GRADUATION PAPER ENGLISH

LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Software Programs Used by Hoa Sen University English Lecturers ...20 Table 4.2: Technology Applied in Current Courses ...21 Table 4.3: English Lecturers’ Perce

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HOA SEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH-AMERICAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

GRADUATION PAPER

Lecturers’ Perceptions towards the Use of Technology in Writing Formative Assessment

Supervisors: Mr LỮ VĂN TUẤN – Mr ĐỖ SỸ HUY

Student: LÊ THỊ THANH TUYỀN

Student ID: 2144304

Class: TE1411

June 2018

ABSTRACT

Formative assessment (FA) is a useful type of assessment to inform and scaffold students’ learning and adjust teaching content and methods In spite of beneficial effects of FA, it is a time-consuming process and needs a big attempt to apply it in teaching process Technology has its various functions which promise to assist teachers in FA Unfortunately, some teachers are not confident about the application

of technology in FA The purpose of the current research is to explore teachers’ perceptions regarding the use of technology in FA, especially in writing By applying qualitative method, the researcher interviewed 6 participants as lecturers in Department

of English-American Language and Culture, at Hoa Sen University The findings show that the lecturers perceive the importance of technology in FA, particularly in writing assessment The significant advantages of implementing technology in FA are collecting, organizing and storing students’ paper and saving marking time Two main disadvantages are time-consuming for designing questions and learning how to use Besides, HSU lecturers frequently give face-to-face feedback to students rather than employing technological tools The process of proving feedback in writing also takes

a lot of time and effort There are some challenges when using technology during assessment process which prevent lecturers from using technology in FA The results from this research are useful for those seeking to improve FA, particularly in assessing writing

Key words: technology, writing formative assessment,

Additionally, I am grateful to the six faculty members who took their time to participate in my research Through listening to their use of technology in formative assessment, I have learnt so much from each of them

Finally, I also appreciate Hoa Sen University lecturers for giving me helpful recommendations and advices during my research They corrected my grammatical and structure mistakes when I handed in my report

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF TABLES vi

LIST OF FIGURES vii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Research Significance 2

1.2 Research Objectives 2

1.3 Research Questions 3

1.4 Research Layout 3

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Definition 4

2.1.1 Formative Assessment (FA) 4

2.1.2 The Use of Technology in Formative Assessment 5

2.2 The Use of Technological Tools in Formative Assessment 7

2.2.1 Computer Aided Assessment (CAA) Programs 7

2.2.2 Computer Aided Assessment (CAA) Programs for Assessing Writing 8

2.2.3 Connected Classroom Technologies (CCT) programs 10

2.3 Lecturers’ Perceptions of Applying Technology in FA 11

2.4 The Advantages and Disadvantages towards Using FA with Technology 12

2.4.1 Advantages 12

2.4.2 Disadvantages 14

2.5 FA Feedback on Writing Assignments 15

2.6 Factors Preventing Lecturers from Using Technology in Assessing Writing 17

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 18

3.1 Research Design 18

3.2 Population 18

3.3 Research Instrument 19

3.4 Data Collection Procedures 19

3.5 Data Analysis 19

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 20

4.1 Hoa Sen University English Lecturers’ Perceptions of Integrating Technology

in Writing FA 20

4.1.1 Technological Tools 20

4.1.2 Courses 21

4.1.3 Effectiveness of Technological Tools 22

4.1.4 Frequency of Using Technological Tools 24

4.2 The Advantages of Using Technology in FA 25

4.2.1 Capability of Monitor Students’ Learning and Acquisition 26

4.2.2 Offer of Remedies to Learners’ Needs and Instruction 26

4.2.3 Adjustment for Cognitive Processes 27

4.2.4 Administration 28

4.2.5 Communication 30

4.2.6 Personality 30

4.3 The Disadvantages of Using Technology in FA 31

4.3.1 Cognition 31

4.3.2 Experience 32

4.3.3 Time 32

4.3.4 Internet connection 32

4.4 FA Feedback on Writing Assignments 33

4.4.1 Process 33

4.4.2 Procedure 37

4.4.3 Frequency 38

4.5 Factors Preventing Lecturers from Using Technology in Assessing Writing 38

4.5.1 Obstacles 38

4.5.2 Potential 40

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION 41

5.1 Conclusion 41

5.2 Implications 42

5.3 Recommendations 43

5.3.1 For administrators 43

5.3.2 For lecturers 44

5.3.3 For students 44

5.4 Limitations 44

APPENDICES 46

Appendix A: Hoa Sen University Interview Consent Form 46

Appendix B: Interview Protocol 48

Appendix E: Coding 53

REFERENCES 64

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: Software Programs Used by Hoa Sen University English Lecturers

20 Table 4.2: Technology Applied in Current Courses 21 Table 4.3: English Lecturers’ Perceptions of Effectiveness of Integrating Technology

in Writing FA 22 Table 4.4: The Advantages of Using Technology in FA 25 Table 4.5: The Disadvantages of Using Technology in FA 31 Table 4.6: Factors Preventing Lecturers from Using Technology in Assessing Writing 39

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: The Traditional Process and the Connected Classroom 35 Figure 2: The Traditional Process versus Technology-based Process in Writing Class 36 Figure 3: The Ways Lecturers Give Feedback on Students’ Writing Assignments 37

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the background for this study topic, the significances, the objectives, the research questions and the research layout

Technology has a potential and powerful role in formative assessment that boosts learning which concentrates on integration, conceptual knowledge as well as problem solving skills (Quellmalz, 2013) Formative assessment shows significant advantages to student learning process through giving feedback on the status of student comprehension and making decisions for instructions (Black and Wiliam, 1998a) Spector et.al (2016) state that nearly all learning environments nowadays involve and depend on technologies, such as hand-held devices, computers, whiteboards and the Internet Many learning activities require the Internet and timely feedback become more significant If students’ feedback is delayed, it will affect students’ improving learning and performance Therefore, lacking of integrating technologies in formative assessment is challenging for teachers to give timely and meaningful feedback

In spite of the importance of technology in formative assessment, in Hoa Sen University, the taking full advantages of technological tools in this aspect of the lecturers is a main concern In particular, in writing courses, the majority of lecturers assess students’ writing by hand which considerable efforts to mark and take a long time to return because each class has approximately twenty to thirty students To conclude, the ways to reduce slow feedback stages based on using technology leads to this research

