THE ETEST BUILDER: A RENAISSANCE IN EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT PRACTICE

eAssessment, the integration of gauging learning paradigms with computer technology, is an innovative eLearning tool. As a strategy for a computerized educational measurement, it has set the trend for a systemic reform in an educational ecosystem that has been plagued for the last 10 years with problems on inadequate digital literacy. The Silliman University College of Nursing (SUCN) in central Philippines is no exception to this reality. Challenged to uphold the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED’s) seal of excellence in nursing education, and with the University’s mandate to integrate eLearning as a strategy in the delivery of service, SUCN implores to harness the benefits of eAssessment despite the Nursing faculty’s lack of expertise in the digital realm. This automated test builder, equipped with features that include automated test banking, valid recycling, and item analysis are innovating educational measurement for nursing schools. It was developed compliant to the tenets in Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) employing Rapid Application Development (RAD) as methodology with Evolutionary Prototyping technique. A Users’ Training session was also conducted to the Nursing faculty members that exposed them to the automated system. The software quality involved a survey on Nursing faculty members using adapted questionnaires from the International Organization for Standardization-International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 9126-1 framework. The survey yielded a 100 percent valid response rate and that the test bank module is flawlessly-robust and highly-secure. The test questionnaire-generation module’s evaluation revealed that it is absolutely-timely and highly accurate. The statistical report-generation module was considered by SUCN as an excellent decision-making tool. The software product quality evaluation of the eTest Builder, as defined by ISO/IEC 9126-1, showed that the computed aggregate means for functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency, and security is highly-functional, approvingly-reliable, predominantly-usable, exceptionally-efficient, and highly secure. Overall, the respondents perceived the eTest Builder as a highly-valuable business solution to the nagging assessment issues and concerns.