Test Scoring and Item Analysis (LXR Test)
Index of Brochure
- The Software
- How the Site License Works?
- Optical Scoring for LXR-Test 5.1.3 Exams
- LXR-Test 5.1.3 Feature Selection Chart
The Software
The Testing Center has been designated as a site licensee for LXR-Test 5.l.3, a powerful integrated testing package which runs on Macintosh and Windows based computers. The site license allows the Testing Center to sub-license the software to IUPUI faculty and staff at discounts of up to 75% on some configurations.
LXR-Test 5.1.3 is packaged in three versions: Personal, Professional, and Scoring. The Personal version of the software is designed for the instructor who wishes to maintain a question bank to hold test or survey items (in virtually all formats), create paper-and-pencil tests or surveys, and who requires a mechanism to update item information (e.g., difficulty and discrimination) on the basis of analyses that might be performed on instruments generated from the bank. Both text and graphics are supported by LXR-Test 5.1.3. A variety of textbook publishers have published their test (item) banks in LXR-Test 5.1.3 format. The Testing Center maintains a list of vendors that provide textbook adopters free copies of question banks in a format that can be used by the software. The item bank size is limited by the size of the disk holding the test information. In addition, the software permits the instructor to organize the item bank using a variety of strategies. The most common organizing scheme is to arrange the test by objective.
The Professional version of LXR-Test 5.1.3 has all of the functionality of the Personal release, but in addition supports a number of features that are required by large departmental testing programs. For example, question bank passwords are featured as well as the creation of multiple test sections, question linking, and global data changes. The Professional version also supports greater printing control than is featured in the Personal edition.
The Scoring version of LXR-Test 5.1.3 is a superset of both the Personal and Professional editions. As the name suggests, this version of the software will allow one to score tests, generate an item analysis, student reports, and update the item bank. This kind of capability would be of interest to any unit with its own scanning hardware or to individuals/departments that would want the Testing Center (or other licensed unit) to scan their tests.
In addition to the features described above, LXR-Test 5.1.3 also supports two supplementary modules. These modules can be used with all three versions of the software and simply give the program added functionality. The Spelling Extension is a way to check the spelling for text items. The Interactive Extension is a way to create tests that can be administered via the computer. A description of the various features contained in each version of LXR-Test 5.1.3 is listed in the feature selection chart below. A demo disk for the Personal Edition of the software can be obtained at a nominal cost.
How the Site License Works
The following is a description of how various site license arrangements might work. It is designed to be illustrative and not exhaustive. These are the most common scenarios.
Suppose Professor Smith wants to get a version of LXR-Test 5.1.3 for herself. She teaches three courses per term and each course has some requirement for midterms and a comprehensive final. Because no one else in her department is interested in the software she decides to obtain a Personal Edition of the Software with a Single-User License. The Single-User License allows Professor Smith to create item banks and tests for her work here at IUPUI and any incidental work related to her consulting. She may not, however, transfer the license to other persons or organizations. She is entitled to any updates that are supplied free to the Testing Center by Logic eXtension Resources, the developer of LXR-Test 5.1.3. Generally minor updates and bug fixes are supplied for free. A major upgrade typically has a modest charge associated with it. The Testing Center will support outdated versions of software up to one year after the new version has been released. Professor Smith licenses a Macintosh version of the software with her own personal funds. With her license Professor Smith receives a serialized set of disks and a copy of the documentation. She obtains the current purchase discount schedule by calling the Testing Center scanning office at 274-3325.
Professor Jones is an influential member on her Dean's Council and is very interested in seeing that all the faculty in her school have access to the Scoring version of LXR-Test 5.1.3. Because all her colleagues use the Windows operating system, the school would only have to purchase one license rather than the two that would be required if some faculty used Macintosh computers. She convinces the dean to purchase a Building License of the Scoring Edition. Since a few of the faculty and secretaries have not mastered the art of typing, the dean elects to get a Building License for the Spelling extension as well. This means that all the faculty in her building may share in the license purchased by the dean. The same restrictions apply with this license as with the Single-User license--the procedure for obtaining a copy is slightly different. Professor Jones would contact the Testing Center and order her copy of the software purchased by her dean. There is a nominal copying, labeling, and serializing charge for each faculty/staff member added to the dean's Building License. If Professor Jones wanted an original copy of the documentation, she could order it at that time as well. The discount schedule contains the current pricing structure for documentation and Building License copies. Because her Dean purchased a Scoring version of the software, Professor Jones could elect to be issued a Personal or Professional version instead. She might choose to do this because of limitations to her computer's hard disk or memory.
Professor Doe is chair of a department that wants to move all testing in the department's introductory course to a Macintosh computer lab. Such a change would reap big savings in terms of grading and paper costs. Because a number of instructors are involved in formulating the item bank and test for the introductory course, it is essential that strict security measures are enforced. The chair might consider licensing the Professional Edition of LXR-Test 5.1.3 with a Building License. Since the department wants computerized testing, they would also have to site license the Interactive extension as well. The same restrictions would apply to faculty in this department as described in the two preceding examples. The procedure for obtaining a copy of the software and documentation would be similar to that outlined for the Scoring Edition Building License example.
Optical Scoring for LXR-Test 5.1.3 Exams
Those instructors who have access to the Scoring Edition of LXR-Test 5.1.3 can scan their objective-based tests through one of two mechanisms. In the first situation, a department or school may have already purchased one of a number of popular scanners supported by the software. If so, the instructor need only create a setup file and scan the tests locally. Depending on the needs of that instructor, he/she can then use the Scoring Edition to produce an item analysis, a set of student reports, and may choose to update the item characteristics of the item bank. The Scoring Edition can also be used to scan objective tests not generated from LXR-Test 5.1.3. As a second option, the instructor may bring the standard score sheets along with the setup file to the Testing Center to have them scanned. Scanning performed in direct support of scheduled instruction is done at no cost. The Testing Center can scan and update both Macintosh and Windows based versions of the program. In either case, the principal advantage to the instructor is the ease in providing easily understood item analyses, individualized feedback for students, and a way to keep the item bank up-to-date.
The Testing Center actively subscribes to and supports Indiana University's policy against software piracy. The licensing arrangement described in this brochure is designed to bring down the cost of commercially developed software to make it affordable to both individuals and University units. Help us maintain the integrity of this arrangement by only using software which is licensed to you. Demonstration software can be obtained at the Testing Center's scanning office at a nominal charge.
LXR-Test 5.1.3 Feature Selection Chart
| Description | PER | PRO | SC |
| Question bank size7 Full text styles w/tabs/rulers Multiple, independent graphic QuickTime movies4 User-definable selection On screen previewing Question import/export Scramble items/choices Question bank passwords Question linking Odd/even page header/footer Multiple test page columns Multiple test sections Global data changing Mastery specifications Machine scoring Mastery reporting Item analysis and update Survey analysis & export Grading Table Student Lookup database Interactive eXtension5&6&8 Spelling eXtension8 | 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 8 | 7 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 8 | 7 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 8 8 |
