Towards adaptive systems for automatic formative assessment in virtual learning communities

This paper presents a model for structuring shared resources, proposed to activate learners’ formative and proactive assessment processes by enhancing the sharing-workflow among instructors. The model is based on the features of a Virtual Learning Community (VLC), and provides for the development and reuse of ontologies. The adoption of the model for the implementation of an adaptive system for the dispatching of materials is discussed on the basis of the results from clustering analyses. Semantic-similarity measures are compared by their application for clustering a collection of mathematical questions for automatic assessment, created by instructors within a national-wide VLC for Secondary Schools.