Assessments typically test for cognitive, affective, or psychomotor skills; most online assessments test for cognitive skills.
By designing questions correctly, the learner can be tested on all levels of learning according to Bloom’s taxonomy. Tests for Bloom’s lower level cognitive skills are usually objective in nature, taking the form of Multiple Choice Questions, while those for Bloom’s higher level skills are subjective discussion questions or writing assignments. Because testing for skills in the affective domain takes place over a long period of time, it is rare to find online assessments for these. Online assessments for skills in the psychomotor domain take the form of simulations and game-based tests.
The effectiveness of training can be evaluated by assessments at the beginning, during, and at the end of the training. Based on the phase of training in which assessments take place, they are classified as formative or summative. Formative assessments are simple checks before or during training and are not scored. They serve as a means for the students to recall and refresh matter taught previously. Summative assessments, also called post-assessments, occur at the end of training, and are scored.
Training is most effective if students are assessed before training and the complexity level of the subject being taught is customized based on the results. Based on this functionality, assessments can be classified as standard or adaptive. Unlike a standard assessment, the difficulty levels and type of questions in an adaptive assessment varies according to the learner’s performance in the pre-test or in previous questions in the same assessment.
TIS creates assessments across three levels of complexity—simple, medium, and hard—on subjects such as financial management, marketing management, management information systems, project management, human resource management, organizational behavior, and strategic management, among others.
The learners start off with a question of medium complexity. If they get it right, they encounter a tougher question, and they make a mistake, the system poses an easy question. The engine randomizes the questions so that the student answers different questions each time until the database is exhausted.