Beyond Score Accuracy: Examining the Diagnostic Quality of LLM-Generated Structured Assessment in Higher Education
Abstract: As Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly adopted for automated grading and feedback in higher education, their structured outputs, including multi-dimensional rubric scores, detailed feedback comments, and improvement suggestions, create an appearance of thorough analytic evaluation. This study examines whether these outputs deliver what they appear to offer. Using the JorGPT dataset of 3,041 student responses to 50 open-ended computer science questions, scored by both human instructors and three commercial LLMs, we identify three systematic discrepancies between the apparent and actual quality of LLM-generated grading and feedback. The sub-dimension scores are highly correlated (r = 0.82-0.99, VIF up to 45), providing redundant rather than independent diagnostic information. The textual feedback rarely detects student misconceptions (5-7% vs. 15-31% for teachers), functioning as a coverage checklist rather than a diagnostic instrument. The feedback tone remains uniformly positive regardless of response quality, lacking the severity modulation observed in human feedback. Additionally, grading accuracy varies significantly by knowledge domain, with procedural topics most reliable. These findings provide empirically grounded guidance on which aspects of LLM-generated grading and feedback can be relied upon and which require continued human oversight.