How well can LLMs Grade Essays in Arabic?

This research assesses the effectiveness of state-of-the-art large language models (LLMs), including ChatGPT, Llama, Aya, Jais, and ACEGPT, in the task of Arabic automated essay scoring (AES) using the AR-AES dataset. It explores various evaluation methodologies, including zero-shot, few-shot in-context learning, and fine-tuning, and examines the influence of instruction-following capabilities through the inclusion of marking guidelines within the prompts. A mixed-language prompting strategy, integrating English prompts with Arabic content, was implemented to improve model comprehension and performance. Among the models tested, ACEGPT demonstrated the strongest performance across the dataset, achieving a Quadratic Weighted Kappa (QWK) of 0.67, but was outperformed by a smaller BERT-based model with a QWK of 0.88. The study identifies challenges faced by LLMs in processing Arabic, including tokenization complexities and higher computational demands. Performance variation across different courses underscores the need for adaptive models capable of handling diverse assessment formats and highlights the positive impact of effective prompt engineering on improving LLM outputs. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to empirically evaluate the performance of multiple generative Large Language Models (LLMs) on Arabic essays using authentic student data.

Automated essay scoring in Arabic: a dataset and analysis of a BERT-based system

Automated Essay Scoring (AES) holds significant promise in the field of education, helping educators to mark larger volumes of essays and provide timely feedback. However, Arabic AES research has been limited by the lack of publicly available essay data. This study introduces AR-AES, an Arabic AES benchmark dataset comprising 2046 undergraduate essays, including gender information, scores, and transparent rubric-based evaluation guidelines, providing comprehensive insights into the scoring process. These essays come from four diverse courses, covering both traditional and online exams. Additionally, we pioneer the use of AraBERT for AES, exploring its performance on different question types. We find encouraging results, particularly for Environmental Chemistry and source-dependent essay questions. For the first time, we examine the scale of errors made by a BERT-based AES system, observing that 96.15 percent of the errors are within one point of the first human marker's prediction, on a scale of one to five, with 79.49 percent of predictions matching exactly. In contrast, additional human markers did not exceed 30 percent exact matches with the first marker, with 62.9 percent within one mark. These findings highlight the subjectivity inherent in essay grading, and underscore the potential for current AES technology to assist human markers to grade consistently across large classes.