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This study assesses the extent to which machine learning techniques can be used to predict question quality. An algorithm based on textual complexity indices was previously developed to assess question quality to provide feedback on questions generated by students within iSTART (an intelligent tutoring system that teaches reading strategies). In this study, 4,575 questions were coded by human raters based on their corresponding depth, classifying questions into four categories: 1-very shallow to 4-very deep. Here we propose a novel approach to assessing question quality within this dataset based on Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) and word embeddings. The experiments evaluated multiple RNN architectures using GRU, BiGRU and LSTM cell types of different sizes, and different word embeddings (i.e., FastText and Glove). The most precise model achieved a classification accuracy of 81.22%, which surpasses the previous prediction results using lexical sophistication complexity indices (accuracy = 41.6%). These results are promising and have implications for the future development of automated assessment tools within computer-based learning environments. [This is a paper in: Penstein Rosé, C., et al. "Artificial Intelligence in Education." AIED 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10947. Springer, Cham.]

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert