Designing Tests

Users of the AIMS system can easily create tests that are similar to those used by the National Board of Medical Examiners for the USMLE exams. Question formats include single best answer, extended matching, true/false, and essay. Questions for a given test may be selected on the basis of subject category, question type, date of last use, or question performance. Please refer to the section on Building a Question Bank for more information about the elements of an AIMS' question.

Creating & Editing Tests

New tests can be constructed from 'scratch' or by making a copy of an existing test. This feature is useful in creating make-up exams since AIMS can randomly re-sort the order of the questions in a test.

The image below depicts the main screen of the AIMS Test Module, where users create new tests, edit exiting tests, select questions for a test, review questions which have been added to a test, and deliver tests.

The 'General' information stored about each test includes: the academic year, term, course name, test title, date of administration, and any opening or closing remarks. The various options for printing and saving tests are available from this screen.


Selecting Questions

Using the 'Selection Criteria' tab on the main screen of the AIMS Test Module (see above image), questions for a given test may be selected on the basis of:

• subject category
• question type
• date of last use
• question performance
• question number

For more information about use of subject categories see the page on Building a Question Bank: Creating & Editing Categories. More information about performance statistics can be found on the page Using Performance Data.

Click on the thumbnail below for an overview of selection process.


Reviewing Questions

Before publishing the final copy of a test, faculty can review their questions and make last minute modifications, such as editing question text and answers, or removing questions from the test (see image below). They can also rearrange questions by category or type, randomly, or by manually moving questions up or down in the list.

Choosing the 'Edit/View Question' button (see above image) will open another screen (see image below) that allows users to view and edit limited information about each question in the test (only answers and question text). For more information about creating and editing individual questions, please refer to the section on Building a Question Bank: Creating & Editing Questions.


Delivering Tests

There are 4 ways to deliver tests to students-- in printed form; as a secured, computer-based exam (under development); as a non-secured, computer-based exam (such as a take-home test); or as a computer-based self assessment. All of these test versions include the title and date, opening and closing comments, special instructions from AIMS (e.g., "Select the single best answer/completion for each of the following questions/ statements"), images & narratives.

The printed copy of the exam is ready for distribution and can be printed directly from AIMS.

The secured and non-secured, computer-based exams must be uploaded to the testing web site by the AIMS Coordinator. Check this site for more information about the online testing component.

The self assessment can be generated by the user and uploaded to the web by the AIMS Coordinator. The self assessment can be taken and immediately scored online by students.

AIMS includes several other printed reports to help faculty manage their exams (see above image):

• a printed draft that includes information & performance statistics for each question
• a file copy of the exam in html format
• a file copy of the exam in Microsoft Word™ or Adobe Acrobat Reader™ format
• an answer key
• a brief list of questions in the exam

Using Self-Assessments

Once course directors accumulate a data bank of questions in the AIMS system, they can 'release' a number of items for study purposes. Self-assessments are created in the same manner as other tests (see section above on 'Creating and Editing Tests') with one exception-- AIMS automatically creates a web page that can be delivered to students on the school's web site. Students who take self-assessments online receive immediate feedback on their performance, including their score and justifications for correct answers. Click here to take a sample self-assessment.

updated December 2007