Systems and methods for conducting assessments in an electronic learning system

1. An electronic learning system for conducting an electronic assessment, the system comprising:

a. a display;

b. at least one processor operatively coupled to the display; and

c. a memory device coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory device includes an application that when executed by the processor causes the at least one processor to:

i. provide an electronic assessment comprising a plurality of assessment tasks for a current participant to complete within an allocated amount of assessment time;

ii. determine context-dependent time requirement indicator (CDTR) for one of the assessment tasks of the assessment, wherein the CDTR is determined based upon historical performance data associated with that task, the CDTR being indicative of a suggested amount of time required to complete that task, wherein the historical performance data associated with the task corresponds to historical performance data associated with one or more historical participants determined to be similar to the current participant, wherein the one or more historical participants determined to be similar to the current participant are determined based at least in part on one or more academic characteristics of the one or more historical participants including grade information associated with the one or more historical participants, and wherein the one or more historical participants determined to be similar to the current participant is a subset of all participants for which historical performance data exists; and

iii. provide the CDTR to the current participant contemporaneously with the electronic assessment, wherein the CDTR is provided on a user interface used in connection with providing the electronic assessment to the current user,

wherein the CDTR is dynamically updated based at least in part on a remaining amount of time of the allocated amount of assessment time and on one or more remaining assessment tasks; and

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

iv) determine a suggested order of performance for remaining tasks of the plurality of assessment tasks to optimize the participant's performance, the suggested order being determined based upon CDTR and task value associated with the remaining tasks and remaining time of the assessment time; and

v) automatically display the suggested order of performance for remaining tasks on the display.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the historical performance data for the one of the assessment tasks include data indicative of the amount of time required for historical participants to complete that task and obtain a defined successful task value for that task.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the successful task value is defined automatically based upon the historical performance data.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more similar historical participants are identified based upon the academic performance of the current participant and historical participant in at least one other assessment module.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the CDTR is adjusted based upon success rate of historical participants associated with the one of the assessment tasks, the success rate being indicative of a portion of historical participants who had obtained the successful task value for that task.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the CDTR comprises a value for a task k determined according to:

CDTR( k )= T ( k )/ S ( k )

wherein T(k) is the amount of time required for historical participants to complete that task and obtain a defined successful task value for that task, and S(k) is the success rate for that task.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein a normalized CDTR is determined based upon the CDTR and the assessment time.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to provide a pace visualization including a visual representation of the CDTR and the assessment time.

9. A method for conducting an electronic assessment, the method comprising:

(a) providing an electronic assessment comprising a plurality of assessment tasks for a current participant to complete within an allocated amount of assessment time;

(b) determining context-dependent time requirement indicator (CDTR) using at least one processor for one of the assessment tasks based upon historical performance data associated with that task, the CDTR being indicative of a suggested amount of time required to complete that task, wherein the historical performance data associated with the task corresponds to historical performance data associated with one or more historical participants determined to be similar to the current participant, wherein the one or more historical participants determined to be similar to the current participant are determined based at least in part on one or more academic characteristics of the one or more historical participants including grade information associated with the one or more historical participants, and wherein the one or more historical participants determined to be similar to the current participant is a subset of all participants for which historical performance data exists; and

(c) providing the CDTR to the current participant contemporaneously with the electronic assessment, wherein the CDTR is provided on a user interface used in connection with providing the electronic assessment to the current user,

wherein the CDTR is dynamically updated based at least in part on a remaining amount of time of the allocated amount of assessment time and on one or more remaining assessment tasks, and further comprising:

(d) determining a suggested order of performance for remaining tasks of the plurality of assessment tasks to optimize the participant's performance, the suggested order being determined based upon CDTR and task value associated with the remaining tasks and remaining time of the assessment time; and

(e) automatically displaying the suggested order of performance for remaining tasks on a display.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the historical performance data for the one of the assessment tasks include data indicative of the amount of time required for historical participants to complete that task and obtain a defined successful task value for that task.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises defining the successful task value automatically based upon the historical performance data.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising identifying the one or more similar historical participants based upon the academic performance of the current participant and historical participant in at least one other assessment module.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising adjusting the CDTR based upon success rate of historical participants associated with the one of the assessment tasks, the success rate being indicative of a portion of historical participants who had obtained the successful task value for that task.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the CDTR comprises a value for a task k determined according to:

CDTR( k )= T ( k )/ S ( k )

wherein T(k) is the amount of time required for historical participants to complete that task and obtain a defined successful task value for that task, and S(k) is the success rate for that task.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining a normalized CDTR based upon the CDTR and the assessment time.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising providing a pace visualization including a visual representation of the CDTR and the assessment time.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive an indication associated with a particular one of the one of the assessment tasks, wherein the indication corresponds to a request to exclude the particular assessment task from determination of the CDTR, and in response to receiving the indication, updating the determination of the CDTR so as to exclude the particular assessment task.

18. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving an indication associated with a particular one of the one of the assessment tasks, wherein the indication corresponds to a request to exclude the particular assessment task from determination of the CDTR; and

in response to receiving the indication, updating the determination of the CDTR so as to exclude the particular assessment task.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a selection of a level of success with respect to which the CDTR is to be determined, and wherein the determining the CDTR is based at least in part on the selected level of success.