=Paper=
{{Paper
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|storemode=property
|title=A tool for online assessment in adaptive e-learning platform
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-562/paper2.pdf
|volume=Vol-562
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==A tool for online assessment in adaptive e-learning platform==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-562/paper2.pdf
A tool for online assessment in adaptive e-learning platform
Héctor G. Barbosa, Francisco J. García, Maria José Rodriguez-Conde
Instituto Tecnológico de Colima, México, Universidad de Salamanca, España
barbosa@usal.es, fgarcia@usal.es, mjrc@usal.es
In this article, we present some general aspects of the on-line assessment activity. For the purpose of this paper, we want to
focus ourselves in the activity of valuation that takes place in the e-learning process and discuss the importance of this
action for each participant of the process. After that, we profile the desirable characteristics of an adaptive system and we
describe the importance of the assessment activity. Later we present a proposal model for an adaptive assessment tool for an
educational platform that can accept objects developed under open standards.
Keywords Adaptive learning environments, E-learning, Feedback, IMS QTI, Online assessment
The LTS is a group of agreements about the
I. INTRODUCTION characteristics that a learning element should have. The use
of standards ensures instructional technologies to work with
Nowadays there are lot of works done and developments in other systems (interoperability), follow-up information
progress in the area of e-learning. We can see Instructional about learners and contents (manageability), generate
and educational institutions have been incorporating learning objects that are usable in other contexts
information and communication technologies in learning a (reusability) and avoid obsolescence (durability) (Booth
teaching process in order to increase the quality, efficiency and Berwyn, 2003). Among these standards we want to
and dissemination of education. mention the IMS Specifications: This is an LTS born in
1997 as a project of the National Learning Infrastructure
To be sure that these efforts do not become groups of Initiative at Educause. Its mission is to promote distributed
isolated islands, most of these projects look for to be learning environments.
compatible with some accepted standards, so that they can
be interoperables, compatible and interchangeable. Among For the IMS, many areas require interoperability when
the inherent importance of these works, we want to give learning is distributed, thus it details a set of specifications
emphasis to the paper of the activity of the assessment that build a framework to interchange educational elements
inside the e-learning process. We want to focus ourselves in (Thorpe, 2004). This framework covers among others, the
this action, and to see how it can help improve the learning IMS specification, specially: IMS Learning Resources
process for all the participants: the students, teachers, the Metadata Specification, for describe learning resources for
designers of contents, etc. searching and discovering. It is based on IEEE LOM and
the IMS Question and Test Interoperability (IMS QTI), for
share test items and other assessment tools. It defines a data
II. LEARNING TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS model for the presentation of questions, test and the
correspondent results reports.
Today, it is necessary to produce educative Internet-based
systems that permit the dissemination of the education,
covering the needs of diverse learning group profiles. To
obtain this, it is desirable that such systems perform
III. IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT
automatic task to adapt itself to each user, disconnecting the ACTIVITY
content from its presentation by using a semantic approach
rather than a syntactical one, defining a meaningful web. Conceptualizing the e-learning process to its basic elements
we can identify at last three elements: 1. the educational
In consequence, learning systems must be flexible and material to be taught by the teacher in a classroom, 2. the
efficient, and one way to accomplish that is to be an open assessment activity to measure the student learning and, 3.
and standardized system. We‟d like to focus on the the report of the score results given by the teachers to the
Learning Technologies Standards (LTS) and, inside these, students. This model is well suitable for the traditional
the IMS specification, giving the general aspects and the educative process.
desirable characteristics for a learning system.
complete or fulfil the lesson. These designs are defined
using the IMS LD (IMS Learning Domain)
specification.
Metadata: by using metadata objects we give to the
AAT the characteristics of interoperation, reusability
and interchange among other systems.
SLO´s: The Semantic Learning Objects, compliant
with IMS Metadata, stored as XML files in IMS
metadata SLO repositories. By using SLO´s, we could
differentiate between the educative content and the
learning processes.
