AssessmentTest:TimeLimits

An important feature of QTI tests is the option to specify the time period available to the candidate to answer items. This is particularly applicable to high-stakes summative assessments.

First note that time constraints can be applied at each of the following levels
 * an individual item
 * a group of items
 * the entire test

For each of the above, the test author may specify a timeLimits element. The latter contains two attributes
 * minTime  - an integer number of seconds
 * maxTime  - an integer number of seconds

Either or both of these attributes may be specified inside timeLimits as shown below

In this section of the notes, we concentrate on the timeLimits element of assessmentTest (i.e. at the highest level).

If such an element is declared, then the test author has imposed either a minimum time or a maximum time period (or indeed both), which apply to the total time taken by the candidate to answer all the items in the test. This “total time” covers not only the sum of times taken to answer each item, but also any extra time the candidate spends in navigating the screen to move amongst questions.

Note that a delivery engine, if instructed, will keep track of the time taken by the candidate to complete a test. This value is held in a predefined QTI response variable called duration, which is scoped to the entire test. This variable value can be referenced inside outcome processing logic.

       Instructions for Section A             <itemSessionControl maxAttempts="2" /> <timeLimits maxTime="7200" />  Instructions for Section B    </rubricBlock> <assessmentItemRef identifier="item434" href="item434.xml" /> <assessmentItemRef identifier="item065" href="item065.xml" /> <assessmentItemRef identifier="item365" href="item365.xml" /> </assessmentSection> </testPart> </assessmentTest>