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How It Works

Students are scored based on an answer key created by a subject matter expert.

An expert builds the answer key

For each assignment, a subject matter expert creates an outline of the correct content knowledge.

For example, here's a very simple science assignment about the Earth. →

Planet Earth
  • part of the Milky Way Galaxy
  • between two other planets:
    • Venus (the hottest planet)
    • Mars (red color)
  • contains 21% free oxygen

We build the semantic network

We add this outline to SAGrader, where it is represented as a semantic network of concepts and relationships.


SAGrader analyzes student submissions

When a student submits, SAGrader uses several artificial intelligence strategies to measure the student's ability to accurately identify, explain and organize the required knowledge.

This goes well beyond keyword recognition. SAGrader can model hundreds or even thousands of ways students may express a concept, and we also make sure students are correctly explaining the relationships between concepts.

SAGrader checks for:

Concepts / Ideas

Recognizes variations of the same answer.

EXAMPLE:
"protect" = "guard" = "cover" = "watch over"

Relationships

Students must organize their ideas correctly.

WRONG:
"The retina contains cones and protects the eye."

CORRECT:
"The retina has cones. The cornea protects the eye."

Negation

Students won't get credit for saying the opposite.

NO CREDIT FOR:
"The iris does not dilate and constrict."