IACAT provides workshops as a learning opportunity for attendees. The workshops will take place on the first day of the conference from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm. Below are the workshops offered at the conference.


You will have the option of selecting one of the workshops when registering for the conference.  Click here to register

Workshop 1 – Simulations and CAT

Angela Verschoor (Cito, The Netherlands), Theo Eggen, and Maaike van Groen (Cito, The Netherlands)

This workshop explores the role that simulation studies play in CAT research and test development. Simulations are run by software programs that typically apply a CAT algorithm to a data set of fake (monte carlo) examinees, or real data from past assessments. This provides the researcher control over important algorithms such as items selection methods, exposure controls, and termination criterion, and therefore allows them to imagine and explore experimental designs to investigate aspects of their performance. Simulations are the only method available in CAT development that allow test developers to investigate whether that their CAT results in valid measurements. During the workshop, we will use a Windows software program to have a look at some CAT simulations. Participants are asked to bring their own laptop.

Workshop 2 – Developing Online Adaptive Tests Using Open-Source Concerto Platform

David Stillwell (The Psychometrics Centre, University of Cambridge, UK), Luning Sun (The Psychometrics Centre, University of Cambridge, UK), and Aiden Loe (The Psychometrics Centre, University of Cambridge, UK)

Despite their increasing prevalence, only a limited number of test publishers have the capability to develop adaptive tests. The University of Cambridge Psychometrics Centre strives towards making online adaptive testing available to everyone. That is why we’ve created Concerto: a powerful and user-friendly platform that empowers experts and beginners alike to make better tests, with little to no knowledge of coding experience required. There are minimum set-up costs, no licence fees and no limitations. Concerto harmonises the statistical power of the R programming language, the security of MySQL databases and the flexibility of HTML to deliver advanced online tests. These instruments work in unison, giving users unparalleled freedom and control over the design of their assessments. In-built algorithms for score calculation and report generation ensure a rewarding experience for participants, whatever the context. During this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to build an online adaptive test using Concerto v5. We will start with an introduction to Concerto, build HTML-based item templates, import item content and parameters and combine them all into a fully-functional online adaptive test. Thus, the target audience for this workshop is for researchers with a basic understanding of Item Response Theory and with a keen interest in developing an online adaptive test for their own research purpose. Participants should bring their own laptops and make sure that the Internet connection is properly configured.

Workshop 3 – Computerized Adaptive Testing and Multistage Testing with R

Duanli Yan (ETS, USA), David Magis (IQVIA Belux, Belgium), and Alina A. von Davier (Duolingo, USA)

The goal of this workshop is to provide a practical (and brief) overview of the theory on computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and multistage testing (MST), and illustrate the methodologies and applications using R open-source language and several data examples. The implementations rely on the R packages catR and mstR that have been already or are being developed and include some of the newest research algorithms developed by the authors. This workshop will cover several topics: the basics of R, theoretical overview of CAT and MST, CAT and MST designs, assembly methodologies, catR and mstR packages, simulations, and applications. The intended audience for the workshop is undergraduate/graduate students, faculty, researchers, practitioners at testing institutions, and anyone in psychometrics, measurement, education, psychology, and other fields who is interested in computerized adaptive and multistage testing, especially in practical implementations of simulation using R.