[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Eur. Patent auf computergestuetzte Lernstoff-Pruefungen
- To: swpat@ffii.org
- Subject: Eur. Patent auf computergestuetzte Lernstoff-Pruefungen
- From: PILCH Hartmut <phm@a2e.de>
- Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 22:19:53 +0100 (CET)
- cc: debate@fitug.de, fsub-offen@fsub.schule.de
- Comment: This message comes from the debate mailing list.
- Sender: owner-debate@fitug.de
EP0664041
System and method for computer based testing
EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE (US)
phm: Der Hauptanspruch deckt alle notwendigen Merkmale der
computergestuetzten Durchfuehrung einer Pruefung in Schule oder Uni ab.
Weitere Varianten stehen in den Unteranspruechen. Ganz nach dem Muster
der EPA-Patente "Erzeugung eines Einkaufszettels aus Kochrezepten" und
"digitales Sprachlernsystem".
Ich frage mich, ob unsere Kultusministerien schon bei ETS Inc
Lizenzgebuehren abfuehren oder wenigstens zum Dank fuer eine kostenlose
Lizenz Werbeplakate fuer ETS in deutschen Schulen anbringen.
Claims
We claim:
1. A computer based testing system comprising: a test development
system for creating a computerized test having a number of questions
to be answered by an examinee, a plurality of related test screens
containing messages and directions providing information for the
examinee, and a computerized test script defining rules for
determining a sequence of questions and related test screens to be
presented; a workstation operable to present the questions to at least
one said examinee and operable to accept examinee responses to the
questions so presented; and a test delivery system operatively coupled
to both said test development system and said workstation for
delivering said computerized test by presenting the questions and
related test screens according to the rules defined by the test script
to each said examinee on said workstation.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a test administration
system operatively coupled to said test development system, said test
delivery system and said workstation for initiating and terminating
the delivery of said computerized test by said test delivery system.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein said test administration system
further comprises security means for securing said computerized test
from access by unauthorized persons.
4. The system of claim 2, wherein a plurality of events indicative of
errors of said computer based testing system and related to security
of said computerized test and said computer based testing system are
monitored by said test administration system, and a plurality of
predetermined events occurring during the delivery of said
computerized test are monitored by said test delivery system, each
event and related information being stored within a log record, a
combination of said log records storing events related to errors
defining an error log file, a combination of said log records storing
events related to the security of said computerized tests and computer
based testing system defining a security log file, and a combination
of said log records storing events occurring during the delivery of
said computerized test defining an examinee performance file.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein said workstations are located at at
least one test center, the system further comprising: a data
distribution system having an interface with said test administration
system for processing said error log files, said security log files
and said examinee performance files and for generating from these
files reports indicative of events occurring at each workstation and
at each of said test centers.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein said test development system further
comprises: a test document creation means for defining the questions
to be presented to the examinee based on a test specification and for
determining a manner of presentation of the questions on said
workstation during the delivery of said computerized test; an item
preparation system interfaced with said test document creation means
for computerizing the questions for delivery by said test delivery
system; a test preparation system interfaced with said test document
creation means and said item preparation system for preparing the
computerized test script and the related test screens; and a test
packaging utility interfaced with said item and test preparation
systems for combining the questions, the test script and the related
test screens to form the computerized test.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the test specification specifies a
number of test sections of the computerized test in which the
questions are assigned, each test script defining the rules for
determining the sequence of questions and related test screens to be
presented in one of said test sections and wherein said test
preparation system is operative to create, and the test delivery
system is operative to deliver, at least one of: tutorials for
providing instructions to the examinee for interacting with said
workstation during the delivery of said computerized test; directions
for explaining how to take said computerized test; a help facility
selectable by the examinee for accessing additional instructions
describing how to interact with said workstation and for accessing
said directions for explaining how to take the computerized test; a
review facility selectable by the examinee during the delivery of said
computerized test for providing a list of substantially all of the
questions of said computerized test and for allowing the examinee to
select a specific question from the list to be presented; and said
test preparation system creating a session script defining a sequence
in which the tutorials, the directions, and the test scripts are to be
invoked by the test delivery system and wherein the test delivery
system is operable to interrupt the sequences defined by the session
script and the sequences determined based on the rules defined by the
test scripts to invoke the help and review facilities upon selection
by the examinee.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein a plurality of predetermined events
are monitored by said test delivery system, each event and related
information being stored within a log record, a combination of log
records created during the delivery of said computerized test defining
a performance file.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein said events include said examinee
responses, the system further comprising: a data distribution system
having an interface with said test delivery system for formatting said
performance files so that said examinee responses can be evaluated.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein said computerized test is a
standardized test.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein said workstations are located at at
least one test center, the system further comprising: a data
distribution system located at a central processing site remote from
said test centers, said data distribution system having a data
connection with each said test center for receiving information
related to activities at the test centers and information indicative
of said examinee responses and for processing said information to
generate at least one report presenting said information in human
readable form and for formatting at least some of said information for
subsequent scoring of examinee responses.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the rules for determining the
sequence of questions to be presented are based on a measurement model
for at least one of a linear test, an adaptive test, a randomized
parallel test, and a mastery test.
