JISC CETIS Assessment SIG meeting, 26 September 2007

This meeting of the JISC CETIS Assessment SIG took place on Wednesday 26 September 2007 at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

The day included news and updates on eassessment activities, presentations and reports on projects and other development work, and innovations within the domain.

JISC news, updates and development priorities - Myles Danson, JISC
Myles is the JISC programme manager with responsibility for assessment. He discussed JISC's view of assessment and highlighted some of their priority areas for future work.

Myles's presentation can be downloaded from slideshare here.

Assessment outcomes from the TENCompetence Project - Yongwu Miao, Open University of the Netherlands
Yongwu discussed the work undertaken by the TENCompetence Project in assessment, with particular reference to the relationship between IMS Question and Test Interoperability and IMS Learning Design.

Yongwu's presentation can be downloaded from slideshare here.

Increasing learner success with technology supported assessment: findings from the REAP project - Martin Hawksey, University of Strathclyde
Martin presented the work of the REAP project, which has been looking at the transformation of assessment practice and developing new models of assessment.

Martin's presentation can be downloaded from slideshare here.

Interoperability for item banking: the sordid details - Dick Bacon, University of Surrey
Dick presented his work on item banking interoperability issues, which highlights the differences - sometimes subtle, sometimes more dramatic - between implementations. These differences in interpretation and implementation can seriously impact on the interoperability of different systems and the usability of items across systems.

Dick's notes and code samples can be found [[Media:bacon.doc | here]] (~90 KB .doc).

QTI and Content Package authoring for everybody - Niall Barr, NBSoftware
Niall discussed his current development work, developing an assessment tool utilising the IMS Question and Test Interoperability, Content Packaging and Common Cartridge specifications.

Niall's presentation can be downloaded from slideshare here.

Assessment 2.0 - Bobby Elliott, Scottish Qualifications Authority
Bobby discussed ways in which Web 2.0 technologies can be used to enhance and modernise learning in general, and assessment in particular, in ways which can engage and appeal to increasingly digitally literate learners. The session provoked a particularly lively discussion.

Bobby's presentation can be downloaded from slideshare here.

A copy of the paper on which his talk was based is available [[media:Assessment_2_v2.pdf‎ | here]] (~300KB .pdf)

MCQFM - Steve Bennett, University of Hertfordshire
Steve demonstrated the MCQFM tool, which provides a simple, very easy to use text-based format for converting and editing items between formats.

A wealth of information, including links for downloads, user guides and news is available on the project's website.

The JAssess code and QTI - Graham Smith, CAL Consultant
Graham demonstrated the latest version of his QTI demonstrator, which he has been porting to Java. He has updated the system to support QTI v2.0 items, and it is possible for users to upload their own code for testing in the system.

The JAssess tool can be found through its project page; this page will be updated as work on the system progresses.

AQuRate, ASDEL and Minibix - Alicia Campos and David Livingstone, Kingston University; Jon Hare, University of Southampton
These projects are funded under the JISC Capital Programme from March 2007 - March 2008 to develop an item authoring tool (AQuRate), item banking functionality (Minbix) and assessment delivery tool (ASDEL). They have been working closely together which promises greater interoperability of the final systems.

The AQuRate team presented the design of the system and then ran a demonstration of the process of creating an item within the tool.

Information on the project, including links to collaborative resources, can be found on the project's website.

Unfortunately Minibix were unable to attend the event, but information on the project is available online.

The ASDEL team presented their assessment delivery tool, including a video which demonstrates the system in action.

Jon's presentation is available [[Media:ASDEL.pdf | here]] (~550 KB .pdf).

A demo of the ASDEL system is also available.