Computer-Based Assessment

How to use CBA

The key steps for creating and releasing CBA tests remains the same, regardless of the tool used. A typical process would be:

Identify an appropriate point for the assessment to take place; having a clear idea of the purpose of your assessment (diagnostic/ formative/ summative) helps with this

1. Write questions:
   1. Write questions and feedback; this can be done on paper
   2. Get a colleague to review your question set, checking for accuracy, quality and robustness; redesign as necessary
2. Create assessment:
   1. Create questions using tool of choice - either Wimba Create or one of the NOW assessment tools
   2. Check that your questions and feedback have been entered correctly
   3. Build questions into an assessment
3. Pilot the assessment - especially important for summative applications; redesign as necessary
4. Release the assessment to students at the planned time
5. Analyse and act on results from assessment (if applicable)

Writing questions and building assessments are the more challenging of these steps, especially for the inexperienced author. See below for additional guidance on these.

Writing questions

CBA is typically based on 'objective' questions, that is, those in which the answers are pre-determined, although non-objective question types like short-answer or essay can be used as well. Writing effective objective questions and compiling them into reliable assessments can be time-consuming and challenging. It is advisable to pilot questions before use, either with colleagues or with students.

It is also worth considering whether your questions are likely to present any problems for accessibility (e.g. by using images which would then need 'alternative text' (ALT text) added so that they can be interpreted by screen-reading software). For more information about accessible assessment, there is a useful resource from the HEFCE-funded SPACE Project at http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=10494 [LINK].

For detailed guidance on writing objective questions, please see:

• CBA Helpsheet 1 - Objective Question Types
• CBA Helpsheet 2 - Tips for Writing MCQs
• CBA Helpsheet 3 - Objective Questions and Levels of Learning
• Feedback and Scoring for CBA

Creating assessments

Having written your questions and had them reviewed, you will need to choose a tool for building and releasing your assessment. Your choice will be largely determined by the assessment's purpose (diagnostic/ formative/ summative) but may also be influenced by factors like PC provision, on/off-campus access and the IT skills of your students.

It worth deciding at this point whether you will use a 'question library' to organise your collection of assessment questions. Using a question library makes it possible to re-use your questions across a number of assessments, and to share questions with colleagues if desired. It also gives you some options in terms of the way questions are organised and presented: in discrete sections or all together, randomised or in a particular order, or even presented in a series of smaller assessments.

Please note that question libraries are available to the two NOW assessment tools but not to Wimba Create - this might affect your choice of CBA tool. See below for more detail about these options.

NTU CBA tools

The CBA tools available at NTU are:

• NOW 'Assessment' tool
• NOW 'Self-Assessment' tool
• Wimba Create quizzes

NOW 'Assessment' tool

NOW Assessments can be used for diagnostic, formative or summative assessment, although for the later, the right conditions - IT support, spare PCs, special access arrangements - would need to be put in place first. The key features of NOW Assessments are as follows:

• Questions can be graded by a member of staff (for non-objective question types like essay or short answer) or automatically (for objective question types like multiple choice).
• Restrictions can be placed on availability (dates, times) and on assessment attempts (number of attempts allowed, time allowed per attempt).
• Questions can be added to an assessment directly or drawn from a separate question library; these can be presented in a fixed order or randomised.
• Feedback can be provided for individual responses to a given question, for the question as a whole, or for the entire assessment.
• Reports can be produced to help analyse students' results once the assessment has been completed.

NOW 'Self-Assessment' tool

NOW Self-Assessments allow students to test their own understanding. They are not graded and can be taken multiple times if desired. Students are given instant feedback on their question response as soon as they make their selection; they can also choose to reveal question 'hints' if the tutor has included these. In all other respects, NOW Self-Assessments work in an identical way to NOW Assessments.

Wimba Create quizzes

Wimba Create is a web authoring 'add-in' for Microsoft Word. It allows users to quickly generate consistent-looking web pages from Word content without the need for specialist web design skills. These pages can then be uploaded to NOW.

Using Wimba Create, it is also possible to create simple self-assessment quizzes. You will need to know the basics of using Wimba Create to be able to build these quizzes - to get started, please see Wimba Create User Guide.

To have Wimba Create installed on your PC (at present, a Mac version is unavailable) please contact ITS Service Desk (its.servicedesk@ntu.ac.uk or x88500). If Wimba Create is already installed on your machine, you will find it in Microsoft Word, under the 'Add-ins' tab.

Choosing a CBA tool

The table below shows suitability of CBA tools (NOW Assessment, NOW Self-Assessment, Wimba Create quiz) by assessment type (diagnostic, formative, summative).

Suitability of CBA tools, by assessment type (diagnostic/formative/summative)

When you have chosen a CBA tool, please refer to Guides and Tutorials for guidance on next steps.

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