In recent years, learning has become more interactive and formative assessment

is considered more important than summative assessment because of the importance

of continuous feedback which will assist students in learning Based on continuous feedback students can know their strengths and weaknesses (Baleni, 2015, Ho, 2016) Technology will help teachers in FA due to its advantages such as collecting students’ written work quickly, tracking student learning progress easily, storing and analyzing data systematically, and understanding instantly the gaps in students’ knowledge (Bennett & Cunningham, 2009; Looney, 2010; Black & William, 1998a) Many teachers are still not aware of benefits of the potential benefits of technologies in enhancing classroom assessment Teachers may not know how to apply technologies

to classroom assessment or may focus on strengthening traditional approaches to assessment through paper work which neglects classroom interactions (Looney, 2010)

1.1 Research Significance

Firstly, this study will in enhancing lecturers' perception of the important role of technology in FA, especially in writing assessment Another expected result is that technological tools can be considered to apply in writing in order to reduce lecturers’ workload and improve writing assessment quality Lastly, this study’s findings will alert department heads to lecturers’ obstacles when applying technology in FA This research stems from the problem that it takes so long for lecturers to give students writing feedbacks while available technological tools for this purpose are not taken advantages to the full In particular, in writing courses, the majority of lecturers assess students’ writing by hand where considerable efforts are made to mark and return papers to approximately twenty to thirty students per class

In particular, at Hoa Sen University, this is the first research of perceptions of lecturers towards the use of technology in formative assessment, especially in Department of English-American Language and Culture It is important to understand teachers’ perceptions of integrating technology into formative assessment For lecturers, they may apply some software or applications in their lesson in the future in order to make use of the advantages of technology in formative assessment, especially

in assessing writing For students, they can study more exciting and responsible for their performance For educational systems in Vietnam, this research may give a new insight into creating and developing teaching method and assessment

1.2 Research Objectives

The main purpose of the current study is to explore perception of lecturers towards using technology in formative assessment The widespread use of technology can assist teachers in gathering timely and precise information of students’ performance to make decisions for instruction and boost student learning Moreover, this dissertation will examine the advantages and disadvantages when lecturers utilize technology in formative assessment and the ways they give feedback on writing assessments Besides, this study has the potential to inform and identify factors which prevent lecturers from using technology in assessing writing

1.3 Research Questions

The following research questions were investigated in the present study:

1 What are lecturers’ perceptions of using technology for writing formative assessment?

2 What are the advantages and disadvantages towards using formative assessment with technology in writing?

3 How do lecturers give formative assessment feedback on writing assignments?

4 What factors prevent lecturers from using technology in assessing writing?

1.4 Research Layout

This paper consists of five chapters Introduction is the first chapter which will share

an overarching of this research topic, the significance, objectives, and research questions Literature Review, the second chapter, will review concepts and theories It includes definition, the use of technological tools, lecturers’ perceptions towards using technology in formative assessment, the advantages and disadvantages of using technology in formative assessment, formative feedback of lecturers on writing and factors preventing lecturers from applying technology in writing assessment Methodology will discuss methods for collecting and analyzing data The next chapter, Findings and Discussion, describes and discusses the results for this research topic The last chapter includes Conclusion, Implications, Recommendations and Limitations

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides theoretical background and an overview of findings from previous research relevant to this study The definition will serve as the framework of this study

2.1 Definition

2.1.1 Formative Assessment (FA)

Formative assessment, as other types of assessment, provides the information of students’ performance (Yorke, 2003:478) Black and William (1998) add that FA is all activities that provide information as feedback in order to adjust the teaching and learning process Similarly, Bell and Cowie (2001) define FA as a part of teaching which help teachers to find out the efficacy of providing learning activities These researchers also point out that there are ten characteristics of FA:

―responsiveness, sources of evidence, a tacit process, using professional knowledge and experiences, an integral part of teaching and learning, formative assessment is done by both teachers and students, the purposes for formative assessment, the contextualized nature of the process, dilemmas, and student disclosure‖ (p.544)

Among such characteristics, the most significant characteristics is contextual nature, which means that FA is impacted by learning conditions, learning activities, the instructor’s knowledge of learners, the lesson topic and the purpose of the instructor They also state that FA has its ongoing and progressive nature which depends on verbal as well as nonverbal information from learners as sources of information and evidence of learning Additionally, Aylward (2010) indicates that FA notifies the instructor how to modify the instruction for each student In addition, the paper analyzed by CERI describes FA as a powerful method for meeting the aims of long-term learning, developing high-performance and high equity of learner results, and improving students’ skills for learning (OECD/CERI 2008) Sadler (1989) reveals three components of effective feedback of FA such as indicating criteria and learning goal obviously, showing the positive aspects of students’ performance and pointing out how to close the goal and the current performance

2.1.2 The Use of Technology in Formative Assessment

A study by Cusi et al (n.d) focuses on viable ways that developing FA can be supported by technology The researchers notice that various researches have emphasized on the role of technology in promoting FA, for instance, ―the CCMS

Project: Classroom Connectivity in Promoting Mathematics and Science Achievement; the ITEAM Project: Integrating Technology-Enhanced Assessment Methods; the WHIRL Project: Wireless Handhelds In Reflection on Learning; the FANC Project: Formative assessment in a networked classroom; the TLT Project: Teacher learning of technology-enhanced formative assessment; eVIVA Project: Electronic virtual ipsative valid assessment” (p.3)

Quellmalz (2013) represents the support of technologies which include network, digital tools and artifacts in FA strategies and resources in order to plan and adjust classroom instruction The paper states that FA can be supported by different ways, such as:

 Online databases link curriculum, district, state, and national standards with learning objectives;

 Pools of assessment tasks and items can be integrated in lessons as well as units;

 The aspects of students’ cognition and performance can be assessed directly through technology-based assessments

Looney (2010) reports that the important roles of assessment are enhancing learning process and developing of new technologies and the new organizational approaches for these tools The researcher has expressed a similar view with Quellmalz on using technology to assess students’ performance Technology is designed to assess students’ comprehension rapidly, give targeted and timely feedback, and support interactive learning and assessment of higher-order skills and follow student learning in different contexts and over time

There are two kinds of technologies that have been expanded to combine technological development and FA: the Computer aided assessment (CAA) and the Connected classroom technologies (CCT)

 Computer aided assessment (CAA): refers to using computers to assess students’ learning progress (Jenkins, 2005) The researcher also points out that using computers in FA can give consistent delivery, instant feedback and grading and reuse questions for teacher and academic staff Teachers can apply various methods such as self-assessment, peer-assessment, group

assessment and testing

In a study of Pollock (2002), the paper takes account of the introduction of CAA into a Mathematics Course for Technology Students The researcher points out some advantages of CAA can be classified as four main areas such as education, students, finance, and time In particular, students are permitted to complete assessments without being stress of the final exam Therefore, most of students prefer this assessment to traditional exams because they feel confidence and relieve stress However, some students do not complete the tests because of missing deadline Furthermore, applying CAA will save time because staff do not need to set and mark

exams

 Connected classroom technologies (CCT) mentions a networked system of personal computers or handheld devices used for interactive learning and teaching (Irving, 2006) In relation to this point, Roschelle and Pea (2002) define that the networked technologies consist of classroom response systems

