Electrical and Electronic Engineering Assessment

Network (e3an)

a three year project supported by the ‘Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning’ (FDTL)

HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) DEL (the Dept for Education and Learning in Northern Ireland)

motivations

“In the best examples the use of directed and independent learning is well integrated with taught elements. …In the best examples of assessment, assignments provide an appropriate level of challenge and feedback to students on coursework is prompt and informative. In other cases, there are delays in the return of marked work and inconsistencies in the quality of feedback.”

QAA overview report

motivations (?)

drawbacks (?)

May 2000 …the plan build a people

network peer reviewed test

banks for electrical and electronic engineering

questions produced and reviewed by paid consultants

model of processes trojan horse for

educational development

supporting materials on methods and practices

…the detailsquestions banks containing:

objective tests (MCQ, MRQ numeric,++)

text based traditional tests

course assignments exam questions self assessment,

diagnostic,feedback, reference/exemplars

technical issues must be in range of

output formats must be interoperable must have good

descriptive content (meta data)

equal importance people network and

identifying good practice

core participants

UK academics consultants, externals

PSBs

the benefitsresource potential time savings improved feedback to

students ready to run

questions: easier to trial MCQ software (e.g. web based QM Perception)

practice evaluation of

assessment innovations on campus

identification of good practice

dissemination and discussion of assessment practices

production model - theme teams theme leader theme mentor four or five

academic consultants

database contentsAnalogue Electronics Circuit Theory

Computational Tools Control Engineering

Data Communications Digital Electronics and Microelectonics

Electromagnetics Maths for Engineers

Power Electronics Programming for Engineers

Physics of Semiconductors Signal Processing

Telecommunications

consultant recruitment

‘00 partner pilot 18 consultants recruit by word of mouth two briefings

‘01/’02 uk-wide; 35 HEIs 50 consultants two early launches five briefings recruit by flyers, email,

word of mouth

theme team processidentify question targets

discuss levels and approaches

agree division of tasks dummy run

author write, mark up and

review questions trial and evaluate

questions

available test bank

via download or CD currently 1500 questions ongoing conversion and

addition ultimately around 2800

questions

further development contributions welcomed plans for ongoing use

and renewal

download from e3an website at http://www.e3an.ac.uk

metadata

overview theme sub-theme related themes description keywords

detail type mark time level cognitive level discrimination style

examplesView questionView metadata

output formats of questions

tutor or student ready, various formats Microsoft Word/RTF HTML QML (Question Mark Perception v2) XML Question & Test Interoperability (QTI) specification

(compatible with a range of test engines)

related developments & resources

acronym hell TOIA http://www.toia.ac.uk/

Technologies for Online Interoperable Assessment STOMP QTI viewer http://www.stomp.ac.uk/ CETIS assessment SIG

http://www.cetis.ac.uk/assessment/ LTSN-ICS question bashes

http://www.ics.ltsn.ac.uk/question-bank TQEF/NCTeam assessment project network

http://www.ncteam.ac.uk/projects/fdtl/fdtl4/assessment/ LTSN generic resources on assessment

http://www.ltsn.ac.uk/genericcentre/

test bank evaluation

extensive usability testing of the database which stores and retrieves questions

implementation studies currently extending project collaborators

willing to help evaluate: question selection methods potential benefits to tutors and students appropriateness of the question descriptions

(metadata) additions and maintenance

e3an - more details Su White http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~saw/

saw@ecs.soton.ac.uk

+44 (0)23 8059 4471

http://www.e3an.ac.uk/

info@e3an.ac.uk/