CHECKpoint eLearning asked Bob Gomersall about his work.


You are implementing e-Testing and eAssessment on a large scale. Can you give an example?

Dr. Bob Gomersall: For over two years, the UK examination board Edexcel has been using technology and systems created by BTL to deliver its on-screen Skills for Life tests. The numbers taking these tests, through Edexcel and other providers, have grown rapidly, until more people are taking tests on-screen than on paper. Edexcel, for example, have provided well over 100,000 tests to date.

What was the key challenge? Which effects were realized?

Dr. Bob Gomersall: There are obvious issues that relate to security, etc, but the outstanding challenge relates to comparability between on-screen and traditional paper-based tests. In some instances the questions are basically the same but presentational features are different; in other instances questions on screen are of a type where there is no paper-based equivalent. In the latter case, one way forward is to define new qualifications that are assessed solely on screen; in the former case, considerable difficulties can be encountered. For example, early evidence suggests that the Skills for Life results on screen are better than those on paper for questions that are basically the same. There are a number of possible reasons for this, but more work is needed to understand the exact causes.

What are the implications for future eAssessment and eLearning?

Dr. Bob Gomersall: Rapid uptake suggests that on-screen assessment is here to stay. The band wagon is beginning to roll.

Early feedback indicates improved motivation and better results, although the latter is not well understood and may be misleading.

The move to innovative test items that cannot be delivered on paper will run into problems of comparability and will probably require the introduction of new qualifications with the method of testing specified as "on-screen". Traditional expertise on testing will need to be developed to address new approaches.

New assessment styles will drive new teaching styles. If the method of assessment can only be conducted on screen, then on-screen learning will become much more desirable and sometimes even essential.