(CRS), networked graphing calculators and participatory simulations Firstly, referring to CRS, it is a technological tool that aids a lecturer to ask questions

and collect all students’ answers in class which helps teacher obtains data about students’ thinking Students can be advantageous to the cognitive act of selecting and committing to an answer CRS allows students to choose their multiple-choice, numeric or free-text answers Some synonyms for CRS comprise ―classroom communication system‖ (CCS), ―audience response system (ARS),‖ ―student response system,‖ ―voting machine,‖ and ―clicker‖ system Roschelle et.al (2004) report that the benefits of CRS are increasing student engagement, interest, student comprehension of difficult subject matter, interaction and providing teacher insight into student problem

Secondly, with Networked graphing calculator systems, the instructor choose

a handheld screen to be shared, to send instant polls to the students, to gather students’ answers and to attach their answers to the class portfolio Finally,

Participatory simulation is a system that graphing calculators are connected to

a computer as a central server Students can experience a simulation, collaborate to analyze data, give hypotheses, and carry out experiments to deduce basic rules for their simulation Furthermore, technology is widely used in formative assessment Abrahamson (2006) found that over 15 years, almost every USA University uses response system which has turned dramatically for teaching Technology is given common acceptances as an aid

to classroom teaching

As Roschelle et al.(2004) review the researches relating to technologies and systems which increase questioning and feedback These researchers have presented the term CATAALYST standing for ―Classroom Aggregation Technology for Activating and Assessing Your Students’ Thinking‖ to mention to CRS systems above such as clickers, classroom communication systems (CCS), audience response system (ARS), etc

2.2 The Use of Technological Tools in Formative Assessment

2.2.1 Computer Aided Assessment (CAA) Programs

Some systems of CAA such as Questionmark Perception, WebCT, Question Tools, and PracticeMill are used in FA

Firstly, Questionmark Perception which is used in FA is an online assessment

and a reporting tool It is used in order to create exams, tests, quizzes or surveys with

20 different types of questions (e.g drag and drop, essay, fill in the blanks, and so on)

It allows the applying of images and videos; therefore, with this web technology, teacher can design the tests and integrate feedback into the questions At first, the teacher creates assessment, course IDs and plan a schedule Then, he or she needs to add Student ID Finally, the teacher sets up and designs their question items

The advantages of using this software are:

 Students can take the exams, tests, quizzes or survey at any time;

 Students can receive immediate feedback and score;

 Formative learning activities can be reused for revision;

 Teachers can track individual or a group of student performances (Jenkins, 2005; Create Online Assessments with Questionmark Perception, 2007; Online exams and self-assessment - Questionmark Perception, 2016)

Secondly, WebCT (World Wide Web Course Tools) is a learning environment

system for e-learning and it is a program for FA as well Instructors can use discussion boards, email systems, chat rooms, calendars, grading tools, student learning tracking, documents and web pages for students’ learning courses It is a course management system for colleges This system contains multiple choice, matching, calculation and short answers Although this program has useful functions,

the downside is that it also has its limitations such as WebCT interface and Internet connection (Fielding & Bingham, 2003) Lu et.al (2003) report that in 1997, WebCT

was developed by Murray Goldberg At the same time, at University of Central

Florida Centre, WebCT is a main online learning program for 3500 courses (Ku, 2009) Willet (2002) points out that WebCT helps students access at any time and

place and determine their real learning styles and competence

Another program of CAA is Question Tools which is a free tool for continuous

assessments using in a number of countries with common question types such as multiple choices, true/false, text answer, etc Sounds and videos can be integrated; therefore, teachers can design more interactive lessons, tests or exercises (Fielding & Bingham, 2003)

Finally, PracticeMill is a program for on-going assessments with multiple

choice tests that can be delivery in different ways such as web pages or PMViewer which is a small distribution program Through this program, students can receive feedback and their performance can be collected and analyzed Although it is easy to

create questions in this software, PracticeMill has a number of limitations It only has

two question types that are multiple choice and short answers and these question types cannot be performed in one test It is also difficult for students and teachers in collecting and storing data (Fielding & Bingham, 2003)

2.2.2 Computer Aided Assessment (CAA) Programs for Assessing Writing

Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) – Automated Writing Evaluation is the

web-based program that evaluates and scores the written essays These programs give

instant scores and diagnostic feedback in different features of writing which can be used for formative assessment Additionally, they equip with a variety of online writing resources, for example, thesauruses and word banks and editing factors such

as grammar, spelling, and style checkers These features make AWE tools as both an essay assessment tool and a writing assistance tool These functions of AWE programs help students write and review their essays with self-monitoring ability Therefore, they also reduce the teacher workload of grading essays and avoid time-consuming grading process (Chen & Cheng, 2008) Similarly, Holman (2011) in a study takes place in rural of two groups of eighth grade students One group experiences AWE and the other group does not apply it to writing instruction As a result, the students receive AWE program increase their writing performance more than the students of control group who do not participate in this program

There are two main AWE programs that are Criterion and MY Access!– all

based in the USA- can provide not only numerical scores but also evaluative feedback

Criterion with the essay scoring engine "e-rater" developed by Educational

Testing Service has been used since 1999 This computer software permits students to plan, write, and revise their essays Students receive their essay with a holistic score and a diagnostic feedback with main criteria such as grammar, style, usage,

mechanics as well as organization Teachers are able to use the prompts of Criterion

or they can assign prompts for students’ assignments (ETS, 2010; Harris, 2013) Furthermore, Choi (2010), with 172 ELL (English Language Learners) students’ surveys and instructor interviews to examine the effectiveness of AES (Automated Essay Scoring) integration The results show that AES has an impact on the quality of essay in two aspects such as holistic quality and accuracy Students’ writing can be assisted in case of AES integrating with writing instruction as a FA tool This research

indicates that Criterion not only has statistical data of students’ performance but also

a messaging system for the teacher and peers via Internet-connected computers Based

on using Criterion, teachers can give assignments and feedback for students They

also can both review students’ task and manage students’ data such as essays, holistic scores, feedback and statistical information effective Attali (2004) who focuses on

the effectiveness of automated feedback and revision aspects of Criterion reveals that

there are 9275 written prose of 6th to12th grade students from 2002 to 2003 submitted

to Criterion This finding is that scores and essay length are improved for revised

submissions which are compared to the first submissions In general, students are able

to correct some writing error in their subsequent essays

MY Access! is a web-based program which is designed by Vantage Learning

Intellmetric which is a scoring engine is applied in this program in order to analyze some features (e.g., semantic, syntactic and discourse) This program also gives holistic score and focuses on content, meaning, organization, language use and style, and mechanics and convention It will give a generic feedback based on grade level, genre, and score For example, if a student who is at fourth grade received a score of 2 for organization, he or she will be given the same feedback as other students of the

same score and level My Editor which is an independent tool will provide guidance

on spelling, grammar and word usage as Microsoft Word’s grammar check; however,

it is more detail than Microsoft Word (Warschauer & Ware, 2006) Besides, Dikli (2006) states that MY Access! can provide instantaneous scoring and diagnostic

feedback which help students revise their essays and encourage them in writing to enhance their writing proficiency Teachers are able to assign essays in English, Spanish or Chinese Their students can receive feedback provided by their teachers and the system with the same language, native language or in English Students can track their learning process via a set of completed assignments, scores, reports, comments, etc There are some functions such as dictionary, thesaurus, and translator which permit students to consult the dictionary or find synonyms of a particular word This system assists not only teachers but also students It contains different types of writing (i.e., informative, narrative, literary, and argumentative essays) with various academic levels: upper elementary, middle school, high school and higher education Teachers have full control of the system Therefore, they can form a group or modify the level and the genre of feedback based on the competence of the students Additionally, parents can involve in their children’ learning performance through parent letters

2.2.3 Connected Classroom Technologies (CCT) programs

Referring to CCT, Kahoot! is a free and popular Web site The teacher can create

quizzes or surveys based on game with time limits from 5 to 120 seconds for students

to compete with each other Scores and responses are displayed on the screen It is simple and easy for the teacher to create a quiz or survey or he or she can use other

public quizzes Students need to visit Kahoot! and enter pin code that their teacher

gives They can log in the game by using their names or nicknames Questions of the quiz will be displayed on computer, projector or interactive board Students select their answers which have different colors on their devices (Johns, 2015) According to

Byrne (2013), students and teachers can create and respond a game of Kahoot! via

any devices such as an iPad, Android device, or Chromebook Like Scorative and Infuse Learning, this tool can make classroom environment more fun and it also can collect informal feedback from students This application is a quick way so as to assess students formatively This software also provides teachers an opportunity to design quizzes, surveys and discussions These activities improve a fun learning environment, engage students in the content of lesson, practice critical thinking and revise their lesson based on game format (Medina & Hurtado, 2017)

2.3 Lecturers’ Perceptions of Applying Technology in FA

Yarnall et.al (2006) points out that a teacher has a positive view when employing

technology in FA She chooses Quizzler which is a handheld application that helps

teachers to design quizzes with multiple-choice or true–false questions to test science terms being difficult for students and to use that information to alter instructional planning for her test review for the next class She reveals that students’ grades on the unit are better than in the past Other participating teachers turn their attention to

―assessment for learning‖ and begin to combine instructional and assessment through using technological tools Similarly, Watkins (2013), high school teachers show that they have positive concerning of assistive technology uses in FA They apply

different tools such as smart board, online site, and GradeCam technology in teaching

and assessment Baleni (2015) also indicates that teachers express positive points of view about the advantages of online assessment such as less marking time and the reduced marking load They would like to use e-assessment than paper and pencil

assessment Likewise, Oneal-Self (2015), one teacher show that she applies Clickers

in her class to collect and organize students responses She also would like to try to use smart phone applications in the future because these technologies help her save time As Kılıçkaya (2017), in a research for EFL (English as a Foreign Language)

teachers’ perceptions and experience when using GradeCam Go!, one of the teachers

reports that because she has heavy workload with 26 hours a week and over 200 students, this technologycal tool is especially helpful in her class in order to revise the

previous topics or game-based activities in groups In relation to this point, Feldman and Capobianco (2008) report that they improve high school physics teachers in utilizing technology in FA After these teachers take part in professional development

on technology and apply technology to their lessons, they perceive the important roles

of employing technology in FA

2.4 The Advantages and Disadvantages towards Using FA with Technology

2.4.1 Advantages

Technology applying to FA brings many advantages Firstly, this integration can help teachers observe students’ learning and identify quickly students’ misunderstandings Shirley et al (2011) use interview data in order to analyze the practice of six participants of implementation CCT in secondary classrooms Three science teachers and three math teachers are compared with each other to find out the differences in use and purpose for CCT, the implementation of CCT in science and math classrooms The findings lead to significant considerations for integration of educational technology These researchers illustrate that using CCT in classroom is a good way for the teacher’s classroom management plan because the teacher can use CCT to observe student learning and to keep students to deep conceptual understanding Based on the support of technology, teachers are able to ―make student thinking visible‖, identify students’ difficulties, show student responses with whole class, ask students to rethink answers and track learning progress (Looney, 2010; Penuel et.al, 2007) Similarly, Yarnall et.al (2006) show that the confidence of teachers affects their use of the tools because those teachers feel confident about managing classroom activities when students use the tools Furthermore, teachers can define prior knowledge, gain insight into students’ misunderstandings and track students’ performance when they apply LRSs (learner response systems) In particular, Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools supporting for writing assessment also help lecturers track students’ progress across time easily (Ware, 2011)

Secondly, through applying technology in FA, lecturers can give solutions and modify instructions to meet students’ need (Shirley et al., 2011) Kay and LeSage (2009) reveal that FA is useful in determining student understanding to recognize misconceptions and modify the instructions as well as those concepts which are

presented in class As Watkins (2013), teachers use the responses as a base for the next instructional strategies to decide what students comprehend and what still needs more adjustment

Thirdly, improving students’ thinking habits, Irving (2006) aims to explore the power of educational technology in K-12 classrooms for assessment of learning and assessment for learning Connected classroom environment assists students’ thinking habits such as finding different representations for difficulties, contrasting alternative solution strategies, and gives explanation of these strategies

Another advantage is engaging more students in class activities Looney (2010), when teachers prepare greater facility with technologies tools, they can engage more students during class discussions and meet exactly student needs With integrating social networking tools students have opportunities to work collaboratively, share information and increasing group reports to improve their task over time Kay and LeSage (2009) also indicate that using an ARS assists in contributing to effective FA since teachers can rapidly adjust explanations, mode of instruction or students can gauge and talk about their understanding with their peers Although students do not like using ARSs for tests and grades (summative assessment), when ARSs are apply

to FA, they are more cognitively engaged and motivated Similarly, Roschelle and Pea (2002) inform that student will be active in discussion because they have their role in the classroom performance and each student has an independent device, the teacher can feel certain that all students are involving individually Baleni (2015) states that regarding staff perspectives, online assessment is more student-center because it enhances students’ learning, retains their knowledge and boosts group work

in assessment tasks Spector et.al (2016) also emphasize that if learning progress is inefficient and slow, students can be apt to lose interest Integrating resources, technologies and activities can promote efficiency and keep students engagement and

interest In particular, the use of Criterion also engages and motivates students to

submit their written work because computerized-feedback shows an impact on students’ revision of errors such as grammar, usage, mechanics and style (El Ebyary

& Windeatt, 2010)

Giving immediate feedback is an advantage of using technology in FA Looney (2010), one of the benefits of ICT-based stimulations is that they give students opportunity to hone and use skills and knowledge in more particular contexts and give

feedback in real time As Kay and LeSage (2009), using technology in FA can offer real-time feedback for teachers and students In relation to this point, Ware (2011) demonstrates Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) tools are web based offering some support characteristics such as writing manual, model essays, and translators Students are able to submit repeatedly and receive different feedback such as suggestions for enhancing their writings and bar charts systematizing problematic areas These tools can provide different feedback types as analytic, holistic, numeric

or text based and can add teachers’ feedback As El Ebyary and Windeatt (2010), computerized-feedback features demonstrate some details on their writing and encourage students to write as students know the steps in writing essays and realize their errors instantaneously

Other important advantages are collecting, storing and organize student responses easily as well as save marking time Watkins (2013), many of the instructions and assessment data are stored on computers which are uncomplicated for assessing and analyzing data Technology assists such teachers in preparing, using and grading FAs Furthermore, in recent years, e-assessment tools become applied increasingly since lecturers are beneficial to marking time and administrative costs of mark compilation (Baleni, 2015) Similarly, Kılıçkaya (2017), one teacher reveals that she can give regular quizzes so as to check student learning progress without spending too much time to score through applying technology in FA The benefit of using technology for assessing writing also is that the data can be stored automatically about process and procedure of students writing assignments (El Ebyary and Windeatt, 2010)

Finally, students can communicate their assignments to their lecturer As Ware (2011), learners can interact with their lecturers via private messages like chat boxes

2.4.2 Disadvantages

There are some disadvantages when integrating technology in FA Shirley et al (2011) highlight that teachers meet challenges for the first time setting up computer equipment and are unfamiliar with the technology Because of these reasons, teachers’ instructions can be impeded by technology Teachers experiencing difficulties in organizing activity and managing in the classroom find that using handhelds in FA is more difficult for them (Yarnall et,al, 2006)

Kay and LeSage (2009) also mention that there are some reasons that teachers and students face difficulty when teachers integrate ARS (Audience Response System) into FA such as lack of devices, feeling stressed, less of content, and time consuming As regards technology-based challenges, since the class is dependent on ARSs, students who do not have remote devices are unable to fully participate in their lessons In addition, when remote devices do not work properly or do not receive the instruction, it will create a stressful experience for students and teachers These reasons make the assessment progress work not effectively Additionally, with reference to teachers’ challenges, when students do not understand the concepts, peer-instruction strategy may easier to use than ARSs Next, the research finds that some teachers and students believe that less content is mentioned when using an ARS Furthermore, teachers feel that developing questions via ARS is time-consuming because of having a few of ARS questions collections

Another disadvantage is that student may be lack of confidence in case of choosing wrong answer Carnaghan and Webb (2005) show the benefits in terms of participation, engagement and performance of group response systems (GRS) The researchers state that the purposes of peer instruction are to discover and discuss misconceptions Some students who answer incorrectly may feel uncomfortable when

a majority of the class is correct Therefore, using ARSs will make students feel insecure if this tool is used to get right answers rather than to get ideas

One of the disadvantages that lecturers may encounter during assessment is Internet connection According to Kılıçkaya (2017), a survey is completed by ten

participants after using GradeCam Go! during the 6 weeks at lower-secondary

schools in Turkey Four of ten teachers report that due to lack of Internet connection, they fail to provide instantaneous feedback to their student performances

2.5 FA Feedback on Writing Assignments

Lecturers will take too much time for giving feedback on writing because they give feedback individual with multiple drafts Students tend to receive feedback in a passive way from their teacher; however, with a large of student in one class, so that lecturer cannot give accurate feedback immediately for all students in his or her class (Irwin, 2017) According to El Ebyary and Windeatt (2010), in their study, they gather quantitative and qualitative data from 31 instructors and 549 trainee EFL

teachers through questionnaires, interview, and focus group The findings show that

using Criterion tool has a positive effect on the students’ attitudes towards feedback

When these researchers interview instructors, they reveal that written essays by paper

of students which are submitted during the course are not selected adequately Therefore, lecturers cannot know whether or not students apply their orally feedback because of lack of collecting student written work

The features of feedback in writing assignments which students prefer are significant Frey and Fisher (2013), nearly 550 English high school students are asked about feedback on writing tasks and grading Two main features that students would like in their writing draft are editing to improve their writing as well as detailing information about their essays, and their understanding of content The paper also reports that teachers do not point out every error in students written assignments Budimlic (2012), by interview approximately one hour with eight teachers at an upper secondary school and forty feedback texts from them, the dissertation reports that the teachers use of focused correction, combination of positive and negative feedback, and corrective feedback in assessing writing

Focused correction means that such teachers select some features of students’ work and give corrective or negative feedback Some teachers are apt to correct everything for high-level students since these students want to achieve the best grades In addition, most teachers state that negative feedback can make students be unwilling to learn, especially with the low-level students

Besides, most of the teachers accept that with the combination of a positive feedback and negative feedback, positive feedback should be given first In other words, the data from this study demonstrate that in order to reduce the influence of negative comments, teachers integrate praise into their feedback The teachers indicate that students are more willing to consider new ideas when they read critical comments after receiving some praise The praise is significant for learning environment and for the increasing of students’ writing skills In order to avoid demotivating in low-level students, the teachers also limit problem areas around three

to four features to give feedback and encourage students to enhance their learning The teachers also use corrective feedback, which means that teachers write corrections in the text about such as structure, content, as well as language before

providing individual feedback which includes what is good in students’ texts, what should be maintained and what have to be improved

2.6 Factors Preventing Lecturers from Using Technology in Assessing Writing

School curriculum is one of the factors which influence lecturers to employ technology in FA Warschauer and Grimes (2008) reveal that teachers express positive views and realize the advantages of using software for classroom management and for student motivation; however, they cannot use it regularly because of having to prepare for other state exams Likewise, Kale and Goh (2014), the researchers aim to identify attitudes of K12 teachers in using Web 2.0 in their teaching 161 teachers who participate in their survey at middle and high school are from both rural and urban location of West Virginia These teachers reveal that they

do not have time to conduct online-based lessons because of a packed school curriculum They also have to prepare for their standardized tests They do not have difficult for creating online projects However, their teaching workload is one of the reasons preventing them from applying online projects With the result that two main factors prevent them from using the Internet in their teaching are their workload and standardized curriculum

Three other factors are needing extra time, technology competence, and technological problems Chen and Cheng (2008), in three EFL college writing classes

for third-year English majors in Taiwan with 16 week, the teachers commit to use MY Access! which is a web-based AWE (Automated Writing Evaluation) program In this

research, two out of three teachers are interviewed and one teacher does a survey In addition, 53 out of 68 students from three classes respond to the questionnaire which includes multiple-choice questions as a Likert scale and open-ended questions The

three instructors are trained in one-hour given by a MY Access! consultant However,

they also have to spend extra time to accustom themselves to the program features and

to develop their own educational ideas for the AWE implementation One of three teachers does not use this program after 6 week because she has to expend much time

in learning the software and providing more specific details for feedback For these reasons, the AWE implementation increases her workload Moreover, she becomes dissatisfied and frustrated with technical problems Additionally, she is not competent

to work with computer technology, therefore, she allows students to use Microsoft Word instead

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

This part describes research design, sampling, research instrument Data collection procedures and data analysis are also presented

3.1 Research Design

In order to explore the perceptions of lecturers in using technology in FA, especially

in Writing, a qualitative method is used Frank and Polkinghorne (2010) indicate that qualitative research permits participants creating meaning and understanding Its purposes are illustration, explanation, interpretation and representation of an event or experience The data collected is in the form such as narratives and observations The study consists of 6 semi-structured interviews which were conducted within thirty minutes to one hour Qualitative method is applied because it has explorative ability and it is a flexible approach Semi-structured of open-ended questions is to allow lecturer to show their points of view and provide insight into their perceptions

of integrating technology in FA Semi-structured interviews are chosen because it is flexible for me during interviews as well The researcher could probe further the prepared questions to interviewees’ opinions during the interview through asking more questions to help them express as much as possible about the topic This method gives respondents the opportunities to express, explain and describe their point of views in their own words The research also makes an attempt to provide more useful and detailed information of teachers’ understandings through their reflections on using technology in FA

3.2 Population

There are six lecturers, four males and two females, of Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Hoa Sen University participating in the interview In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with six lecturers because in this semester, all of them are teaching Academic Writing course which has approximately 20 to 30 students in each class Six faculty members voluntarily agreed to be participants in the interview when they received email request Five participants have been worked at Hoa Sen University full-time One of the six participants who is a visiting lecturer has been worked at least three years They have taught Academic Writing in previous semester,

so that they have experiences to share their ideas towards applying technology in FA,

particularly in writing Because one of six lecturers begins teaching Academic Writing in this semester, it is difficult for him to express his opinion with this course

3.3 Research Instrument

The interview form (see Appendix B) includes 22 questions The purpose of these

questions is to allow interviewees express their experiences freely and their opinions extensively This method opens up an opportunity for lecturer to explain their responses in detail Three sections in this form are advantages and disadvantages of using technology in FA, the ways of giving feedback in writing assignments as well

as factors preventing lecturers from using technology in FA

3.4 Data Collection Procedures

Interviews and questionnaires are collected during a 2-week period from May 2nd to May 9th, 2018 Before the interview, lecturers received the interview form and

interview consent form (see Appendix A and B) via email The interview consent

form which describes and explains both participant protection and data security was printed for lecturers to read and sign Participants also could withdraw from the research at any time Each participant was interviewed once and recorded Each interview lasted between thirty minutes and one hour

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the research results which are divided into four sections Section one is Hoa Sen University English Lecturers’ perceptions of integrating technology in

FA The two next sections are the advantages and disadvantages of using technology

in FA The following section concerns the current way lecturers give feedback to their students in their writing courses Finally, section five deals with the factors which prevent teachers from using technology in FA

4.1 Hoa Sen University English Lecturers’ Perceptions of Integrating Technology in Writing FA

Software programs

Number of teachers using software programs

According to six participants, they agreed that ―I use Turnitin because it is recommended by department.‖ For E-learning which was created for Hoa Sen

University students, students had to complete their grammar exercises so as to improve their grammar Two lecturers used it revealed that it is used only a semester because students did not submit their exercises adequately They believed that those exercises made up a small percentage of on-going assessment so that students did not

prefer to complete such exercises Two male lecturers applied Kahoot! for their FA

because they thought it helped them create interesting lessons that provided a positive

learning environment Other lecturers integrated Edmodo and Google Classroom in

their FA because their effectiveness regarding administration Only one lecturer used

Grammarly to check students’ grammar mistakes

4.1.2 Courses

Table 4.2 represents the programs which have been applied for different courses such

as Critical Thinking and Writing, Projects 1 and 2, Internship Report, Academic

Writing, Listening, Speaking and Reading

Table 4.2: Technology Applied in Current Courses

Turnitin

Critical Thinking and Writing, Project 1,2, Internship Report, Academic Writing

Grammar Website online: Grammarly Academic Writing

Most of the lecturers stated that they applied Turnitin for those courses related

to writing such as Critical Thinking and Writing, Projects 1 and 2, Internship, and

Academic Writing Two lecturers said that E-learning used for Academic Writing

courses because grammar exercises were posted on this web site Three other software

programs employed in Academic Writing courses are Edmodo, Google Classroom

and Grammarly On the other hand, Kahoot! is only used for Listening, Speaking and

Reading courses Those lecturers used it thought that because it was a game-based

quiz so that it was appropriate for other courses rather than writing courses

4.1.3 Effectiveness of Technological Tools

Table 4.3: English Lecturers’ Perceptions of Effectiveness of Integrating Technology

in Writing FA

Checking plagiarism percentage via Turnitin 50%

Collecting and storing essays with a well-organized way 50%

Being difficult to mark via software program 50%

Giving instant feedback and interacting 16.7%

Table 4.3 shows that Hoa Sen University English lecturers’ perception towards effectiveness of employing technology in writing FA Three main features that lecturers thought technology was helpful for their writing FA because of marking quickly, collecting and storing systematically, checking plagiarism accounting for 50% (3 respondents) Three lecturers disagreed that it was easy for them to mark students’ assignments via software programs Through using technology in writing

FA, two lecturers at 33% realized that they could know students’ writing competence Two other respondents thought that they could design interesting classroom activities via using a software program Only one lecturer mentioned that he could give immediate feedback and interact with students based on employing technology in FA Referring the marking and checking plagiarism aspect, one participant revealed

that she only used Turnitin because it was available for both lecturers and students

and it was effective for her work It had a rubric which helps her mark students’

assignments quickly Similarly, another lecturer said that she used Turnitin since she

only knew this tool and she perceived that it helped her reduce marking load She explained that ―I do not need to mark essays having high proportion of plagiarism because those essays will be zero.‖ A male lecturer iterated this thought He

mentioned that ―Turnitin not only shows plagiarism percentages but also points out

specific references of students’ essays which can be a proof if students deny their 'matching' passages.‖

As regards collecting and storing, three lecturers agreed that software programs

such as Edmodo, Google Classroom and Turnitin aided them in creating a folder,

keeping essays as archives, and checking submitted assignments One female stated

that ―Because of using Turnitin, students’ essays are collected automatically which

helps my work be neat, be accurate, and save time.‖ Two other male lecturers

illustrated that Edmodo, Turnitin or Google Classroom assisted them not only in

collecting student essays rapidly but also re-examining such essays at any time

Three participants expressed that marking via software programs is difficult They have a similar method They needed to print essays out or asked students to print them out because they had to give such essays for their teaching assistants for correcting grammar mistakes

Two of six lecturers used Turnitin believed that they know students’ writing

competence since they could review passages and ideas that wrote by students or by other people based on plagiarism percentage A female lecturer illustrated that ―if a student essay has high percentage of similarity, he or she has to write it again because their essays get too much ideas from others.‖

Two male lecturers who used Kahoot! expressed a positive perception of

designing lectures Because this program is as a game, classroom activities will be more interesting and get more students’ attention

One lecturer mentioned that he could provide instantaneous feedback and interact more with students He explained that he gave feedback for students’

assignments directly via software programs such as Turnitin and Google Classroom

Therefore, students could receive their essays with feedback quickly Besides,

Kahoot! is employed to create interesting a learning environment, give immediate

feedback, and increase interaction between students and lecturers

Possible explanations for these findings are because English teachers used

Turnitin for assessing writing which helps them exclude plagiarism essays; therefore,

they can lighten marking load Besides, since this software obviously shows the differences between students’ own work with other assignments, lecturers can observe and assess student writing competence However, they may be familiar with traditional paper-based assessment, thus they have to score essays by hand Moreover, lecturers also perceived that technological tools substantially support them organized

their students’ assignment so that they can have well-organized assignments files In

addition, one teacher is able to create an exciting learning environment as Kahoot! is a

game quiz that students try their best to gain correct answers as much as possible Last but not least, one male lecturer perceived that technology helps him giving feedback and enhance interaction with students via messages or face-to-face with students during assessment process

4.1.4 Frequency of Using Technological Tools

Two lecturers reported that they frequently used Turnitin for every course which

related to writing such as Critical Thinking and Writing, Academic Writing, Projects

1 and 2, and Internship Report Another male lecturer explained that ―I usually use

Turnitin for only Projects 1 and 2 This is the first time I have taught Academic

Writing Therefore, I will use it for a half of this semester.‖ The rest of lecturers stated that ―I always use technological tools for each semester.‖; ―I use it whenever I have FA.‖ and ―I apply technology in my lessons approximate five times in a semester.‖ In general, Hoa Sen University English lecturers perceived that they used technology in

FA with the high frequency The possible reason for these results might be that English lecturers have experiences in using technology for support FA, particularly in assessing writing tasks; therefore, when they realize effectiveness of technological tools, they would like to apply them as often as possible

In conclusion, due to effectiveness of technological tools in teaching and assessment, lecturers apply them with different courses and with the high frequency Based on Hoa Sen University English lecturers’ perception of using technology in

FA, it is obvious that they perceive a positive point of view with this aspect This finding is consistent with Watkins (2013), Baleni (2015), and Feldman and Capobianco (2008) who point out that teachers express that technology has a positive contribution to teaching activities and continuous assessment

4.2 The Advantages of Using Technology in FA

Table 4.4: The Advantages of Using Technology in FA

1 Capability of monitor student’

learning and acquisition

observe student’s learning

0%

identify rapidly student’s misunderstandings

16.7%

2 Offer of remedies to learners’

needs and instruction

give appropriate solutions

to meet student needs

0%

modify the instructions 0%

3 Adjustment for cognitive

processes

assist students’ thinking habits

0%

engage more students 33.3%

give immediate and targeted feedback

16.7%

organize student responses easily

50%

save marking time and administrative costs of mark compilation

50%

lecturers via private messages

16.7%

Table 4.4 shows the advantages of using technology in FA on different items with five main themes Looking at the table, it is obvious that two main advantages choosing by Hoa Sen University lecturers are ―collect, store and organize student responses easily‖ and ―save marking time and administrative costs of mark compilation‖ at 50% (3 participants) These items belong to administration Compared

to third group ―adjust cognitive processes‖, engagement of students and provision of feedback are two advantages at 33.3% (2 participants) and 16.7% (1 participant) The smallest proportion belongs two items that are identification student’s misunderstanding belongs to monitor student’ learning and acquisition as well as

interact with their lecturers via private messages which is part of communication at 16.7% (1 participant) Among the five themes, it can be noted that no participants choose the first theme related to offer solutions to learners’ needs and instruction Although these advantages such as tracking student’s learning, giving appropriate solutions to meet student needs, adjusting the instructions and assisting students’ thinking habits are considered advantages of integrating technology in FA (Shirley, 2011; Looney, 2010; Yarnall et.al, 2006; Penuel et.al, 2007; Ware, 2011; Irving, 2006), according to Hoa Sen University lecturers, such advantages are not significant than others

4.2.1 Capability of Monitor Students’ Learning and Acquisition

Among six lecturers, this is the first time a lecturer has taught Academic Writing He

said that he would use Turnitin for a half of this semester His purpose of using Turnitin for other courses was to check references of student writing This tool helped

him identify rapidly students’ misunderstanding and little mistakes in essays

Although he did not usually use technology in FA, he realized that ―Turnitin assists

me in saving time, recognizing and gathering grammar mistakes and problems needing to improve.‖

This result supports the study of Yarnall et.al (2006) in which, teachers use LRSs (Learner Response Systems) and they have the same views Similarly, Kay and LeSage (2009) indicate that using an ARS (Audience Response System) can help teacher realize misconceptions and adapt the instructions Both LRSs and ARS are part of CRS (Classroom Response System) The lecturer did not use technological

tools which belong to CRS and he used Turnitin which is one of technological tools of

CAA (Computer aided assessment) Although belonging to different technology categories, this participant has the same thought with previous researchers The reason

for this may be the lecturer uses Turnitin in order to check similarity and identify

mistakes in student work Roschelle and Pea (2002) indicate that one of main purposes of CRS that is obtaining data about student’s thinking which the lecturer also agreed that it is his purpose when applying technology in FA

4.2.2 Offer of Remedies to Learners’ Needs and Instruction

Surprisingly, no participants choose two advantages of this theme In contrast, Shirley

et al (2011) state that CCT in classroom is to give appropriate solutions to meet

student needs Besides, Looney (2010) indicates that if teachers prepare their lesson with technological tools, they are able to engage more students during class discussions and exactly meet student needs

It is difficult to explain this result; however, it might be related to the fact that lecturers use technology as a tool in order to collect student work Therefore these advantages of this theme are not as important as the others Another possible explanation is that students are not good at grammar; nevertheless, lecturers may give ineffective solutions for this problem Therefore, it does not meet students’ needs Besides, the lecturer does not have enough class hours to modify instruction They may spend time so as to assist students in brainstorming and applying appropriate structures This result provides an insight for future research

4.2.3 Adjustment for Cognitive Processes

Kahoot! is used by two lecturers for those Listening and Reading coures They applied Kahoot! in their class in order to engage more students One of them said that

it made his teaching easier, more interesting and engaging for students In particular,

with this lecturer Kahoot! could integrate videos and images; hence it attracted a lot of

attention from students This web site impacted his instruction because he explained that ―when I do not use Kahoot!, I would like to add images and videos for my PowerPoint, so that students can feel interesting in the content of lesson.‖ These lecturers also said that integrating technology in their class helps engage more

students This finding may be explained by the fact that they use Kahoot! which is a

game-based quiz As review of Looney (2010), ICT-based stimulations offers an opportunity for collaborate learning and show student thinking for a context or an issue Similarly, Baleni (2015) indicates that online-assessment can improve group work in assessment tasks This study result is in agreement with Roschelle and Pea (2002), the researchers find that because each student owns their devices, all students participate and have responsibility in discussion in class The reason for this result

might be that Kahoot! is design like a game with images, videos, and colorful

interfaces, hence it let all students involve classroom activities Besides, those games

of CRSs as Kahoot! are competitive, thus students pay more attention and would like

to achieve high score

With regard to provision immediate feedback, a lecturer made use of Google Classroom and Turnitin in assessing writing One of main advantages was the

immediate provision of feedback He always used one of the above software in each semester so as to give feedback for student writing Based on giving feedback and scoring via using technology in assessing writing, he did not need to print it out

Additionally, when he used Kahoot!, he also received student responses and gives

feedback immediately

Moreover, this result is consistent with Ware (2011) who points out that AWE tools help students receive their feedback instantaneously Based on immediate feedback, lecturers can modify their instructional strategies (Watkins, 2013) Similarly, Peterson and Siadat (2009), the researchers state that a valuable and instant feedback help them know student comprehension This finding supports Looney (2010) who finds that technology plays an important role in assessing student comprehension and giving timely feedback Likewise, Chen and Cheng (2008) show that AWE programs which evaluates and scores essays can provide diagnostic feedback There are several possible explanations for this result Firstly, because this lecturer applied different software for his class and he used it frequently, he can realize some advantages that other lecturers cannot In addition, he created a class and scores his student essays on these programs, thus he recognized that giving instantaneous feedback had an essential role in integrating technology in FA, especially with assessing writing

4.2.4 Administration

A female teacher reports that in her class, there were five assignments in each

semester Two out of three essays would be submitted via Turnitin She had a rubric

in each of her assignments; therefore, she marked student essays quickly and she also admitted that this software helped her collect and store essays systematically The most important advantage that she recognized is that ―collect, store and organize

student responses easily‖ Using Turnitin in assessing writing helped her arrange her

work neatly, correctly and timely

Similarly, another lecturer also used Turnitin for assessing her Academic

Writing class Each semester her students had five assignments All of these

assignments had to submit through Turnitin She said that her workload was reduced

because she did not need to score those essays that have high proportion of plagiarism Therefore, one of the advantages which she can gain was that saving marking time She also felt certain that students submit their essays before deadline Likewise another female lecturer, she realized that applying technology in FA assisted her in collecting, storing and organizing easily Similarly, a male lecturer revealed

that he used Kahoot!, Google Classroom and Turnitin which helped him collect data

in well-organized way He could immediately gather student responses through

Kahoot! Furthermore, he could collect and checked number of student essays by Google Classroom or Turnitin A lecturer used Grammarly for his Academic Writing class Students completed five essays in Microsoft Word and sent their essays via email He often used Grammarly to check student grammar mistakes, thus it aided

him save marking time Likewise, another male teacher said that he employed

Edmodo and Turnitin for assessing writing He used one of them in each semester so

as to aid his teaching and create a folder for storing student performances This lecturer could re-examine student performances if he let students keep their essays

He believed ―both students and the lecturer could check those essays at any time without worrying about losing their performances.‖

Two major advantages that lecturers revealed were collecting, storing and organizing as well as saving marking time This finding corroborates the study of El

Ebyary and Windeatt (2010), when Criterion software is applied at Alexandria

University, teachers also reveal that the advantage of integrating it into assessing writing is that essays, scores and feedback are stored systematically When they collect and store their student essays, teachers can analyze and determine what students’ errors need to mention and what needs to adapt in their lesson plan Frey and Fisher (2013) This also accords with earlier research which showed that when one

teacher utilizes Clickers in collecting and organizing student work, she would like to

use more technology in the next lessons because it helps saving time Oneal-Self (2015) These findings also support the study of Baleni (2015) who find that e-assessment tools aid teacher in marking time In other words, teachers have less marking time as well as costs for compilation are reduced The possible explanation

for these results is most of the teachers at Hoa Sen University knew and used Turnitin

for assessing writing Therefore, they easily recognized two above advantages

4.2.5 Communication

Only a participant realized that students could communicate with their lecturer

through messages This result might be related to use of Google Classroom This tool

has function for public and private messages; thus students and lecturers are able to interact with one another This finding also accords with Ware (2011) who points out that AWE (Automated Writing Evaluation) tools help students exchange information with lecturers through private messages like chat boxes

4.2.6 Personality

Another important finding was that a female participant mentions some advantages if she used technology in FA, particular in writing She said ―Utilizing technology in assessing writing can help students receive their feedback personally‖ She explained that she would save time because she did not give comments to individual students in class In addition, students could not know each other’s feedback In other words, privacy was respected

4.3 The Disadvantages of Using Technology in FA

Table 4.5: The Disadvantages of Using Technology in FA

16.7%

for developing questions and learn how to use

4.3.1 Cognition

The downside of using technology in FA that two lecturers revealed was not familiar

with technology She used Turnitin frequently in assessing writing; nevertheless,

because of unfamiliar with technology, student essays were printed out by students and marked by hand Similarly, another lecturer encountered difficulties such as time-consuming to create a class or lack of user-friendly interface at the first time when

using Turnitin This result corroborates the findings of Shirley et al (2011) who note

that teachers meet difficulty for the first time setting up computer equipment They also are unfamiliar with the technology Because of such reasons, teachers’ instructions can be disrupted by technology A possible reason of this result is due to knowledge of technology of lecturers at Hoa Sen University is limited, they face similar difficulty