Output details

IMS Question & Test Interoperability Overview, 2.1 Final Specification.

IMS Question & Test Interoperability is the world’s only open specification for computer aided assessment material. IEC elicited and edited significant input from a UK higher education development and practice community that was funded by Jisc. The basic research process that underpinned the development of the specification involved gathering use cases from communities of practice, soliciting candidate data structures that addressed the use cases, direct pilot implementation of the candidate structures, build consensus around those same candidate structures and record the outcome in draft specification documents.

After the original leaders of the IMS QTI Working Group moved on, we assumed leadership and brought to completion the latest version, 2.1. IEC, through Kraan, was formally one of three IMS working group co-chairs, but quickly became the editor of the specification. That meant that IEC assumed the chairing of the weekly working group calls, controlled development of the specification through the issue tracker that was central to the research and development process and wrote the changes into a master copy of the document set. IEC was also instrumental in liaising between the various companies and communities across Europe, North America, Asia and the Pacific who have a stake in the specification. IEC also contributed and tested several new data structures, and applied our experience of holding interoperability testing events by organising the first public demonstrations of QTI 2.1 interoperability.

In our recent survey, QTI 2.1 was found to be an integral part of more than a quarter of a billion pounds’ worth of assessment system investment worldwide. There is also evidence that most major US educational publishers and assessment boards have switched to QTI 2.1. as their internal exchange format for assessment material.