Affiliations: Departamento de Lenguajes y Ciencias de la
Computación, Facultad de Informática, Campus de Teatinos, 29071.
Málaga, Spain. {conejo,guzman,eva,trella,perez}@lcc.uma.es
Abstract: Student assessment is a very important issue in educational
settings. The goal of this work is to develop a web-based tool to assist
teachers and instructors in the assessment process. Our system is called
SIETTE, and its theoretical bases are Computer Adaptive Testing and Item
Response Theory. With SIETTE, teachers worldwide can define their tests, and
their students can take these tests on-line. The tests are generated according
to teachers' specifications and are adaptive, that is, the questions are
selected intelligently to fit the student's level of knowledge. In this
way, we obtain more accurate estimations of student's knowledge with
significantly shorter tests. By using the computer, larger question databases
can be stored, selection algorithms can be performed efficiently, and questions
can include multimedia content. The use of Java applets allows the inclusion of
executable content in question stem and/or answers, so the student can interact
with the system by means of this applet. In this way, new possibilities are
added to Computer Adaptive Tests, such as using traditional multiple-choice
questions together with questions whose answer is evaluated by the applet
itself.