An item bank or question bank is a repository of

test item Questionnaire construction refers to the design of a questionnaire to gather statistically useful information about a given topic. When properly constructed and responsibly administered, questionnaires can provide valuable data about any given subj ...

s that belong to a testing program, as well as all information pertaining to those items. In most applications of testing and

assessment Assessment may refer to: Healthcare * Health assessment, identifies needs of the patient and how those needs will be addressed *Nursing assessment, gathering information about a patient's physiological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual ...

, the items are of

multiple choice Multiple choice (MC), objective response or MCQ (for multiple choice question) is a form of an objective assessment in which respondents are asked to select only the correct answer from the choices offered as a list. The multiple choice format i ...

format, but any format can be used. Items are pulled from the bank and assigned to test forms for publication either as a paper-and-pencil test or some form of

e-assessment Electronic assessment, also known as digital assessment, e-assessment, online assessment or computer-based assessment, is the use of information technology in assessment such as educational assessment, health assessment, psychiatric assessment ...

Types of information

An item bank will not only include the text of each item, but also extensive information regarding test development and

psychometric Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally covers specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and rela ...

characteristics of the items. Examples of such information include: * Item

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

* Date written * Item status (e.g., new, pilot, active, retired) * Angoff ratings * Correct answer * Item format *

Classical test theory Classical test theory (CTT) is a body of related psychometric theory that predicts outcomes of psychological Test (assessment), testing such as the difficulty of items or the ability of test-takers. It is a theory of testing based on the idea that ...

statistics *

Item response theory In psychometrics, item response theory (IRT, also known as latent trait theory, strong true score theory, or modern mental test theory) is a paradigm for the design, analysis, and scoring of Test (student assessment), tests, questionnaires, and sim ...

statistics * Linkage to test blueprint * Item history (e.g., usage date(s) and reviews) * User-defined fields

Item banking software

Because an item bank is essentially a simple

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

, it can be stored in database software or even a spreadsheet such as

Microsoft Excel Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet editor developed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows, Windows, macOS, Android (operating system), Android, iOS and iPadOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a ...

. However, there are several dozen commercially-available

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

programs specifically designed for item banking. The advantages that these provide are related to

. For example, items are presented on the

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

screen as they would appear to a test examinee, and item response theory parameters can be translated into

item response function In psychometrics, item response theory (IRT, also known as latent trait theory, strong true score theory, or modern mental test theory) is a paradigm for the design, analysis, and scoring of tests, questionnaires, and similar instruments measuring ...

s or information functions. Additionally, there are functionalities for publication, such as formatting a set of items to be printed as a paper-and-pencil test. Some item banks also have test administration functionalities, such as being able to deliver

or process "bubble" answer sheets.

Examples

In India the popular question bank is Oswaal Question Bank which covers all Indian board and competitive exam such as CBSE,

CISCE The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) is a non-governmental privately held national-level board of school education in India that conducts the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Examination for Clas ...

Pre-university course According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), basic education comprises the two stages primary education and lower secondary education. Universal basic education Basic education featured heavily in the 1997 ISCED ...

- State board and JEE,

NEET A NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", is a person who is Unemployment, unemployed and not receiving an education or Vocational education, vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in ...

, CLAT and CUET.

References

{{Reflist School examinations Standardized tests Psychometrics