2025 ACATA Conference programme

https://egrowth.co.za/

Tyrrell Naidoo, BSc, MBA, Chief Executive Officer

It is my great honour, on behalf of the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at the University of Johannesburg, to warmly welcome you all to the 2nd ACATA International Conference, hosted here at the Akanya Building, Kingsway Campus.

This year’s conference, themed “Transforming Educational Assessment with Adaptive Technological Innovations”, brings together a global community of scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and industry leaders. The hybrid format reflects not only adaptability in the digital era but also our collective commitment to widening participation, breaking geographical barriers, and ensuring that innovation in educational assessment is inclusive and accessible.

As Head of Department, I am particularly proud that our very own senior postdoctoral research fellows, Dr Kunle Ayanwale (Conference LOC Chairman and ACATA Vice President) and Dr Jumoke Oladele (Conference LOC Secretary), have worked tirelessly to bring this event to life. Their leadership, alongside the entire Local Organising Committee, has ensured that we are able to gather here today with such a rich programme, diverse sub-themes, and inspiring workshops.

The sub-themes of this conference, from artificial intelligence and machine learning in assessment to blockchain credentials, immersive technologies, ethics, and lifelong learning, reflect the urgent questions facing education today. These conversations are not abstract; they touch directly on how we prepare learners for an uncertain but opportunity-filled future, how we uphold fairness and integrity in assessment, and how we bridge the gap between technology, pedagogy, and policy.

Colleagues, the University of Johannesburg takes great pride in hosting forums such as this. As an institution rooted in Africa but with a global outlook, we see research and dialogue on adaptive assessment as critical to advancing both equity and excellence in education. Conferences like ACATA 2025 remind us that collaboration is the key to shaping meaningful, contextually relevant, and technologically robust solutions.

I urge you all to take full advantage of the sessions, workshops, and networking opportunities that lie ahead. Let us share our research, question our assumptions, and imagine new pathways for assessment in a digital age. Most importantly, let us leave this conference with a renewed sense of purpose and partnership.

On behalf of my department and the University of Johannesburg, I welcome you once again and declare the 2nd ACATA International Conference officially open.

Thank you.

On behalf of the Local Organising Committee and the Association for Computerised Adaptive Testing in Africa (ACATA), it is with great pleasure and deep honour that I welcome you to the 2nd ACATA International Conference, being held here at the University of Johannesburg’s Akanya Building, Kingsway Campus, South Africa, and also virtually in a hybrid format.

This year’s theme, “Transforming Educational Assessment with Adaptive Technological Innovations,” captures the urgency and opportunity of our time. We are living in an era where artificial intelligence, immersive technologies, data analytics, and blockchain are redefining not just how we teach and learn, but also how we evaluate knowledge, competence, and readiness for the future. This conference provides us with a unique platform to critically engage with these innovations, share evidence-based practices, and forge new collaborations.

I wish to acknowledge the dedication of our Local Organising Committee, ably supported by my colleague and LOC Secretary, Dr Jumoke Oladele, as well as the tireless contributions of our partners and sponsors. Your commitment has ensured that we are able to host this event that gathers thought leaders, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners from across Africa and beyond.

Over the next few days, we will explore pressing sub-themes from AI and machine learning in assessment, to ethics and data privacy, to equity and inclusion in technology-driven assessments. We will also experience practical workshops and free demo sessions that bridge theory and practice, reaffirming ACATA’s commitment to shaping assessment systems that are fair, inclusive, and future-focused.

I encourage you to actively participate in discussions, ask challenging questions, and take advantage of the networking opportunities. Let us use this conference not only to share our work but to build lasting partnerships that will advance the frontiers of educational assessment in Africa and globally.

Once again, I warmly welcome you to Johannesburg and to this important gathering of minds. May the 2nd ACATA International Conference inspire us all to envision and implement transformative solutions for education in the digital age.

Thank you and welcome.

ACATA was established on the 28th of October 2020 and officially registered as a non-profit organisation (NPO) in line with Section 14 of the Companies Act, 2008 and Regulation 14 of the Companies’ Regulations, 2011.

