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Why are Cognisco assessments unique?
Are Cognisco assessments appropriate for my company?
What information do I get from a Cognisco Assessment?
How long does it take to create a Cognisco Assessment for my company?
Do the people taking the assessment receive feedback?
Can you stop people colluding/cheating?
Can your assessments integrate with a training solution?
Can you create training content to address training needs highlighted in the assessments?
What is special about Cognisco personalised learning?
Using its unique product set how much do Cognisco assessments cost?
Do we need a sophisticated technical set-up to run Cognisco assessments?
Can you integrate with our existing Learning Management System to deliver your questions?
Can I assess my staff in other languages?
Can you train our staff to author questions?
Can you provide Surveys?
What are the benefits of using Cognisco?
How will Cognisco manage my project?
Can Cognisco assessments be applied in remote locations?
Differences between multiple choice and multiple response questions
Why are Cognisco assessments unique?
Unlike conventional assessments, Cognisco assessments are designed to test competence skill knowledge, understanding misunderstanding and confidence as opposed to memory in isolation. Passing one of our assessments has far greater meaning in terms of demonstrating a candidate's ability to apply what they know - both in terms of accuracy and consistency. Furthermore, the assessments are bespoke, with modular content allowing analysis of discrete subject areas.
Cognisco's method distinguishes between those employees who have good factual knowledge but do not know how to apply it, and those who can use that knowledge effectively.
Are Cognisco assessments appropriate for my company?
All Cognisco assessments are bespoke solutions built for each individual client organisation. This ensures that precise aims and objectives can be met.
Cognisco's assessments can be used in many different areas of business - including compliance, company culture, product knowledge, procedures and training - in fact, they can be applied to an array of business driven by a structured knowledge base.And because Cognisco assessments are delivered online, they are easy to access by any number of candidates.
What information do I get from a Cognisco Assessment?
The system includes a sophisticated report generator that compiles the data collected from the assessments in a number of different ways. The reports that you receive highlight where knowledge gaps lie in a specific topic area so that you can analyse by course, individual, group, team, geography, office location, service, product line or enterprise wide basis.
The reports compare not just absolute scores but also 'self-knowledge' – the extent to which system users know what they know and, implicitly, if they are likely to apply that knowledge.
How long does it take to create a Cognisco Assessment for my company?
Because Cognisco assessments are created specifically to meet client needs the size and complexity and therefore delivery times of assessments vary. However, as a rule of thumb it normally takes three weeks to create an assessment module ready for launch.
Do the people taking the assessment receive feedback?
The format of feedback to individuals is tailored to suit client requirements. It can be delivered online immediately after the assessment is taken, giving the participant information on their understanding of a number of discrete subject areas. Alternatively, feedback can be presented at a later date via the individual's manager by way of management reports produced by the system.
Can you stop people colluding or cheating?
Our approach uses a number of sophisticated randomisation techniques to reduce both the potential scope and effect of collusion. Access to assessments can be controlled using dynamic password and statistical analysis can be used retrospectively to identify suspicious response behaviour as a prompt for further investigation.
Can your assessments integrate with a training solution?
Cognisco assessments can easily be integrated with your existing training solutions. Based on an employees assessment results, the system will make recommendations on specific solutions to address an identified shortfall. Possible solutions may include personalised learning or more conventionally based approaches such as Instructor Led Training.
In addition to recommending conventional training solutions, the system also has the ability to deliver fully integrated online personalised learning.
We have found that by integrating Cognisco's personalised learning with assessment it saves an average of 45% of training time and money by delivering only the training that is required to fill the gaps in knowledge and understanding. With pre and post-training assessment, the system also provides a unique way of measuring the return on training investment.
Can you create training content to address training needs highlighted in the assessments?
Cognisco can develop personalised learning solutions that are directly aligned with the assessments. Cognisco's 8 Steps to Growing a Cognisco focuses on promoting the participants understanding of concepts in context, rather than on delivering factual information. This approach is based on the fact that material that is actually understood is more likely to be retained and applied in the long-term. It also provides a solid foundation for new learning. The same objectives that are used to develop the assessments are also used in developing the personalised learning modules.
What is special about Cognisco personalised learning?
In addition to Cognisco's contextual rather than factual approach to learning, the presentation of Cognisco's solution is cutting-edge. It brings together the optimum combination of carefully synchronized visuals, animation, audio and on-screen text, to reinforce the message, whilst engaging and motivating the participant.
Using its unique product set how much do Cognisco assessments cost?
Cognisco creates bespoke assessments to meet specific client needs. Cognisco provides a fixed annual license per employee. The fee is determined by the number of licences purchased by the client and the length of the contract.
Cognisco provides a fixed fee for the assessment or personalised learning module builds. The license fee also incorporates a number of standard services outlined below:
The reporting is charged on a monthly basis in line with the customer contract.