13. A method of computer based testing, comprising the steps of:
producing a computerized test having a plurality of questions to be
answered by an examinee, a plurality of related test screens
containing messages and directions comprising information for the
examinee, and a computerized test script defining rules for
determining a sequence of the questions and related test screens to be
presented; delivering said computerized test to the examinee by
presenting said plurality of questions and related test screens to the
examinee at a computer workstation according to the rules defined by
the test script; and recording responses provided by the examinee to
the questions presented.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step
of:administering at least one said computerized test to at least one
examinee.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of: securing
said computerized test and responses from access by an unauthorized
person.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein said step of delivering said
computerized test further comprises the step of: providing user
controls selectable by the examinee for controlling said delivery of
said computerized test.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein said workstation comprises a
memory, the method further comprising the steps of: registering at
least some examinees to take a specified computerized test prior to
the delivery of the computerized test, each examinee so registered
being authorized to take said specified computerized test; storing at
least one specified computerized test in said memory prior to delivery
of said specified computerized test.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of:
safeguarding each computerized test stored in said memory from access
by unauthorized persons.
19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of: confirming
the authorization of each examinee seeking to take said specified
computerized test prior to delivering said specified computerized
test.
20. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of: selecting
one specified computerized test stored in memory to be delivered, the
test selected being said specified computerized test the examinee is
authorized to take; and initiating the delivery of said computerized
test so selected.
21. The method of claim 13, wherein said computerized test is
standardized and wherein said computerized test is based on a test
specification being defined independent of said test development
system used to produce the computerized test.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the test specification specifies a
number of test sections of the computerized test in which the
questions are assigned, each test script defining rules for
determining the sequence of questions and related test screens to be
presented in one of said test sections, wherein said step of
delivering said computerized test further comprises at least one of
the following steps: displaying tutorials to the examinee for
instructing the examinee how to interact with said workstation;
displaying directions related to the questions to explain how the
examinee is intended to respond to each question presented; providing
a help facility selectable by the examinee to access instructions
describing how to interact with said workstation and for accessing
directions describing how to respond to questions presented; and
providing a review facility selectable by the examinee to review
questions presented by providing a list of substantially all questions
included in said computerized test and for allowing the examinee to
return and to advance to a question listed; and said method further
comprising the steps of: creating a session script defining a sequence
in which the tutorials, the directions, and the test scripts are to be
invoked; and interrupting the sequence defined by the session script
and the sequence determined based on the rules defined by the test
scripts to invoke the help and review facilities upon selection by the
examinee.
23. The method of claim 13, wherein each said workstation is located
at a test center.
24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the steps of:
transferring information indicative of activities occurring at each
said test center from said test centers to a central processing site
being remote from said test centers; and processing said transferred
information so that said activities at said test centers are monitored
at said central processing site.
25. The method of claim 23, further comprising the steps of:
transferring said recorded responses from each workstation to a
central processing site being remote from said test centers; and
formatting said recorded responses for subsequent scoring.
26. The method of claim 13, wherein the rules for determining the
sequence of questions to be presented are based on a measurement model
for at least one of a linear test, an adaptive test, a randomized
parallel test, and a mastery test.
27. A method of producing a computerized test, comprising the steps
of: preparing a test document of items, each item having at least a
test question, related presentation information indicative of at least
the text to be presented to an examinee and a response type associated
with said item; preparing an electronic form of each item according to
said presentation information and said response type and defining said
electronic form so prepared as a computerized item; preparing at least
one session script having information indicative of predetermined test
options and information indicative of a sequence in which said
computerized items are to be presented; and packaging said
computerized items and said session scripts together to form said
computerized test.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein computerizing each item comprises
the steps of: editing the items according to the presentation
information using a word processor; and inserting custom codes into
the items according to both the presentation information and the
response type.
29. The method of claim 27, wherein the items further comprise
stimulus material to be referenced by the items, the method further
comprising the step of: demarcating blocks of the stimulus material by
inserting custom codes into the stimulus material; said insertion of
the custom codes causing the demarcated blocks to be one of i)
highlighted upon presentation to the examinees, and ii) selectable by
the examinees.
