E-assessment is understood to be technology-supported practice, testing, and examinations. This ranges from short quizzes and online exercises to electronic (practice) exams. It is common to distinguish between diagnostic (self-assessment tests), formative (exercises during a course), and summative (exams at the end of a course) e-assessments.

The section conducting pilot projects within MINTFIT E-Assessment specializes in methods that are being tested in pilot courses with electronic examinations at Hamburg’s higher education institutions HAW, HCU, TUHH, UKE, and Universität Hamburg. Numerous positive test runs have already been carried out for each of the partner institutions.

Contact persons at Hamburg’s higher education institutions:

• Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW): Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karin Landenfeld
• HafenCity University (HCU): Dr. Helena Barbas
• Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH): Sarah Weiskopf
• Universität Hamburg: Manuel Schnabel
• University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE): Norwin Kubick

In cooperation with the partner institutions, the subproject Hamburgweite Aktivitäten (Hamburg-wide activities) is developing a mobile testing center and a cross-university database of questions in order to make best use of synergistic effects.

The mobile testing center consists of the following two product families: Apple iPads (200 devices) and Windows laptops (110 devices). Experts are currently testing and discussing a variety of exam scenarios for these (e.g., set-up and software). They are making targeted comparisons of software solutions and network technologies (WLAN vs. LAN) to assess the quality of the solutions selected. Using targeted optimization processes and gathering a wide range of experience are essential for the future e-assessment strategy of Hamburg’s higher education institutions to be on a secure footing.

The devices are currently being used to carry out numerous electronic examinations at the institutions involved in the project.

Test setup—100 laptops