Automated Test Assembly with TestAssembler
Automated test assembly will save hours of expensive effort from psychometricians, while producing stronger exam forms. TestAssembler provides an easy-to-use tool to implement this technology.
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What is automated test assembly?
Just what it sounds like – provide the software a list of items in your pool and relevant metadata, then tell it to assemble 4 forms of 100 items with content coverage that meets your blueprints, 20 items overlap, and an average P value of 0.72… DONE. It only takes seconds.
Automate the drudgery of form assembly
TestAssembler’s interface (see screenshot below) is straightforward and user-friendly. It is divided into three tabs:
- Input Options – Specify the input file, the output file, and the run title to appear in the output. In addition, you must specify the measurement model (either CTT or IRT) used for test assembly. You can also control the range of acceptable item statistics, such as classical difficulty values between 0.50 and 0.90; only items that meet your specifications will be available for selection.
- New Form Specifications – Specify the number of forms, number of items on each form, then number of content areas, the number of items in each content area, and the psychometric target for the final forms
- Anchor Items – Specify the percentage of the total form to be an internal anchor block, as well as its statistical characteristics
Then click “Run” and your new forms are created in just a few seconds!
Why Automated Test Assembly?
TestAssembler is a simple, effective tool for automated test assembly (form building or construction) using either classical test theory (CTT) or item response theory (IRT). TestAssembler was designed with one purpose in mind: to save you time and money.
Consider the time that it would take to build 8 test forms from a bank of item statistics where each form
- is equivalent in terms of content distribution and psychometric statistics;
- has internal anchor blocks that are also equivalent in terms of content distribution and psychometric statistics;
- is constrained with additional bounds on the statistics of individual items.
To do this manually would take you hours or even days. TestAssembler can complete this process in seconds and do it more accurately, not to mention it automatically drafts a formal report for you – meaning that TestAssembler can literally pay for itself with a single use!
Automated test assembly (ATA) is widely regarded as a valid and efficient method to the practical problem of creating test forms that are parallel and/or linked via anchor items (Davey and Hendrickson, 2010). TestAssembler is the first publicly available program designed specifically to implement ATA, bringing the power of ATA to every testing organization. It can apply both CTT&IRT.
Download the free version of TestAssembler
Download the free version of TestAssembler with the form on the right, and evaluate to determine if it fits the needs of your organization. It is restricted to only one test form of up to 50 items. You must enter a valid email address and it will send you a link to download TestAssembler.
The demonstration version of TestAssembler is available for evaluation of the program with no cost and no obligation to purchase. While limited to 50 examinees, there is no limit on time. This makes it useful as a completely free student version.
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Ready to start? Contact us to request a demo with one of our test construction experts.
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