A number of assessment modules, the number being dependant upon the number of licenses purchased
Two days consultancy to set up and configure the assessments for each new client. Additional days are charged at the prevailing day rate. In addition, the licenses fee includes second line support unless otherwise stated
A number of days annually to update and amend modules
The registration of employees when the names are sent in electronic format
The registration and reporting configuration which provides the reporting format for the strategic intelligence information required by the client
Online reporting enabling senior managers to make strategic decisions based upon current employee strength, risk and opportunity within their organisation
Preparation and presentation by Cognisco of the underlying information in the reports, highlighting areas of opportunity and areas for future consideration. The frequency of this service is dependant upon the number of seats licensed and ranges from quarterly to monthly presentations
Do we need a sophisticated technical set-up to run Cognisco assessments?
Absolutely not! Our assessment solutions are delivered via the internet using industry standard hardware and software platforms.
800Mhz Pentium III processor (or equivalent)
256MB RAM
Windows XP service pack 2
Server 2003 or Server 2005
Internet Explorer 5.5 or later
16 bit Sound Card (required for training only)
Network Connection (10m+) or Modem (56k or greater)
Screen Resolution of 1024x768, 16-bit display (32-bit recommended)
Macromedia Flash 8 Player
Additions for question composer
.NET framework 1.1
1GB available disk space
Can you integrate with our existing Learning Management System to deliver your questions?
Yes, Cognisco fully integrates its solutions with other platforms.
Can I assess my staff in other languages?
Yes, Cognisco does provide a fully comprehensive multi-language assessment system. We assess in over 30 languages, including languages such as Arabic, Hebrew and Japanese. We are capable of delivering the same assessment across all languages providing consolidated analysis across languages and regions. Our experience extends to understanding the importance of regional variants such as French and French Canadian.
Can you train our staff to author questions?
Yes by using Cognisco's Question Composer and Incubator tools together with its consultancy and 8 Steps to Growing a Cognisco training programme, Cognisco can train your subject matter experts (SMEs) ,HR and training and development personnel to author questions by implementing the 8 Steps to Growing a Cognisco.
Can you provide Surveys?
Yes, Cognisco provides employee surveys and the results can be integrated with those of the assessment.
What are the benefits of using Cognisco?
Increased performance – by knowing which employees do not understand your services, products or procedures.
Reduced Risk – by knowing which employees do not understand.
Avoid Lost Sales and Lost Customers – by knowing which specific areas of their organisation are unknowingly operating at risk – and why.
Reduce Training Costs by as much as 45% – by then targeting specific elements of training to those employees focused only on those areas they misunderstand.
How will Cognisco manage my project?
Cognisco Project Managers use PRINCE2 Project Management methodology to ensure the smooth running of your project.
We ensure that the scope, objectives and milestones for your project meets your requirements, enabling your solution to come in on time.
Can Cognisco assessments be applied in remote locations?
The system can be used over a modem where access to company networks is unavailable. Such versatility has enabled the system to be successfully used in over 130 countries worldwide.
Differences between choice and multiple response questions
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Multiple Response Questions (MRQs) are similar in respect that they both comprise of a question stem with numerous responses. The differences, however, are:
Multiple Choice Questions
MCQs give a test-taker a number of options that are presented as possible answers to a question stem, only one of which is correct. The individual is required to select the correct response to the question stem out of these options. This type of question is open to bias. If a person takes a guess at which answer is correct out of, say, four options, they could be correct one out of four times. The test-taker’s results for this type of test could give a false reflection of their understanding of the subject being assessed.
Professor Stuart Sutherland at the Sussex University (deceased 1998) worked with Cognisco in gaining an understanding of decision-making and irrational behaviour. He believed that Multiple Choice Questions tell us more about a person’s decision making patterns than it does about their actual knowledge of a subject.
Multiple Response Questions
MRQs, on the other hand, also use four or five responses to each question stem, but the test-taker is required to answer whether each of these responses is right or wrong. This means that a question stem with five responses could be answered in thirty-two different ways, so you only have a one in thirty-two chance of getting a question 100% correct.
In Cognisco assessments, we include an option of “I don’t know” for each response. This increases the number of possible ways you could answer the question to a grand total of 243, so you only have a one in 243 chance of getting the question 100% correct. This all but eliminates the “luck” element that is found to a larger extent in Multiple Choice tests.
Our assessments ensure that we can thoroughly test the comprehension and knowledge of participants, as using MRQs makes the questions far more complex and requires the participant to invest more time and thought into completing the assessment.
MRQs often require the test-taker to pull together knowledge from more than one area of their job for each question stem, as each response might test a separate depth and breadth of understanding of the topic. Additionally, they could be faced with five options, any number of which may be correct. Importantly, any of the incorrect responses in a Cognisco assessment may seem perfectly plausible and could not be guessed without knowledge and understanding of the topic.
