Early experiences of computer-aided assessment and administration when teaching computer programming

Abstract

This paper describes early experiences with the Ceilidh system currently being piloted at over 30 institutions of higher education. Ceilidh is a course-management system for teaching computer programming whose core is an auto-assessment facility. This facility automatically marks students programs from a range of perspectives, and may be used in an iterative manner, enabling students to work towards a target level of attainment. Ceilidh also includes extensive courseadministration and progress-monitoring facilities, as well as support for other forms of assessment including short-answer marking and the collation of essays for later hand-marking. The paper discusses the motivation for developing Ceilidh, outlines its major facilities, then summarizes experiences of developing and actually using it at the coal-face over three years of teaching.