Providing a decade of interoperable assessment, IMS Question and Test Interoperability is a widely used specification for managing and sharing assessment material. Now that we are near the release of the final version of QTI v2.1 this paper provides an overview of the specification, outlining some of the key features of QTI v2.1 and its value for developers and educators. The intended audience for this paper is managers, learning technologists and developers interested in online and electronic assessment and new to QTI.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/qti_v21_briefing.pdf]

A CETIS Briefing paper on item banks, collections of assessment items and associated software to enable the storing of content to support the assessment of student learning. An assessment item is a complex object, consisting of a question together with its associated data such as score, feedback and either any media files required or links to those files. Item banking software enables items to be deposited, discovered and retrieved. In order to support the discovery and delivery of items, each item needs to be described with metadata, and may also be related to usage data.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/What-is-assessment-item-banking.pdf]

This paper aims to inform those with an interest in repositories in general, and those with an interest in assessment item banks, about the similarities and differences between these two technologies, in order to enhance the potential for future interoperability. Specifically, it asks the question: to what extent may an assessment item bank be considered as a kind of repository, and following from this, to what extent can interoperability and minimisation of effort and resource be achieved in a manner beneficial to the related communities of interest around these technologies?

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Assessment-item-banks-and-repositories.pdf]

This paper discusses assessment item bank that can be used by academics to share assessment content within or across a range of institutions. The concept is not new, but technical developments now render such a resource far more attractive and realisable than ever before. The paper considers the rationale of electronic assessment systems and assessment item banks used in HE. Some aspects of interoperability technology, including IMS QTI (the specification for Question and Test Interoperability), are described and discussed. The main assessment systems being used in HE are described with some details of the question types supported and how well they interoperate with other systems.

[pdf http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Assessment-item-banks-an-academic-perspective.pdf]

A briefing paper about IMS Question and Test Interoperability (QTI), which is a specification for a standard way of sharing assessment data.

No longer current.

Summary: A listing of tools, projects and resources relevant to assessment