Patent Document ID: 20090286218
Application ID: 12437619
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A method using a computer for grading student work on a problem when the student's own steps are shown in detail, said method comprising the following steps executed by said computer: creating a reference trace representing a best solution path to said problem; creating a student trace of the student's work, further comprising the steps of: explicitly tracing the student's work by searching for a specific rationale for appending a step to said student trace; provisionally accepting said step as part of said best solution path, subject to revocation if a better-quality step is later found by a step conflict check; implicitly tracing the student's work to discover implicitly taken unwritten mental steps provided the explicit tracing has failed to justify said step; appending any remaining untraced steps to said student trace and excluding them from said best solution path; computing a value of said steps in the student's work to form a student value; and, comparing said student value to a total value of said steps in said reference trace, as a result producing and displaying at least a partial score for said student for said problem.