14.1: Introduction

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Learning outcomes

issues relevant to setting up a computer lab for online testing.
software configuration issues relevant to online testing.
security issues relevant to online testing.
various types of software available to manage quizzes in a lab setting.
the various types of quizzes that can be delivered online.
some advanced features available for use in WebCT quizzes: JavaScript, Excel WebQuery, RegularExpression, etc.
student assessment strategies for the online environment.

This chapter reviews some of the basic issues of evaluation and assessment relevant to online testing. The chapter primarily uses as example WebCT version 4.1; nonetheless, the examples are such that they can be applied to most online platforms used in a lab setting.

The chapter begins by detailing some of the more important security issues for online testing, ones that generally are not covered in most reference material. It looks in detail at some third-party software, namely, NetSupport and Excel, for managing computer labs. NetSupport provides a means of monitoring every computer in a lab from you workstation; Excel, through its web query function, provides a means of collecting data from any page in WebCT in order to monitor activity on that page. Detailed examples are provided for both packages. The quiz settings relevant to monitoring a WebCT quiz in a computer lab are discussed in detail. Here, the discussion focuses on WebCT 4.1 and a computer lab environment.

The chapter next gives a detail examination of the WebCT quiz environment and the different types of WebCT quizzes: multiple choice, matching, short answer, paragraph and calculated. It assumes that the reader has basic knowledge to create a quiz, and rather than providing such information it discusses some advanced features available both within the WebCT settings for quizzes and also features available externally to modify the quiz environment. Such things as using JavaScript pop-up windows for creating links to external information within a quiz; using and creating Regular Expression scripts to edit input at the quiz interface; using HTML tables to control the display in a WebCT calculated type of question; etc. Detail examples are provided for each, with suggestions for using an HTML editor such as Dreamweaver.