Frontiers in Educational Research, 2026, 9(10); doi: 10.25236/FER.2026.091001.
Qinghong Cao
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
Graduate course assessment still relies heavily on summative instruments such as end-of-term papers, which reveal little about students’ incremental growth in knowledge, competence, and literacy. Addressing the knowledge discontinuity between the undergraduate course Engineering Electromagnetic Fields and the graduate course Plasma Technology and Applications, together with the limited variety of existing assessment methods, this study develops a three-dimensional attainment evaluation system—knowledge attainment, competence attainment and literacy attainment—under the guidance of Outcome-Based Education (OBE), and proposes an implementation pathway for value-added assessment driven by AI-enabled learner profiling. Anchored in a course knowledge graph, the system maps three categories of process evidence—AI self-tests and concept-graph matching, virtual simulation reports and case-analysis depth, and observed ideological-and-political engagement with research-failure portfolios—onto a unified three-dimensional indicator space; time-series capture of learning behaviors and within-student computation of value-added gains shift the paradigm from summative to process-oriented value-added assessment. Piloted in the graduate course Plasma Technology and Applications (36 credit hours, 2 credits) across two consecutive cohorts (N = 54), the study completed the full loop of pre-test, process capture, value-added computation, tiered feedback, and re-test, demonstrating its operability and data availability; the course teaching-evaluation score rose from 98 to 99.42, providing authentic evidence at the level of teaching organization. This is a design-based study reporting the design and pilot observation rather than causal estimation of teaching effects; the three-dimensional attainment values presented are illustrative.
value-added assessment, AI-driven learner profiling, three-dimensional attainment, Outcome-Based Education (OBE), integrated undergraduate–graduate curriculum, plasma technology and applications
Qinghong Cao. From Summative to Value-Added: AI-Driven Learner Profiling for Three-Dimensional Outcome Attainment in an Integrated Undergraduate–Graduate Plasma Technology Course. Frontiers in Educational Research (2026), Vol. 9, Issue 10: 1-7. https://doi.org/10.25236/FER.2026.091001.
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