Asking all the right questions!
7 January 2011
Information Services, in partnership with Registry, and working with the University's Academic Schools, reached the final stages of a phased roll-out of a tool to improve online assessment within Cardiff University.
This tool provided by Questionmark, a market-leader in online assessment, enables academic staff to set a wide variety of question types and will allow detailed analysis of test results.
The first stage of roll-out enabled the use of the system for formative assessment, (non-credit bearing assessment), allowing students to gain an understanding of their progress in a subject and academic staff to identify potential gaps in knowledge.
The flexibility of the system is of particular use for part-time students and those learning at a distance, as tests can be completed online in the University's Virtual Learning Environment, Learning Central (accessed via Cardiff Portal) in the student's own time, without needing to physically be on campus.
A number of key members of staff across the University have been evaluating the new online assessment tool, with positive results. It will be rolled out to the University in the coming months. As part of this process staff members will be asked to complete a training course before gaining access to the system.
Future plans include the development of the system for summative assessment (credit-bearing assessment), again in consultation with key stakeholders in the University. This project will also include ongoing evaluation and dissemination of good practice in the use of online assessment for both formative and summative assessment.