30. The method of claim 27, wherein each computerized test has at
least one test section, each test section having at least one item,
further comprising the steps of: preparing for each said section, at
least one delivery unit defining options to be effective for that said
section and for specifying an organization of said computerized items
to be presented within that said section.
31. The method of claim 30, further comprising the steps of: preparing
at least one of the following units: (1) a general information screen
(GIS) unit having information related to at least one of said test,
said section, and said item, and (2) a tutorial unit having
information to familiarize examinees with said computerized test;
combining GIS units, tutorial units and delivery units to form a
testing unit; and generating a test script defining a sequence in
which said GIS units, tutorial units and delivery units are to be
presented, at least one test script being included within each of said
session scripts.
32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the steps of: preparing
at least one of the following units: (1) an examinee data collection
unit having at least one inquiry to be presented to examinees to
obtain information about said examinees, and (2) a scoring and
reporting unit having information related to scoring and reporting of
at least one computerized test; and defining a sequence in which said
examinee data collection units, scoring and reporting units, testing
units, GIS units, and tutorial units are to be presented, said session
script being based on said sequence.
33. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of:generating
computerized graphics to be presented with the computerized items.
34. The method of claim 27, wherein each item has a key indicative of
a correct response to the test question associated therewith, the
method further comprising the step of: computerizing the key; and
packaging the computerized key with the computerized test.
35. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of: presenting
each computerized item for review; and modifying the computerized item
based on said presentation.
36. A computer based testing system comprising: a test development
system for creating a computerized test for standardized testing, said
computerized test having a number of questions to be answered by an
examinee and being based on a test specification which specifies at
least one of the following information: the number of questions to be
presented in the computerized test, the number of test sections in
which the questions are grouped, the number of questions in each
section, an amount of time for taking the test, an amount of time
allotted for responding to each of the questions, and criteria for
selecting questions to be presented, said test specification being
defined independent of said test development system; a workstation
operable to present the questions to at least one said examinee and
operable to accept examinee responses to the questions so presented;
and a test delivery system operatively coupled to both said test
development system and said workstation for delivering said
computerized test to each said examinee on said workstation in a
manner independent of the information specified by the test
specification.
37. The system of claim 36, further comprising: a test administration
system operatively coupled to said test development system, said test
delivery system and said workstation for initiating and terminating
the delivery of said computerized test by said test delivery system.
38. The system of claim 37, wherein said test administration system
further comprises security means for securing said computerized test
from access by unauthorized persons.
39. The system of claim 37, wherein a plurality of events indicative
of errors of said computer based testing system and related to
security of said computerized test and said computer based testing
system are monitored by said test administration system, and a
plurality of predetermined events occurring during the delivery of
said computerized test are monitored by said test delivery system,
each event and related information being stored within a log record, a
combination of said log records storing events related to errors
defining an error log file, a combination of said log record storing
events related to the security of said computerized tests and computer
based testing system defining a security log file, and a combination
of said log records storing events occurring during the delivery of
said computerized test defining an examinee performance file.
40. The system of claim 39, wherein said workstations are located at
at least one test center, the system further comprising: a data
distribution system having an interface with said test administration
system for processing said error log files, said security log files
and said examinee performance files and for generating from these
files reports indicative of events occurring at each workstation and
at each of said test center.
41. The system of claim 36, wherein said test development system
further comprises: a test document creation means for defining the
questions to be presented to the examinee and for determining a manner
of presentation of the questions on said workstation during the
delivery of said computerized test; an item preparation system
interfaced with said test document creation means for computerizing
the questions for delivery by said test delivery system; a test
preparation system interfaced with said test document creation means
and said item preparation system for preparing a computerized test
script defining a sequence of the questions to be presented and for
preparing related test screens containing of messages and directions
to be presented during the delivery of the computerized test; and a
test packaging utility interfaced with said item and test preparation
systems for combining the test script and related test screens to form
the computerized test.
42. The system of claim 41, wherein each test script defines rules for
determining the sequence of questions and related test screens to be
presented in one of said test sections and wherein said test
preparation system is operative to create and said test delivery
system is operative to deliver at least one of: tutorials for
providing instructions to the examinee for interacting with said
workstation during the delivery of said computerized test; directions
for explaining how to take said computerized test; a help facility
selectable by each examinee for accessing additional instructions
describing how to interact with said workstation and for accessing
said directions for explaining how to take the computerized test; a
review facility selectable by each examinee during the delivery of
said computerized test for providing a list of substantially all of
the questions of said computerized test and for allowing the examinee
to select a specific question from the list to be presented; and said
test preparation system creating a session script defining a sequence
in which the tutorials, the directions, and the test scripts are to be
invoked by the test delivery system and wherein the test delivery
system is operable to interrupt the sequence defined by the session
script and the sequences determined based on the rules defined by the
test scripts to invoke the help and review facilities upon selection
by the examinee.
