Title: A practical approach to using the IMS-QTI specification

Authors: Odette Auzende; Hélène Giroire; Françoise Le Calvez

Addresses: Department of Computer Science (LIP6), University Pierre and Marie Curie, Boite 169, 4 place Jussieu, 75230 Paris Cedex 05, France ' Department of Computer Science (LIP6), University Pierre and Marie Curie, Boite 169, 4 place Jussieu, 75230 Paris Cedex 05, France ' Department of Computer Science (LIP6), University Pierre and Marie Curie, Boite 169, 4 place Jussieu, 75230 Paris Cedex 05, France

Abstract: The advent of the web has deeply modified educational practices. Teachers and learners like having many exercises available for training or for assessing. A solution to this is to allow many authors to create and share resources; this involves gathering together several communities using the same format. A study of the most used LMSs has shown that IMS-QTI is the most accomplished specification to express interactive and parameterised exercises. Moreover, to ensure that instantiated exercises have the same level of difficulty, it is necessary to define constraints between parameters. But IMS-QTI is limited here. Therefore, we have extended IMS-QTI to express the constraints between interdependent parameters. To validate this approach, we have implemented tools for teachers: an editor for creating interactive exercises with constrained parameters and feedback; a translator of IMS-QTI files to play interactive exercises on the web without web services; a classification for storing the exercises. The proposed extensions have been agreed by the IMS-QTI group.

Keywords: interactive exercises; parameterised exercises; constraints; interdependent parameters; online exercises; pedagogical resources; authoring tools; exercise classification; pedagogy; e-learning; electronic learning; online learning; internet; world wide web; IMS-QTI specification; Global Learning Consortium; ITIMS; IMS GLC; Instructional Management Systems; question and test interoperability; educational practices; teachers; learners; resource sharing; training exercises; assessment exercises; learning management systems; LMSs; instantiated exercises; difficulty levels; exercise editors; editing tools; constrained parameters; feedback; file translators; web services; learning technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLT.2012.052211

International Journal of Learning Technology, 2012 Vol.7 No.4, pp.353 - 377

Published online: 06 Sep 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article