Web-Based Assessment

This paper provides the information and resources on developing Web-based tests. First it discusses potentials, the benefits, limitations, thrills and agonies on implementing Web-based assessment in education and training. Then it examines and compares various methods and Web-based testing tools for creating Web-based tests. Finally, it provides reallife examples and demonstrations on creating Web-based tests with different tools and methods. Introduction Testing has always been an important part of instructional process for traditional classroom courses. It is also an integral part for online learning. The purpose of testing is to determine if learning objectives have been accomplished. Formative evaluation using online testing helps students assess their level of knowledge of course material. In addition, it provides a feedback to the instructor of what students are understanding and the areas that need further explanation or clarification (Hazari, 1999). Potentials Though there has been a growing array of software tools developed for creating computerbased tests, many tools have been developed recently to facilitate the teachers in authoring, delivering, grading, and analyzing the tests on the Web. Web-based assessment has demonstrated its ability to deliver tests efficiently and effectively at anytime and anywhere. For these reasons, the use of Web-based assessment has experienced a significance increase recently. The Web-Based assessment provides a way to administer, grade, and record a test via the Internet. Students can easily take the test by accessing the web site. They enter their names and other information like an ID number and password. Then they are presented with the test. When the students have completed the test, they click on a "submit" button. Immediately, the test is graded and the results are shown. Any questions that were answered incorrectly are shown along with the answer chosen by the students, the correct answer, and a brief explanation to support the correct answer. Web-based tests have almost unlimited uses. For instance, companies can give their employees tests that insure they understand company requirements in a particular area, and colleges and universities could offer tests via the Internet to reduce paper, grading, recording, and other time consuming operations. Benefits and Limitations Assessment is a powerful motivator of student learning. Appropriate use of Web-based assessment can play an important role in student learning while at the same time reducing teacher workload. Unfortunately, administering, grading, and giving tests are labor intensive and time consuming tasks. Traditional tests are not flexible and student must take a test at a specific time and in a give place. The use of computers in teaching and assessment already has a considerable history within education and training. However, the rise of the Internet especially in the form of the World Wide Web (Web), presents new opportunities for many aspects of education, particularly assessment. With the Web technology, it is possible to construct assessment which is available beyond the confines of the classroom, requires no paper or other physical resources (apart from a computer and access to the Web), can be objectively and immediately graded, and can be used for formative or summative purposes. Here are some benefits that can be obtained by conducting assessment on the Web: • Easy access • Flexible and can be easily customized • Randomized questions • Anonymous • More cost-efficient than paper-administered tests • Secure • At students' own pace • Immediate scoring and feedback • Perfect accuracy • Multimedia capable • Reporting • Statistical analysis of the results However, there are some limitations of Web-based assessments: • Require a large test bank • Authentication • Lack of standards • Development time • Technology dependent • No personal feedback • Most suitable for objective questions Web-Based Testing ToolsToday, there are many full fledge Web course authoring tools available that integrate Web-based testing. They are capable handle variety of question types and multimedia and alsoprovide good security, the easiness of development, maintenance and delivery of tests, itemanalysis, and statistical analysis of the test results. Many are proprietary in nature and notavailable to teachers and trainers who want to integrate testing without the use of theseembedded tools. However, there are commercial testing software available as well as othermethods for online testing that employ either server side or client side processing such as CGIscripts, JavaScripts, and active server pages. ReferencesHazari, S. (1999). Web Based Assessment. [On-line]. Available WWW:http://sunil.umd.edu/documents/assess.htm.