Title: Using digital pens to expedite the marking procedure

Authors: Konstantinos Banitsas, Georgios Eliopoulos, Linda Murray

Addresses: Department of E&CE (H222), School of Engineering and Design, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK. ' Department of E&CE (H222), School of Engineering and Design, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK. ' Department of E&CE (H222), School of Engineering and Design, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, UK

Abstract: Digital pens have been introduced over the last six years and have demonstrated that they can be used effectively for collecting, processing and storing data. These properties make them ideal for use in education, particularly in the marking procedure of multiple-choice questions (MCQ). In this report, we present a system that was designed to expedite the marking procedure of MCQ, for use at any educational level. The main element of the system is a digital pen, i.e. given to the students prior to the examination. On return of the pen, the system immediately recognises the students| answers and produces their results. In this specific research, four groups of students were studied and a variety of data were collected, concerning issues, such as accuracy, time gained by the use of the system and the impressions of the students. The pedagogic value of the use of the system is also presented.

Keywords: digital pens; marking procedures; examinations; multiple choice questions; student satisfaction; data collection; data processing; data storage; answer recognition; results production; accuracy; time; pedagogic value; pedagogy; innovation; higher education; universities; UK; United Kingdom; interactive media.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIE.2010.036859

International Journal of Innovation in Education, 2010 Vol.1 No.2, pp.188 - 203

Published online: 12 Nov 2010 *

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