2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

418
Integrated Web Assessment Solutions
David T. Pfenninger, Ph.D., Reid E. Klion, Ph.D., and Marc U. Wenzel, Ph.D.
Pan, Inc.
111 Congressional Blvd., Suite 120
Carmel, IN USA 46032
david@pantesting.com
One of the most exciting and practical new technological developments for psychologists and
other test administration professionals is the incorporation of psychological and behavioral
assessment tools into efficient and secure Internet-based platforms.
Web-based assessment holds the promise of improved performance and efficiencies of scale for
practitioners and researchers alike, and by extension, a potentially superior methodology for their
clients. However, this potential is counterbalanced by special challenges attendant to the web
delivery medium itself, as well as by the dynamics of both a methodology (test administration
and processing) and market (testing, assessment, survey, and collateral measurement domains) in
transition.
This paper will review some of the recent developments and emerging trends and practices in the
world of integrated web assessment to help orient test users and consumers to this new tool, its
promise, and its challenges.
Why Web Assessment?
The rise of web assessment (aka “e-testing”) appears to be inevitable. Indeed, the director of the
Association of Test Publishers stated unequivocally that the “…emphasis on e-testing means that
current test and assessment tools will probably be replaced by electronic versions or by new
tests with exclusive online use….” (Harris, 1999).
Similarly, influential psychological researchers Patrick DeLeon, Leigh Jerome and their
colleagues (1999) have observed that “…behavioral telehealth is emerging as a clinically
important and financially viable option for psychologists…the Internet is particularly well-suited
for self-report questionnaires and surveys.”
Web assessment and testing is a variant of Computer Based Testing (CBT), leveraging Internet
content delivery and data transmission with the goals of creating greater client access and faster
processing of data. The key advantages of CBT are preserved, possibly accentuated, in the etesting
variant:
1. Psychologists are comfortable using computer-based test administration, scoring and
electronic report generation, with 85% having done so (McMinn, Ellens, & Soref, 1999).
2. Computerized administration and scoring of tests have become a generalized practice
(Silzer & Jeanneret, 1998).
45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003