Logging and Analyzing Learner Behavior in Web-Based E-testing

Several experiments about learners behavior during structured exam tests based on multiple choice questions have been carried out so far. Most of these experiments were performed by exploiting the think out loud method: the learners were informed of the experiment and had to modify their behavior in order to allow the experimenters to record information about their habits during the test. In this paper we describe a system which logs the interactions of the learner with the e-testing system interface during the test. Our system allows us to record information about their habits during on-line tests without informing them of the experiment and, consequently, without asking them to modify their behavior, thus obtaining more realistic data. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of our system, we describe how it can be used for replicating on-line several experiments performed for traditional papery testing.