Method and system for response evaluation of users from electronic documents

1. A method of operating a computer-assisted assessment system, the method comprising:

extracting, by a document processor, one or more examination questions and a first free-text response pertaining to each of the one or more examination questions from one or more first electronic documents received from an evaluator computing device associated with an evaluator over a communication network;

extracting, by the document processor, a second free-text response pertaining to each of the one or more extracted examination questions and metadata from one or more second electronic documents received from a subject computing device associated with a subject to be evaluated over the communication network, wherein the metadata comprises at least one subject identifier;

for the second free-text response pertaining to each of the one or more extracted examination questions:

determining, by a processor, a score and feedback based on one or more similarity measures associated with a category of each of the one or more extracted examination questions, wherein the one or more similarity measures comprise a lexical similarity measure, a syntactic similarity measure, a semantic similarity measure, or a vector space similarity measure, or a combination thereof, wherein:

the lexical similarity measure is associated with a disjunctive category, a concept completion category, a feature specification category, or a casual antecedent category, or a combination thereof;

the syntactic similarity measure is associated with a verification category, a quantification category, a definition category, an example category, a comparison category, an instrumental/procedural category, or an enablement category;

the semantic similarity measure is associated with the definition category, the comparison category, an interpretation category, a causal antecedent category, a casual consequence category, a goal orientation category, the enablement category, an expectational category, or a judgmental category, or a combination thereof; and

the vector space similarity measure is associated with a disjunctive category, the feature specification category, or both;

generating, by the processor, an evaluation report comprising the determined score and the feedback; and

rendering, by the processor, the evaluation report on a user interface displayed on a display screen of the evaluator computing device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the subject identifier comprises one or more of a name, a grade, a roll number, a class, and a section.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising classifying, by the document processor, each of the one or more extracted examination questions in the one or more categories based on at least a type and content of the one or more extracted examination questions.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more categories correspond to one or more of the verification category, the disjunctive category, the concept completion category, the feature specification category, the quantification category, the definition category, the example category, the comparison category, the interpretation category, the casual antecedent category, the casual consequence category, the goal orientation category, the instrumental/procedural category, the enablement category, the expectational category, and the judgmental category.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lexical similarity measure is associated with the disjunctive category, the concept completion category, the feature specification category, and the casual antecedent category.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the syntactic similarity measure is associated with the verification category, the quantification category, the definition category, the example category, the comparison category, the instrumental/procedural category, and the enablement category.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semantic similarity measure is associated with the definition category, the comparison category, the interpretation category, the casual antecedent category, the casual consequence category, the goal orientation category, the enablement category, the expectational category, and the judgmental category.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vector space similarity measure is associated with the disjunctive category and the feature specification category.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving, by the processor, an updated score and an updated feedback, pertaining to the second free-text response, from the evaluator, when the determined score is less than a threshold score.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving, by the processor, an updated score and an updated feedback, pertaining to the second free-text response, from the evaluator, when the determined score is rebutted by the subject.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the evaluator is a teacher and the subject is a student.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more similarity measures comprise the lexical similarity measure, the syntactic similarity measure, the semantic similarity measure, and the vector space similarity measure.

13. A computer-assisted assessment system, the system comprising:

a document processor configured to:

extract one or more examination questions and a first free-text response pertaining to each of the one or more examination questions from one or more first electronic documents received from an evaluator computing device associated with an evaluator over a communication network;

extract a second free-text response pertaining to each of the one or more extracted examination questions and metadata from one or more second electronic documents received from a subject computing device associated with a subject to be evaluated over the communication network, wherein the metadata comprises at least one subject identifier;

a processor configured to:

for the second free-text response pertaining to each of the one or more extracted examination questions:

determine a score and feedback based on one or more similarity measures associated with a category of each of the one or more extracted examination questions, wherein the one or more similarity measures comprise a lexical similarity measure, a syntactic similarity measure, a semantic similarity measure, or a vector space similarity measure, or a combination thereof, wherein:

the lexical similarity measure is associated with a disjunctive category, a concept completion category, a feature specification category, or a casual antecedent category, or a combination thereof;

the syntactic similarity measure is associated with a verification category, a quantification category, a definition category, an example category, a comparison category, an instrumental/procedural category, or an enablement category;

the semantic similarity measure is associated with the definition category, the comparison category, an interpretation category, a causal antecedent category, a casual consequence category, a goal orientation category, the enablement category, an expectational category, or a judgmental category, or a combination thereof; and

the vector space similarity measure is associated with a disjunctive category, the feature specification category, or both;

generate, by the processor, an evaluation report comprising the determined score and the feedback; and

render the evaluation report on a user interface displayed on a display screen of the evaluator computing device.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the document processor is further configured to classify each of the one or more extracted examination questions in one or more categories based on at least a type and content of the one or more extracted examination questions.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein each of the one or more categories is associated with at least one of the one or more similarity measures, wherein the one or more similarity measures correspond to one or more of the lexical similarity measure, the syntactic similarity measure, the semantic similarity measure, and the vector space similarity measure.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive an updated score and an updated feedback, pertaining to the second free-text response, from a first the evaluator, when the determined score is less than a threshold score.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive an updated score and an updated feedback, pertaining to the second free-text response, from the evaluator, when the determined score is rebutted by the subject.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the evaluator is a teacher and the subject is a student.

19. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more similarity measures comprise the lexical similarity measure, the syntactic similarity measure, the semantic similarity measure, and the vector space similarity measure.

20. A computer program product for use with a computer-assisted assessment system, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium stores a computer program code for operating the computer-assisted assessment system, wherein the computer program code is executable by a processor in a server to:

extract one or more examination questions and a first free-text response pertaining to each of the one or more examination questions from one or more first electronic documents from an evaluator computing device associated with an evaluator over a communication network;

extract a second free-text response pertaining to each of the one or more extracted examination questions and metadata from one or more second electronic documents from a subject computing device associated with a subject to be evaluated over the communication network, wherein the metadata comprises at least one subject identifier;

for the second free-text response pertaining to each of the one or more extracted examination questions:

determine a score and feedback based on one or more similarity measures associated with a category of each of the one or more extracted examination questions, wherein the one or more similarity measures comprise a lexical similarity measure, a syntactic similarity measure, a semantic similarity measure, or a vector space similarity measure, or a combination thereof, wherein:

the lexical similarity measure is associated with a disjunctive category, a concept completion category, a feature specification category, or a casual antecedent category, or a combination thereof;

the syntactic similarity measure is associated with a verification category, a quantification category, a definition category, an example category, a comparison category, an instrumental/procedural category, or an enablement category;

the semantic similarity measure is associated with the definition category, the comparison category, an interpretation category, a causal antecedent category, a casual consequence category, a goal orientation category, the enablement category, an expectational category, or a judgmental category, or a combination thereof; and

the vector space similarity measure is associated with a disjunctive category, the feature specification category, or both;

generate, by the processor, an evaluation report comprising the determined score and the feedback; and

render the evaluation report on a user interface displayed on a display screen of the evaluator computing device.

21. The computer program product of claim 20 , wherein the evaluator is a teacher and the subject is a student.