London (UK), July 2007 - The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) is the UK's leading qualification-awarding body for the retail motor industry: approximately 18,000 candidates sit five to six examinations every year. With the implementation of Questionmark Perception, the IMI was able to increase its market share and now has greater control over the item bank, giving the testing process the flexibility it needs:
The IMI has a portfolio of national qualifications, both technical and non-technical and is the only awarding body that is totally focused on the skills requirements of the automotive sector. Some years ago, the IMI changed from paper-based to online assessment, but the tool implemented did not provide the expected ease of use, flexibility, and interoperability with the existing LMS.
To improve the situation, the organisation chose Questionmark Perception to handle all of its online assessments. Eleanor Rose, Qualifications Service Manager at IMI, comments, "If we amend a question or withdraw it, we can do it very easily, whereas previously we needed to involve a third party. This is very important to the IMI as we have huge numbers of items to manage. Perception's item banking capabilities make this very easy."
Staff's hands-on control was also greatly increased, making it very easy to manage the examinations the numerous candidates sit each year. The flexibility with Perception made it easy for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to provide content without having Perception knowledge.
Technical experts can write the questions, which are then converted to an ASCII import and passed on to a Perception employee to add graphics. The IMI has found this process very quick and convenient, enabling it to produce good-looking questions very efficiently.
Questions are mostly multiple choice, and a successful pilot of Drag and Drop, Text Match, and Hot Spot question types has resulted in plans to integrate these into high-stakes exams.
The use of online assessments has allowed the IMI to administer diagnostic assessments easily, asking candidates questions about their situation, as well as some knowledge questions. The IMI can then provide instant feedback and recommend an appropriate learning plan for the individual's situation. High-stakes tests can then be completed using Perception in a local college with an invigilator present.
The IMI's approved centre network uses coaching reports to identify areas and topics that students may still need help with and can quickly pass this information on to students. Eleanor Rose adds "This system has enabled us to achieve much better completion rates.2 Item analysis and question statistic reports are also used internally to help the IMI understand whether the questions and assessments are valid and reliable - a critical issue for certification tests.
Questionmark Perception has enabled the IMI to increase its market share significantly by providing a more cost-effective and efficient way of delivering its tests to students. Most importantly, Perception has provided much greater control over the item bank, giving the IMI the flexibility it needs to deliver thousands of certification tests each year, surpassing original expectations.
