Overview

Background

Questionmark Perception (QMP) is a fully featured online assessment system which has been in use at the University since around 2001.  Questionmark Perception is the main centrally supported eAssessment system and it is used to underpin around 90,000 student assessments every year, including summative exams.

The current version (v5.7) of the system was delivered in 2015. This project will upgrade to v6.

Scope

The scope of this project is to ensure the current version of QMP is kept up to date with the current supported versions available from Questionmark.

• Changes from the previous version mean:

  • The version of v6 for the upgrade has some significant improvements to the question banking software which will allow us to offer more devolved management capabilities. Additionally the question authoring tools are fully online, removing the requirement for a Windows-only client installation – a major barrier to take up in some Schools.
  • Previous versions have required UoE to produce new environments and also update QMP on the environments with support from Questionmark. For this version Questionmark will carry out the upgrade on our new infrastructure through remote connection. This should significantly reduce the downtime experienced n previous upgrades (Last upgrade resulted in 5 days downtime).
  • User help is more important for this upgrade as there are significant changes to the product.
  • As authoring is done on the web in v6 so updating the Authoring Manager installer is no longer required
• New features contained within v6 are fully explored and if applicable tested within the user community.
• All non-standard integration are checked for compatibility with v6 (GLO, formative login scripts).
• To explore any potential infrastructure issues and set additional load tests where appropriate.
• Ensure custom scripts can be served from the QMP infrastructure.
• A comprehensive view of available templates to deliver a reduced ‘core’ set of updated templates.
• EASE authentication: LDAP connection has been completed and rolled out to Exams and labs. This project only requires to test the EASE integration with QMP.

Not in Scope

• Updating the Authoring Manager installer as authoring is done on the web in v6
• Moving QMP to Questionmark’s own hosted service. UoE has a perpetual license for current setup.
• It should be noted that GLO is near end-of-life and a replacement will need to be considered in the near future – it is not part of this upgrade (for information: currently there is no suitable question type in the system to migrate to. An html5 question type is in development by Questionmark to replace the flash question type that GLO uses, but there is no date for that release. GLO exercises are being withdrawn from use, the largest use (French) has already stopped. More work is required with languages re way forward for this question type)

Objectives & Deliverables

The deliverables are prioritised using the MoSCoW prioritisation method:

M=Must Have; S=Should Have; C=Could Have; W=Want

• (M= has to be satisfied for the final solution to be acceptable in terms of delivery dates, compliance, viability etc.
• S= high-priority requirement that should be included if possible -workarounds may be available
• C= a nice-to-have requirement
• W= want but will not be part of this project)

Benefits

Success Criteria

• Current functionality (including bespoke) remains in place.
• Templates are fully compatible with new functionality.
• New enhancements are made available to users.
• There are no issues with maintaining current data quality.
• There are no negative changes to current data quality.
• User help and guidance documents are updated.

Project Milestones

*There is a hard delivery milestone date due to the system having to be ready for the start of the academic session 2018/19