Dear Kate,

Several UK HE institutions have tried this, including Loughborough.

We piloted diagnostic tests created within Questionmark perception with PhD 
students last year and we tried politics UG this year.  Basically we have 
found only a small percentage of students do the tests voluntarily (despite 
lots of encouragement from their lecturers), so you need to find a way of 
embedding it into the curriculum and then motivating students to complete 
it.  You also need to consider:
* whether the test will be in print or electronic format, e.g. questionmark 
perception, castle etc
* completed within class time, outside of it etc.
* you need to be very clear about what you are trying to assess (so what 
learning outcomes), whether it is knowledge or understanding
* whether you are going to get students to assess own levels of competency
* what style questions you are going to use .e.g multiple choice, true / 
false etc.
Ginny Franklin and I have written an article on our experience of diagnostic 
tests with PhD students that is hopefully going to be published in JeLit 
this September.

Angela Newton and colleagues at Leeds University has delivered a diagnostic 
test to students based on the Quebec test 
http://crepuq.qc.ca/documents/bibl/formation/studies_Ang.pdf and she gave an
excellent talk at LILAC, details of her paper are at 
http://www.cilip.org.uk/groups/csg/csg_ilg/lilac_sessions.html#new

Selina Lock at Leicester University has also been writing a diagnostic test 
(along with some exciting ways of delivering IL electronically), I am not 
sure whether she has used the test in anger yet.  Selina delivered an 
excellent paper at eLit 2005 about what she has been doing, copies of which 
are available at: 
http://apps.iteu.gla.ac.uk/elit/presentations.jsp?confID=4&proposalNo=22

Kirsty Barker at the OU has done a lot of work on their online test - again 
I am not sure of how the test went in a live situation.

University of Sunderland has excellent online materials including a test. 
Oliver Pritchard gave a brilliant talk at eLit 2004 about their work 
http://www.elit-conf.org/elit2004/docs/sess2rmd2.html

Imperial College has an online tutorial called Olivia that has a diagnostic 
test within it as well as quizzes throughout.

I am sure I have missed off several other institutions that are doing 
fantastic work in this area.  I hope this is useful and that your test is 
successful.

Ruth

Ruth Stubbings
Academic Services Manager
Pilkington Library
Loughborough University
Loughborough, LE 1  3TU
Tel: (01509) 222345
Email: [log in to unmask]