Item Writing Basic with an Introduction to Artificial Intelligence        

What knowledge and/or skills will I gain from this course?

This course aims to help participants get started as item writers or develop already existing item writing skills.  After introducing theory basics, we’ll get down to looking at examples of tasks and doing some item writing.

Most sample tasks are in English, but the course has been developed in such a way that all of the techniques are applicable to writing tests for other languages too. Although the sessions are divided into Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, we will also briefly discuss item writing for integrated skills.

This course also introduces the basic concepts of Artificial Intelligence used in item writing. 

How is this course delivered?

This course is delivered in two parts online via Microsoft Teams. Both parts include 2 full day Item Writing sessions and 1 half day Artificial Intelligence session. 

Part 1	Session 1: 10.00 - 17.00	Item Writing: Making tests fit for purpose; Communicative language competences and assessing receptive skills
	Session 2: 10.00 - 13.00	Artificial Intelligence in Item Writing: Introduction and focus on reading & speaking
	Session 3: 10.00 - 17.00	Item Writing: Communicative language competences and assessing receptive skills cont.
Part 2	Session 4: 10.00 - 17.00	Item Writing: Assessing productive skills and assessment criteria
	Session 5: 10.00 - 13.00	Artificial Intelligence in Item Writing: Focus on writing & listening
	Session 6: 10.00 - 17.00	Item Writing: Assessing productive skills and assessment criteria cont.; Developing test specifications and item writer guidelines

All times are CET.

Who are the course tutors?

The tutors are Annie Broadhead and Bert Wylin, two world-class consultants to deliver this unique and state-of-art course. 

Annie Broadhead is an Assessment consultant, ESOL teacher trainer, test developer and ELT author based in Cambridge, UK. Annie has run online courses in the Principles of Testing and ALTE Item Writer courses in several countries. Annie has delivered various courses for ALTE across the years, such as ALTE Item Writing Course - Getting to know the basics. She has experience of writing tests for all ages and at all levels. She is passionate about helping people produce good tests that have a positive washback effect on teaching and learning.

Bert Wylin has both an academic and a business profile. He has worked at the KU Leuven since 1993, leading the Education Innovation Centre (integrating EdTech in education). In 2001, he founded a KU Leuven university spin-off, now Televic Education, developing and servicing an e-assessment platform. Bert has delivered various courses for ALTE such as Developing Digital Assessments and Developing Digital Testing with Artificial Intelligence.  

Testimonial

"I liked that we had a mix of theoretical input and the chance to express our own ideas and experiences."

When is the next course?

The date for the next course is 7 - 9 October (Part 1)  and 23 - 25 October (Part 2).

How can I register?

You can register for the next course here.

Expression of Interest

If you would like to express your interest in this course, or any other ALTE course, please click here.

Can several people from the same organisation join this course?

For group bookings, ALTE advises to book a maximum of three places per organisation.

How can I pay?

Full payment is required on registration. We strongly recommend that payment is made online using a Visa, MasterCard or American Express. However, if it is not possible to pay with a credit/debit card when registering, please contact the ALTE Services Unit (servicesunit@alte.org) to request an invoice with bank transfer payment instructions.