Perception provides National Osteoporosis Society with vehicle for crucial bone density testing

For Immediate Release

Perception provides National Osteoporosis Society with vehicle for crucial bone density testing

London - 5 August 2002 - The National Osteoporosis Society has based its bone densitometry testing process around Questionmark's online assessment software Perception. Constructed by Dr Geoff Elliott, consultant and Production Manager for e Learning Services at the University of Glamorgan, the new system provides online exams in bone density available across the UK. The first formal exam was run on 3rd July this year and proved to be a resounding success. 

George Elliott comments, "The National Osteoporosis Society didn't have the resources necessary to create these tests and it was looking for a vehicle to enable them to be run annually and on a national basis without the need for all candidates to converge on one location. In addition to this, the system had to be secure, easy to access and simple to maintain and enhance. My knowledge of Perception, gained through my work with the School of Computing at the University of Glamorgan, meant that I could transform the Society's objectives into a viable deliverable." 

An exam panel, made up of both academics and practitioners, developed a set of questions. These were then created using Perception and made available nationally via secure access over the Internet. Candidates were able to sit the exam in any of five national centres (Aberdeen, Leeds, Nottingham, London and Glamorgan). The exam was monitored by Geoff Elliott in Glamorgan to ensure that all ran smoothly. 

Geoff Elliott concludes, "The main benefit of the new system is that the National Osteoporosis Society can now run these exams as often as they want. Obviously, the questions can be tweaked or replaced where necessary but the initial feedback from the first formal exam has been very positive. The exam board has already met to analyse the results which provided a great opportunity to make further decisions on enhancing and developing the exam. Those students that failed will now get a chance to resit the exam in September using the same online system." 

About Questionmark
Questionmark was founded in the UK in 1988 and was one of the first software companies to provide an authoring framework to create tests and assessments to run on PCs. Today the company offers a full range of software for the testing and assessment marketplace spanning Windows and web environments. Businesses, governments, and universities in over 40 countries now use Questionmark software.

More information on Questionmark Perception can be found on the Internet at http://www.questionmark.com/uk/. If you would like any other information about Perception, contact Vivienne Shaughnessy at Question Mark Computing, telephone: +44 (0)800 731 5895. Email: vivienne.shaughnessy@questionmark.co.uk .

Top of page