A Test bank is a ready-made electronic testing resource that can be customized by lecturers for their teaching.

Written by an OUP author, it is tailored to the contents of an individual textbook. Feedback is often provided on answers given by students, containing page references to the book.

Questions can be any of the following types:

• Multiple choice

• Multiple response

• True/false

• Fill in the blank

• Matching

• Essay/short answer

Test banks are available in a number of software formats to cater for a wide range of users, and are password-protected to ensure that only lecturers gain access.

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The following screenshot shows an example of a Test bank created using Questionmark Perception software.

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• They are provided via an institution's preferred system

• Students do not need to leave the institution's network

• Lecturers save time creating assessments, as the Test banks are all ready-made, with questions and answers (most with feedback) already written by OUP authors

• Lecturers can customize every part of each assessment to meet their teaching requirements

• Feedback can contain page references to relevant information in the textbook so students can learn as they do (formative) assessments

• Feedback can be turned off to enable summative assessment

• Lecturers save time marking each assessment

• Lecturers can integrate the assessments with their own assessment tools e.g. student tracking and grade books to monitor grades

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Some assessment packages allow instructors both to create assessments and also administer them electronically. The most popular example of this type of software in the UK is called Questionmark Perception. (Another example is called Exam View.) All OUP Test banks are available to download as a "Qpack" directly into an institution's Questionmark Perception software.

Another example of assessment software used by OUP is called Respondus. Unlike Questionmark Perception, Respondus doesn't allow assessments to be administered. it is, however, more flexible in other ways because once an assessment has been created it can then be imported directly into a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), such as Blackboard, Web CT, and Moodle. It can also be printed to paper. All OUP Test Banks are available to download as Respondus files. They are also available from the Respondus Test bank network.

All OUP Test banks are also available in Word format, which does not offer the same functionality as Questionmark Perception or Respondus, but enables institutions which do not have the relevant software/systems set up to make use of the questions and print them out.

All OUP Test banks are also available as QTI XML, which is useful if your institution uses another type of assessment software not mentioned above that conforms to international standards. QTI stands for Question and Test Interoperability and is the international standard associated with Test banks, allowing for interoperability between different types of assessment software. Lecturers may need to consult their ICT support person/e-learning co-ordinator for advice.

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Despite some international standards aimed to facilitate the importing and exporting of assessments between systems, each system tends to recognize and organize Test banks differently. In order to minimise the amount of tweaking a lecturer may have to do when importing a Test bank, OUP provides Test bank files in all of the most popular assessment software formats, as outlined above.

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Lecturers should know whether their institution has Questionmark Perception, any other type of assessment software, or a VLE. If not, they should refer to their ICT support person/e-learning co-ordinator for advice.

If an institution has a VLE, while a Test bank will always be available to import to the VLE via Respondus, there may additionally be a VLE 'cartridge' available on the Online Resource Centre containing all the content for that textbook in a single file (for more information about VLE cartridges, see the 'Learn about VLE' page). If a VLE cartridge is available, we advise this should be used, as this will contain all the other resources for the textbook (including the Test bank files) in a format that corresponds with their system.

It is still possible, of course, to use the Respondus files if a lecturer solely requires the Test bank.

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Any lecturer adopting a textbook is eligible for access to the password-protected lecturer area of an Online Resource Centre, and this includes any Test bank content.

Lecturers should register for access on the textbook's Online Resource Centre. All password applications are checked and, once positively verified, are activated within three working days. Once registered and provided with a password, the lecturer should go back to the textbook's Online Resource Centre. Then:

• Click on the 'Test bank' link in the left-hand navigation bar, or in the body of the page

• Click on the appropriate version of the Test bank and follow the specific instructions to download it to your computer (this should only take a few minutes)

• You can now upload the Test bank. Please see 'Importing and customizing Test banks' for a step-by-step guide to specific systems.

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Titles with Test banks are: