• Stuart Forsyth, a computer science teacher at Dubai College, created a computer programme that can correctly mark GCSE short-answer questions with around 94 per cent accuracy. All photos by Pawan Singh / The National
    Stuart Forsyth, a computer science teacher at Dubai College, created a computer programme that can correctly mark GCSE short-answer questions with around 94 per cent accuracy. All photos by Pawan Singh / The National
  • Mr Forsyth's computer programme is called Sama (short-answer marking agent), which could help free up more time for teachers.
    Mr Forsyth's computer programme is called Sama (short-answer marking agent), which could help free up more time for teachers.
  • Sama process answers from one word up to a few sentences.
    Sama process answers from one word up to a few sentences.
  • Mr Forsyth says the system is currently performing with 94 per cent accuracy, which is in line with a competent human.
    Mr Forsyth says the system is currently performing with 94 per cent accuracy, which is in line with a competent human.
  • The data set has been created for the computer science curriculum, but Mr Forsyth hopes to expand the system for other subjects in the future, including science and mathematics.
    The data set has been created for the computer science curriculum, but Mr Forsyth hopes to expand the system for other subjects in the future, including science and mathematics.

Education

Dubai teacher creates computer programme to grade GCSE short answers

The system is currently performing with 94 per cent accuracy, which is in line with human competency

Kelly Clarke
Kelly Clarke
UAE

January 06, 2021

  • English
  • Arabic

A teacher in Dubai has created a computer programme that can evaluate GCSE short-answer questions with about 94 per cent accuracy.
Stuart Forsyth, a computer science teacher at Dubai College, said the system, which he named Sama (short-answer marking agent), could help free up more time for teachers.
He wrote the programme as part of his thesis for an MSc he is studying in Robotics at Middlesex University Dubai.
"I have done a lot of data collection from lessons taught at my school," he said.

I'm a teacher and the reality is, we don't like marking as it is very time consuming. To have an automated marking system in place would help to free up more time for things like lesson planning and pupil interaction

"I had an initial data set of 300 answers from around 40 different questions and I got the system trained up and developed based around those answers.
"I expanded that data set later on to test how effective the system actually was and I collected another 1,500 answers from pupils and the question set was expanded to just over 100 questions."
In most GCSE examinations, answer sets come in three forms: multiple choice, essay and short answers.
Sama has been developed to evaluate the latter and can process answers from one word up to a few sentences.
The answers typically ask candidates to state, describe, suggest or explain reasoning behind a question where there is an objective criterion for right and wrong.

Natural Language Processing or NLP enables computers to understand human language and meaning by analysing the syntax and semantics of sentences and comparing them to existing bodies of text, which are already understood.

Stuart Forsyth says the programme is currently being used as a revision tool. Pawan Singh / The National
Stuart Forsyth says the programme is currently being used as a revision tool. Pawan Singh / The National

Mr Forsyth, who has been teaching Years 7 to 13 at Dubai College for four years, said the system was currently performing with 94 per cent accuracy, which was in line with a competent human grader.
While the data set has been created for the computer science curriculum, he hopes to expand the system for other subjects in the future, including science and humanities.
A former systems analyst for the banking sector, Mr Forsyth said he came up with the idea to create the programme about six months ago.
"I'm a teacher and the reality is, we don't like marking as it is very time-consuming," he said.

"To have an automated marking system in place would help to free up more time for things like lesson planning and pupil interaction.
"My school has been so supportive throughout the whole process and as part of our teacher training we focus a lot on innovations in tech in education."
Currently, Sama has an accompanying website called SQuiz and pupils at the school are using the system as a revision tool.

In the future, with more tweaking and development, Mr Forsyth said it could be used as an examination or tutoring and assessment tool, not just a revision tool.

But said he would need venture capital investment to be able to work full time to achieve this before someone else did.

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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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