Introduction

Lertap is a short name for the Laboratory of Educational Research Test Analysis Package.

 

The present Lertap, "Lertap5", is a system which works as an application running within Microsoft's Excel program.

 

 
To get a quick idea of what Lertap5 does, move forward and select from our smorgasbord of samples.
 
To have some immediate hands-on fun, jump right into the action part of the Cook's Tour.
 

 

The main purpose of this website is to provide paths to sample datasets for use with Lertap.

 

The "Cook's Tour" of Lertap5 is also found here, in this website. It has a description of the Lertap5.xlsm workbook, and its five worksheets: Comments, Data, CCs, System, and Syntax. The Cook's Tour also gets into an actual run of Lertap5, with steps to follow on your own computer to keep from falling asleep.

 

A bit of history, and some important links to other resources:

 

Lertap dates back to 1972, when it made its first appearance at the University of Colorado in the United States. It was written in the FORTRAN computer language, and ran on mainframe computers generally situated in a special, single-purpose building, often called the "Computing Centre". Mainframe computers were very large, usually occupying at least half of one of the building's floors.

 

When microcomputers became popular in the 1980s, versions of Lertap were made to run on them. Most of these were written in the BASIC computer language.

 

In the late 1990s a new genre, "Lertap5", was created to run as an Excel application. This version was made at Curtin University in Western Australia. It is written in VBA, Visual Basic for Applications.

 

Excel is a spreadsheet program created by Microsoft. It's a member of the suite of programs known as "Microsoft Office", a collection of programs which includes Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, and, of course, Excel.

 

Numerous versions of Excel have emerged over the years. As of May 2020, editions of Lertap5 were available for Excel 2010 (Windows), Excel 2016 (Windows and Macintosh), and Excel 2019 (Windows and Macintosh). Note: Excel 365 is a version code used by Microsoft, applied to users who have taken out an annual subscription on Windows and macOS computers. These users automatically get frequent updates to ensure they have the very latest version of Excel.

 

The Excel 2010 version of Lertap5 was used to create the charts and reports in this document. Had one of the other editions been used, the results would have been much the same.

 

Here are some links to other Lertap resources:

 

1

A PDF copy of this website's topics. A CHM copy (compiled help file for Windows). An iBook copy, ready for reading on an iPad or an iPhone. A link to the website itself.

2

A small set of PowerPoint slides with a quick introduction to Lertap5. These are also available as a PDF file.

3

The main Lertap5 website. Has more examples and samples, with links to videos, the manual, and a variety of riveting technical papers (also known as "erudite epistles").

4

Some "Tips & Tricks" for users. Demonstrates the use of quintile plots; showcases selected Excel and Lertap features.

5

The online help system for Lertap5. A primary source for finding out how to obtain Lertap5, how to get it running, and understanding features added after the manual was printed.

6

The QUIA website, our developmental site. At times has a variety of special tidbits and morsels, especially for instructors and students. (No longer updated but may still be useful.)

7

The e-store for Lertap5, the place which sells licenses for Lertap5 users when they have more than 250 cases to process.

 

Please direct questions or comments to: lertap5@gmail.com

Last update: 2 March 2023