What is an Item?

"An item is a set of interactions (possibly empty) collected together with any supporting material and an optional set of rules for converting the candidate's response(s) into assessment outcomes." - Question and Test Interoperability standard, published by IMS Global

Items are the basic building blocks for assessments. They may contain one stand-alone interaction (called a simple item), or they may contain several closely-related interactions, all the same type or of a mixture of types (called a composite item). Of utmost importance here, the term item should not be considered interchangeable with interaction.

Beyond the interactions contained within them, Items include titles, images, and text that help the Test-taker understand the expectations and context of the assessment material presented within. Their complexity ranges from simple items with a singular interaction to composite items with multiple interactions.