The overall vision of ACATA is to enhance the technological capability of assessment experts and members for exploring and expanding CAT in Africa through the exchange of knowledge. It is expected that this will improve expertise, to improve decisions made from and facilitate the growth of educational assessment on the continent.

To achieve this vision, the ACATA seek to steer a paradigm shift in educational assessment in Africa by moving the continent to the next generations of Computer-Based Testing, through the promotion of scholarship and best practices in Computer Adaptive Testing to encourage the use and management of technologies for educational assessment that are geared towards accurate ability placement applicable in a variety of educational settings.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the association, since its inception, has been reaching out to all corners of Africa through its research projects in Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) by members who are academics in the higher institutions of learning. We also look forward to a more proactive way of interacting among ourselves, with the examination bodies as well as related organisations, and with the outside world.

The association also has a website from where you can access the membership registration form (online) and the editions of our journal which has been published. The journal also has a fully functional online portal where subsequent manuscript submissions can be made.

For educational assessment to remain valid, reliable and ensuring accurate ability placements, the continent of Africa must continue to embrace technology and digitization for implementing assessment best practices. No gain-saying the fact that the continent has done well with computer-based test despite the impending challenges, moving to the foremost generation of computerized assessment with CAT is the main goal the association. We hope to keep evolving as change as they say “…is the only constant thing”.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, we are grateful to our Host in person of Tyrrell Naidoo the CEO of eGrowth (Pty) Ltd, South Africa, The Director, PG School- Prof. Sze Wai Leung and the entire staff, The Dean of Research- Prof. Ramsaroop Sarita, the Head of Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education- Prof. Lydia Mavuru, our Keynote Speaker in person of Dr. Celeste-Marie Combrinck Associate Professor in Assessment and Quality Assurance, University of Pretoria, South

Africa, our Guest Speaker on Artificial Intelligence in Assessment, Dr. Akeem Olowolayemo from Islamic University, Malaysia, our Workshop Facilitators (Prof. Sebeeh. Mashhadani, FRCP Edin, Arab

Board of Health Specializations, Jordan and Dr. Kehinde Olasunkanmi, Norfolk State University, USA) as well as all other participants either physical or virtual from various institution all over Africa. Also, we equally appreciate Dr. Nathan Thompson (Assessment Systems, USA), who is a friend of the association and sponsored students’ virtual participation. To all our participants, we are sure that you will learn a lot from the wealth of experience from our various speakers.

We also appreciate the Executive Director of this great association in the person of Prof. Henry Owolabi from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, who is also our teacher and all-around mentor. We would continue to look forward to your exemplary mentorship.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as we heartily welcome you to the 2025 Biennial Conference of this great association, we are hoping that you will have a wonderful experience that will transform your knowledge about educational assessment with adaptive technology innovations.

On behalf of the Executive Board/Committee and the entire membership of ACATA, I say thank you for creating time to participate in this conference.

Wishing you all the best.

It gives me much pleasure to witness this second international conference of ACATA. Though this association is still young and growing, I am sure the members are working towards a greater future and influence in Africa and the world. ACATA has come at a time when the hunger for the benefits offered by CAT has increased greatly. Demand for increased accuracy, efficiency in time management and reducing stresses in the experience of examinees, particularly in public examinations with large numbers of candidates. The school system is also eager to effectively and efficiently assess learners with less stress on teachers and learners, especially in settings with large classes.

We look forward, in these two days, to robust discussions of well-researched reports on how to improve accurate personalised assessments by testing the ability of individuals, test security and mitigation of cheating tendencies, enlarging pools in item banks, psychometric models for accurate ability estimation and item selection with needed technology platforms for managing item banks, test delivery and analysis of results. Problems associated with integrating newly developed item types as well as using artificial intelligence to generate items or construct items for formative tests to serve as feedback for learning improvement may also come up within the radar of researchers.

Education systems in Africa, and hopefully the rest of the global community, are expected to grow in dimensions that will impact the nations for improving learning, certification and licensing.

Thank you.