XML: Extensive Markup Language, to ensure an
interchangeable tool using meta-data, building a well
documented and deployable tool.
IMS specification: Define a data model for the
representation of educative objects for learning
systems. Among the IMS specifications, we could find
the IMS QTI (IMS Question and Test Interoperability),
for the representation of questions and tests and the
correspondent results reports.
FIGURE I Under this conceptualization, we created an Adaptive
ASSESSMENT IN THE E-LEARNING PROCESS Assessment tool (AAT) that:
(Barbosa, H.; garcía, F., Rodriguez, M., 2007)
Allow the professor or instructional designer to
This is a narrow conceptualization for a complex integrate the test questions, defining an XML file as
process in which there are several factors that must be taken output associated with a repository of learning objects
in account like: student learning styles, technical in metadata format, following the IMS specifications.
implications, adaptive educative content, learning and On the other side, we want ensure that the assessment
knowledge management, feedback, motivation, etc. tool take into account the pedagogical aspects to
Traditionally, assessment activity has been seen as an conform an adaptive systems by considering the
activity apart of the e-learning process and there is a danger learning styles of each student integrating this style
in focusing research on assessment specifically, as this with a set of questions to create a Learning Test
tends to isolate the assessment process from teaching and Definition.
learning in general (McLoughin and Luca, 2003). Integrate the test with other learning activities in the
Learning Domain Model.
In the figure I, we can see a more complex model for
Design an adaptation model as the component that
the e-learning process in which we remark the assessment
integrates all the definitions made with the Learning
activity to emphasize the role of this task in the whole
Domain Model: the learning design, the test, learning
educative development “closing” the process, refreshing the
style and adaptive rules, generating an IMS LD file
information to the students (giving the scores), to the
containing a deliverable learning design to the next
instructor (by giving support for feedback) and the
module, the Interaction Model.
instructional designer (to update the contents of the learning
system). The Interaction Model delivers and adaptive unit of
learning to the student – an IMS CP file–, tracks the
behavior of the student like the learning activities
IV. ADASAT visited and the result of the test made by him/her. At
First of all, we‟d like to determine the necessary the end this module updates the student model.
technologies and concepts that were used for this tool.
After that, we applied this tool to a group of students in
ALE: Adaptive Learning System, conform its learning the University of Salamanca, consisting in the definition
components to build the most suitable adaptive and the application of a test in English knowledge.
learning experience.
Learning Designs: Sequence of educative activities that We split this group into two: for the first group we
could attach several learning objects and definitions apply the test with questions and accompanying multimedia
such objectives, prerequisites, and activities to material that matches their preferences of presentation
(audio, text or video); for the second group we applied a were adapted to the preferences of presentation. We are
test that did not match their preferences. Also we applied a working now in the description of the final conclusions of
test to determine the learning style of each student, prior to this work.
the adaptive test.
Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Institute
The aim of this process is to evaluate the hypothesis of Educational Sciences of the University of Salamanca, for
that, if a student is presented with an adaptive test that its ideas and support to the elaboration of this paper. Héctor
matches its preferences of presentation of the Barbosa thanks the National System Council of
accompanying multimedia material, he/she could average Technological Education (COSNET – Mexico) and the
better results in that test. National System of Technological Institutes (SNIT –
Mexico) for its financial support.
V. CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER WORK
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to the assessment activity we can think that it must be
interoperable as well, because it is one element of the e-
learning process and plays an important role inside this
experience. When we talk about assessment we could
define some components of quality, especially for the users;
some of those are: validity, reliability, flexibility and
fairness [6].
Adaptability is another key factor in assessment. Given
the fact that assessment is an important element of the e-
learning process and that this process looks to be
interoperable, then we can think that the assessment tool
could be used with different educative content
administrators with different conceptualizations and ways
to design and apply a test for their students. To face this
situation it is necessary to develop an assessment tool that
give several ways to design an test with different types of
resources, different kind of assessments, group of students,
kind of questions, managing schedules, etc.
The results obtaining from the application of this tool
to a group of students reported better scores when the test