This study investigates student engagement with Écree, a Natural Language Processing (NLP) based automated writing evaluation (AWE) that gives feedback on content. In particular, this study examines how mandating AWE use or not, affects students’ behavioral and emotional engagement with AWE feedback. Two classes—one in which Écree use was mandatory (EM) and another in which it was optional (EO)—were surveyed and four volunteers from each class were tracked. Overall, the two groups differed in their evaluations of how much they incorporated AWE feedback into revisions as well as in the number of uploads to Écree. Tracking the focal students’ written drafts, Écree feedback, and interview data revealed that students from EM tended to incorporate Écree’s feedback into their revisions more than EO students. Unexpectedly, EM students developed quite negative views toward Écree, whereas EO students often referred to its usefulness: its systematicity, speed, and role as a reader. This study implies that AWE can be utilized as a supplemental tool in higher education and that students may well need training so as to maximize its positive effects.
This study investigates student engagement with Écree, a Natural Language Processing (NLP) based automated writing evaluation (AWE) that gives feedback on content. In particular, this study examines how mandating AWE use or not, affects students’ behavioral and emotional engagement with AWE feedback. Two classes—one in which Écree use was mandatory (EM) and another in which it was optional (EO)—were surveyed and four volunteers from each class were tracked. Overall, the two groups differed in their evaluations of how much they incorporated AWE feedback into revisions as well as in the number of uploads to Écree. Tracking the focal students’ written drafts, Écree feedback, and interview data revealed that students from EM tended to incorporate Écree’s feedback into their revisions more than EO students. Unexpectedly, EM students developed quite negative views toward Écree, whereas EO students often referred to its usefulness: its systematicity, speed, and role as a reader. This study implies that AWE can be utilized as a supplemental tool in higher education and that students may well need training so as to maximize its positive effects.
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