43. The system of claim 42, wherein the rules for determining the
sequence of questions to be presented are based on a measurement model
for at least one of a linear test, an adaptive test, a randomized
parallel test, and a mastery test.
44. The system of claim 36, wherein a plurality of predetermined
events are monitored by said test delivery system, each event and
related information being stored within a log record, a combination of
log records created during the delivery of said computerized test
defining a performance file.
45. The system of claim 44, wherein said events include said examinee
responses, the system further comprising: a data distribution system
having an interface with said test delivery system for formatting said
performance files so that said examinee responses can be evaluated.
46. The system of claim 36, wherein said workstations are located at
at least one test center, the system further comprising: a data
distribution system located at a central processing site remote from
said test centers, said data distribution system having a data
connection with each said test center for receiving information
related to activities at the test centers and information indicative
of said examinee responses and for processing said information to
generate at least one report presenting said information in human
readable form and for formatting at least some of said information for
subsequent scoring of examinee response.
47. A method of computer based testing, comprising the steps
of:producing a computerized test for standardized testing using a test
development system, said computerized test having a plurality of
questions to be answered by an examinee and being based on a test
specification which specifies at least of the following information:
the number of questions to be presented in the computerized test, the
number of test sections in which the questions are grouped, the number
of questions in each section, an amount of time for taking the test,
an amount of time allotted for responding to each of the questions,
and criteria for selecting questions to be presented, said test
specification being defined independent of said test development
system; delivering said computerized test to the examinee by
presenting said plurality of questions to the examinee at a computer
workstation in a manner independent of the information specified by
the test specification; and recording responses provided by the
examinee to the questions presented.
48. The method of claim 47, further comprising the step of:
administering at least one said computerized test to at least one
examinee.
49. The method of claim 47, further comprising the step of: securing
said computerized test and responses from access by an unauthorized
person.
50. The method of claim 47, wherein said computerized test comprises a
plurality of related test screens containing messages and directions
providing information for the examinee and a computerized test script
defining rules for determining a sequence of the questions and related
test screens to be presented and wherein said step of delivering said
computerized test further comprises at least one of the following
steps: displaying tutorials to the examinee for instructing the
examinee how to interact with said workstation; displaying directions
related to the questions to explain how the examinee is intended to
respond to each question presented; providing a help facility
selectable by the examinee to access instructions describing how to
interact with said workstation and for accessing directions describing
how to respond to questions presented; and providing a review facility
selectable by the examinee to review questions presented by providing
a list of substantially all questions included in said computerized
test and for allowing the examinee to return and to advance to a
question listed; and said method further comprising the steps of:
creating a session script defining a sequence in which the tutorials,
the directions, and the test scripts are to be invoked; and
interrupting the sequence defined by the session script and the
sequences determined based on the rules defined by the test scripts to
invoke the help and review facilities upon selection by the examinee.
51. The method of claim 50, wherein the rules for determining the
sequence of questions to be presented are based on a measurement model
for at least one of a linear test, an adaptive test, a randomized
parallel test, and a mastery test.
52. The method of claim 47, wherein said step of delivering said
computerized test further comprises the step of: providing user
controls selectable by the examinee for controlling said delivery of
said computerized test.
53. The method of claim 47, wherein said workstation comprises a
memory, the method further comprising the steps of: registering at
least some examinees to take a specified computerized test prior to
the delivery of the computerized test, each examinee so registered
being authorized to take said specified computerized test; storing at
least one specified computerized test in said memory prior to delivery
of said specified computerized test.
54. The method of claim 53, further comprising the step of:
safeguarding each computerized test stored in said memory from access
by unauthorized persons.
55. The method of claim 53, further comprising the step of: confirming
the authorization of each examinee seeking to take said specified
computerized test prior to delivering said specified computerized
test.
56. The method of claim 53, further comprising the steps of: selecting
one specified computerized test stored in memory to be delivered, the
test selected being said specified computerized test the examinee is
authorized to take; and initiating the delivery of said computerized
test so selected.
57. The method of claim 47, wherein each said workstation is located
at a test center.
58. The method of claim 57, further comprising the steps of:
transferring information indicative of activities occurring at each
said test center from said test centers to a central processing site
being remote from said test centers; and processing said transferred
information so that said activities at said test centers are monitored
at said central processing site.
59. The method of claim 57, further comprising the steps of:
transferring said recorded responses from each workstation to a
central processing site being remote from said test centers: and
formatting said recorded responses for subsequent scoring.
_________________________________________________________________
Data supplied from the esp@cenet database - l2