Gary Spivack, Senior Product Manager
July 2, 2024

We’re thrilled to announce an exciting release that elevates Pro! to the next level of sophistication in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Our renowned Cosign Similarity feature has been upgraded with advanced Semantic Similarity. This is the first of many planned Artificial Intelligence (AI) enhancements utilizing large language models (LLM) to assist in creating and managing items and examinations 

Here are some key enhancements in Pro! V4.2.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Semantic Similarity

Unlock the power of advanced analytics with our cutting-edge semantic similarity feature! From a list of items or forms, effortlessly check the semantic similarity between items or passages to identify potential enemies. Choose your comparison options and model, and quickly obtain precise similarity ratings. Our process seamlessly handles combinations of item set stimuli/passages, associated items, and discrete items. You have complete control to check specific items within the set or exclude traditionally friendly items. This secure, server-run process delivers a detailed spreadsheet with comprehensive comparison results and similarity settings. Elevate your item analysis today and stay ahead of the curve!

Project Member – Assigned Projects

Effortlessly track the contributions of your project members across numerous item writing and review projects. With our latest update, project managers can now quickly find all the projects a particular member has participated in by simply viewing their details. Keeping tabs on your team’s involvement has never been easier or more efficient!

Item Authoring Features

Need more control when creating your item content?  Pro! has added new features to our back-office item authoring tools!  The enhanced editing toolbar for creating single selection, multiple selection, and Likert items now includes:

  • Incrementally Undo changes with a click of a button.
  • Toggle the authored Formatting Marks for a visual indication of paragraphs and spacing. 
  • Better control the table’s Cell Padding by using the table and cell properties pages.
  • Change the Line Spacing for a single line or for a highlighted set of lines.

Upgrade your item authoring experience today!

Coming Soon

Here is an exciting sneak peek of what’s in store later this year! 

Imagine a world where creating your exam is as easy as setting your parameters and letting our artificial intelligence (AI) do the heavy lifting. No more manual assembly—our cutting-edge technology considers various aspects, from cueing enemies to effortlessly providing options or replacing items as needed.

Additional Pearson Athena publishing options will support complex delivery routing and the inclusion of multiple displayable help images or PDFs.

Pro!’s flexible and feature-rich item review capabilities will be enhanced to support predictive review decisions based on SME feedback. Plus, Pro! will allow the user to dynamically adapt their user experience by seamlessly supporting both in-person review workshops and asynchronous remote review projects.

About Pro!

Our enterprise item bank offers collaborative and systemized management of the entire exam development process. Pro! enables unlimited users to author and edit unlimited items anywhere across the internet. Use Pro!’s item development workshop functionality, and allow your staff to communicate with item writing and review teams. Write traditional multiple-choice items or design complex simulation items with Pro!. Assign metadata to the items, including classifications, rationales, comments, references, and user-defined fields through user-friendly, easy-to-navigate screens.

Contact us for more information.

About the Author

Gary Spivack has worked in the testing industry since the mid-90s as a software engineer, developing complex software systems that span item authoring, examination delivery drivers, scoring, and reporting systems.  His drive to have systems be best-of-breed in the industry inspired him to become the product owner for Strasz Assessment System’s suite of products.  When not at work, Gary continues self-improvement through martial arts and, of course, follows the Philadelphia sports teams.