, essays and reports.

Further information about BOSS is available from www.boss.org.uk

Publications

Joy, M.S. and Griffiths, N. and Boyatt, R.C. (2005) The BOSS Online Submission and Assessment System. ACM Journal on Educational Resources in Computing, 5 (3). pp. 1-28. ISSN 15314278 [PDF] (BibTeX)

Heng, P-S. and Joy, M.S. and Boyatt, R.C. and Griffiths, N. (2005) Evaluation of the BOSS Online Submission and Assessment System. Technical Report. University of Warwick, Coventry. [PDF] (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. (2004) Automating the Process of Skills-based Assessment. In: Effective Learning and Teaching in Computing. Routledge Farmer, pp. 76-85. ISBN 978-0415335010 [PDF] (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Griffiths, N. (2004) The BOSS Online Submission System. Forum, 26. p. 15. (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Griffiths, N. (2004) Online Submission of Coursework - a Technological Perspective. In: 4th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT2004), Joensuu, Finland. [PDF] (BibTeX)

Griffiths, N. and Joy, M.S. (2003) An Integrated Approach to Courseware. In: World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) and American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Electronic Conference, 7-10 Sep 2003, Porto, Portugal. [PDF] (BibTeX)

Rawles, S. and Joy, M.S. and Evans, M. (2002) Computer-Assisted Assessment in Computer Science: Issues and Software. Technical Report. University of Warwick, Coventry. [PDF] (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Burnett, I. (2001) The BOSS Online Submission System. In: LTSN-ICS Workshop on CAA, Coventry, UK. [PDF] (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Chan, P.S. and Luck, M. (2000) Networked Submission and Assessment. In: 1st Annual Conference of the LTSN Centre for Information and Computer Sciences, 23-25 August 2000, Edinburgh, UK. [PDF] (BibTeX)

Luck, M. and Joy, M.S. (1999) A Secure On-line Submission System. Software: Practice and Experience, 29 (8). pp. 721-740. ISSN 0038-0644 (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Luck, M. (1998) The BOSS System for On-line Submission and Assessment of Computing Assignments. In: Computer Based Assessment (Volume 2): Case studies in Science and Computing. SEED Publications, Plymouth, UK, pp. 39-44. ISBN 1-84102-02-7 [PDF] (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Luck, M. (1998) The BOSS System for On-line Submission and Assessment. Monitor: Journal of the CTI Centre for Computing, 10. pp. 27-29. (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Luck, M. (1998) Computer-Based Submission and Assessment in BOSS. Interactions, 6 (2). [PDF] (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Luck, M. (1998) Effective Electronic Marking for On-line Assessment. ACM SIGCSE, 30 (3). pp. 134-138. ISSN 0097-8418 (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Luck, M. (1996) Software Standards in Undergraduate Computing Courses. Journal Of Computer Assisted Learning, 12 (2). pp. 103-113. ISSN 0026-4909 (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Luck, M. (1996) A User-Friendly On-line Submissions System. In: 4th Annual Conference on the Teaching of Computing, 27-29 Aug 1996, Dublin, Eire. [PDF] (BibTeX)

Joy, M.S. and Luck, M. (1995) On-line Submission and Testing of Programming Assignments. In: Innovations in the Teaching of Computing. SEDA Papers, 1 (88). SEDA, London, pp. 95-103. ISBN 0-946815-93-3 [PDF] (BibTeX)

Luck, M. and Joy, M.S. (1995) Automatic Submission in an Evolutionary Approach to Computer Science Teaching. Computers and Education, 25 (3). pp. 105-111. ISSN 0360-1315 (BibTeX)