Project Information
Project Title (and acronym) / QTI Delivery Integration - QTIDI
Start Date / 1st Sept 2011 / End Date / 28 Feb 2013
Lead Institution / University of Glasgow
Partner Institutions / University of Edinburgh, Kingston University, Harper Adams University College and University of Strathclyde
Project Director / Niall Barr
Project Manager & contact details / Sue Milne
07780995748
Project website /
Project blog/Twitter ID /
Design Studio home page /
Programme Name / Assessment and Feedback
Programme Manager / Heather Price
1.Summary
The QTI Delivery Integration project provides a package of software and documentation for transferring QTIWorks ( a refactored version of our previous delivery engine MathAssessEngine ( with built-in facilities to link it to popular VLEs used by institutions in the HE and FE sector.
QTIWorks generates the information required by the VLEs, conforming to the IMS Basic Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) specification ( to link to resources running in QTIWorks. This enables the assessment tools to be launched from VLEs and thus provides the means for staff and students to access sophisticated questions and tests conforming to the IMS Question and Test Interoperability standard version 2.1 (QTI v2.1) ( In addition, using a LTI extension, scores can be returned to the VLE gradebook. The software is packaged along with the documentation needed by technical staff to deploy the software in conjunction with an institution’s VLE. User manuals are also provided for staff and student users.
The project champions at the client institutionshave been able to demonstrate the advantages of the system to colleagues, both in their home institution and at external events, and facilitate the adoption of the assessment facilities in additional disciplines.Support continues to be provided for deployment and use of the tools.
2.How can the innovation be used to support assessment and feedback practice?
QTIDI has resulted in two main innovative features. Firstly, the means of linking QTI delivery software with VLEs using LTI has been explored. In this context, we have two delivery applications: LTIQuizzes and QTIWorks.
LTIQuizzes
LTIQuizzes is a currently a proof of concept delivery engine, linking to the VLE using LTI. It was constructed to enable the project to explore using LTI technology to deliver very basic QTI tests via the VLE. It supports the basic QTI input types such as multiple choice and text entry, and numerical randomisation, along with the pedagogically valuable multi-part question and flexible feedback targeted on user input. LTIQuizzes can be used to deliver many of the questions authored in the Uniqurate editor produced by our sister project Uniqurate.
QTIWorks
QTIWorks is an almost complete implementation of QTI v2.1. It is the result of a major refactoring of MathAssessEngine which was based on QTIEngine. The development has brought the application from proof of concept to a form in which it can be used successfully to deliver sophisticated resources to students as part of their assessment.
A number of projects have already contacted the developer of QTIWorks, with a view to adopting the code for QTI v2.1 delivery. These include:
- Jens Vögler (Technische Universität Dresden)
- Christian Saul (Fraunhofer IDMT, Germany)
- Jason Craft (Pearson)
- Bracken Mosbacker (Instructure Canvas VLE)
- Padraig O'hiceadha (Houghton Miffin Harcourt, Dublin)
- Chris Chung (Houghton Miffin Harcourt, USA)
- Jack Kenfick (Eircom, Ireland)
- Onjira Sitthisak (Graz University of Technology)
- Pierre-Emmanuel (personal project)
- Jan Willem Janssen (Luminis Technologies B.V)
- Mike Koch
MathAssessEngine was used in conjunction with Moodle using a plug-in, and there was no interface to other Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), since the plug-in is only compatible with Moodle 1.9. QTIWorks enables users of any VLE with LTI enabled to access the delivery engine from within their VLE; this includes Moodle, Blackboard and Sakai.
Learners and staff benefit from the sophisticated question, test and feedback facilities within the QTI v2.1 specification. Questions can have several inputs, becoming more engaging exercises, and feedback can be targeted very precisely on users’ inputs. A wide variety of test structures with different types of presentation and marking can be delivered, depending on pedagogical requirements.
Student Technology teachers at the University of Glasgow, who had previously used older, locally installed, software not available over the web, point out that they can use computers, tablets and even their phones to work on the questions in their Maths course, and they can do this at any time of day or night.
Since QTIWorks can be used from any VLE, questions and tests produced for use in one can be used in another. Hence, the resources created by staff are not lost, and do not even require transformation to a different format, if the institution decides to change to a different VLE. Staff who change jobs can use their resources in their new institution. Collections of shareable, reusable resources are gradually being built up, many of which permit others to repurpose them, for example, by applying different contexts. These features all contribute to greater sustainability and more efficient production of resources.
3.What are your findings from the implementation of the innovation in partner institutions?
The features of the QTIv2.1 resources which are most popular with colleagues within the partner institutions are questions with several interrelated inputs, targeted feedback and the ability to input and manipulate mathematical expressions. That these questions can be delivered via the VLE either individually or within tests is also enabling the delivery of more interactive courses.
Further development, taking place within the QTI-PET project, includes the provisionof direct staff access to QTIWorks from the VLE. This is expected to include
- Direct authentication from the VLE, thus avoiding an additional login to QTIWorks,
- A simplified means of loading a resource, and
- Improved access to candidate reports, to enable tutors to provide additional feedback.
At the University of Strathclyde, some staff had been looking for a replacement for the Spyder system which had a number of innovative question types. These can be replicated in QTIv2.1 without significant difficulty, which has encouraged users to engage with the tools.
A collection of Maths questions used at the University of Glasgow is available under a CC-BY-SA licence. An item bank is expected to be established by the QTI-PET project which will enable partners to share their resources more efficiently.
4.Where can I find out more?
The project blog is at
A demo of QTIWorks is available at
The code and technical details for QTIWorks are available from soon on SourceForge.
The QTIWorks Introductory Leaflet can be downloaded from the Resources section of the Design Studio page at
The QTI Support site, containing useful links and resources, is at