Abstract:

The success of the establishment of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in the Spanish university passes for completing the traditional assessment methodologies with other more innovative and among them are those that use new technologies. This line was introduced from the beginning in the High Naval Engineering Technical School (Naval ETSI) through the Educational Innovation Project (Proyecto de Innovación Educativa–PIE), funded by the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid–UPM), by the implementation of a Mechanized Qualification Service (MQS) based on the acquisition of an Optical Mark Reader (OMR) model LD-4500, whose main objective was to promote frequent mechanized evaluation in the faculty of the Naval ETSI.

However, the process was not easy. In the initial reluctance of much of the faculty, used to work correcting tests manually, later joined the financial difficulties of a system formed itself on one side by a precision machine with a reading head which scans the optical sheets, and on the other side with software capable of translating the information read.

The work shows the functionality of the service placed at the disposal of the faculty through two levels of operation: teachers familiarized with new technologies, which operate as a self-service through a simple action protocol, obtaining the results immediately, and more lay teachers in these subjects, which are served by qualified staff that returns results 1 to 2 days.

The useful of the OMR is reflected in the large number of subjects involved and teachers who have made continuous use of it, the activities that have used it and the different types of leaves used, all during the first year after implantation. Thus the aim of financing the machine, involving four PIE and Naval ETSI, has been paid off for using during the first year in a proportion higher than expected.

This study shows the initial steps for acquisition, installation and commissioning, the training provided to teachers and technicians from Computer Services, work procedures, formats and software used, and its evolution over the course, the initial use and the alternative uses that have been generated, the type of reading log formats used; the subjects in which they have been used and the evaluation methodology used –what motivated a paper entitled Design of frequent mixed evaluation based on an interdisciplinary methodologies experience, presented in EDULEARN11, the 3rd annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies that has been held in Barcelona (Spain) on the 4th to 6th of July, 2011–, and other minor issues related to its operation, ease of use or maintenance.

The results will show the success in the incorporation of this assets to the methodologies of frequent assessment –that was its first goal– from the benefits obtained for all the faculty –usability across protocols, quick fixes, possible increase the number of evaluation tests during the course, ability to assess generic skills such as the choice of response among several viable alternatives, and others–; for the students –easy to know the results of their work on the go, quick feedback on knowledge, practice-solving tests, improve of their own know-how, and other–; and for the institution –results improved in the subjects which use it, greater satisfaction of both faculty and students in the evolution of the course, use the machine for alternative purposes, and other–.

Keywords:

Assessment methodologies, Continuous assessment, Qualification Mechanized.