A web-based computer-aided assessment creation and invigilation system

Abstract

Computer-Aided Assessment (CAA) is more than managing course materials and assignment submissions. In recent years, automated assessment has become more popular. Public examinations such as the Internet-Based Test (iBT) of TOEFL and IT Certificate Examinations are computerized assessments with multiple-choice questions (MCQ) and the answers are automatically scored. This is an efficient way of assessing students and especially useful for self-financing degree awarding institutes in Hong Kong that are lacking of resources such as time and manpower. In this paper, we propose a web-based computer-aided assessment creation and invigilation system that promotes a paper-free electronic assessment and it is environmental friendly. The system provides a user interface for the teachers to input questions to the database, and generate a computerized assessment paper by the teacher inputting the desirable topics and difficulty levels. In addition, the system allows the examiners to customize assessment rules and regulations in a in-class examination. It automatically saves the data over time to prevent accidental crashes. Also, cheating is prevented by software measures. We have invited some users from education sector to try out our system and evaluated their satisfaction, and the overall result is positive.