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  • There’s So Much to Do and Not Enough Time to Do It! A Case for Sentiment Analysis to Derive Meaning From Open Text Using Student Reflections of Engineering Activities
Title: There’s So Much to Do and Not Enough Time to Do It! A Case for Sentiment Analysis to Derive Meaning From Open Text Using Student Reflections of Engineering Activities
Evaluators often find themselves in situations where resources to conduct thorough evaluations are limited. In this paper, we present a familiar instance where there is an overwhelming amount of open text to be analyzed under the constraints of time and personnel. In instances when timely feedback is important, the data are plentiful, and answers to the study questions carry lower consequences, we build a case for using a machine learning, in particular a sentiment analysis. We begin by explaining the rationale for the use of sentiment analysis and provide an introduction to this method. Next, we provide an example of a sentiment analysis leveraging data collected from a program evaluation of an engineering education intervention, specifically to text extracted from student reflections of course activities. Finally, limitations of sentiment analysis and related techniques are discussed as well as areas for future research.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2033129
PAR ID:
10335037
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
American Journal of Evaluation
Volume:
42
Issue:
4
ISSN:
1098-2140
Page Range / eLocation ID:
559 to 576
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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