Dr. Alina von Davier’s Keynote

Building Digital-first Assessments in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent automation have revolutionized educational assessments, with a focus on scalable content generation. In this talk, I discuss a new human-centered AI framework for high-stakes testing along with a new system called the "item factory." The item factory system merges human expertise and AI for efficient, high-quality test development, mirroring the processes of intelligent automation in manufacturing. This new system integrates test design, generation, and review, improving efficiency while ensuring that AI enhances, not replaces, educators and developers.  

AI-powered content generation allows the development of diverse test items and personalized assessments, making high-quality assessments more affordable and accessible. However, a careful balance is needed between technological progress and human-centered design. This presentation will emphasize the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and discuss a human-centered AI framework that integrates AI with human expertise to create assessments that adapt to students' needs. The presentation will describe the item factory system and the quality assurance metrics that were developed for the Duolingo English Test, a digital-first, high-stakes language test.

About Dr. Alina von Davier

Dr. Alina von Davier is a psychometrician and researcher in computational psychometrics, machine learning, and education. Dr. von Davier is a researcher, innovator, and an executive leader with over 20 years of experience in EdTech and in the assessment industry. She is the Chief of Assessment at Duolingo, where she leads the Duolingo English Test research and development area. She is also the Founder and CEO of EdAstra Tech, a service-oriented EdTech company. In 2022, she joined the University of Oxford as an Honorary Research Fellow, and Carnegie Mellon University as a Senior Research Fellow.

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