Talk:Test (student assessment)
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[edit] Comments
Removed from article:
- Attributes: test fidelity, objectivity, test reliability, test validity.
- A test item is a component of an assessment tool which requires a response by the test-taker and which is scored separately. Items are combined in a test to measure a student's characteristics. The combination of items is chiefly guided by concerns about reliability.
until someone translates it into English. -- Merphant 03:54 26 Jul 2003 (UTC)
Removed "Standardized tests often consist of mostly multiple-choice questions. They are often graded by a computer, since they are usually administered to a very large group of people."
- There is no reason standardized tests need to be multiple choice, and in the UK, they rarely are.
- "Often"? Maybe in some countries, but I don't think this generalisation should be made.
- "large number of people" - standardized tests are often given individually, particular in areas such as dyslexia tests.
Angela 20:16, 30 Jul 2003 (UTC)
We need to change the name of this page. Not all tests assess students. I propose either "Test (skills assessment)" or "Exam." -Smack 03:12, 16 Sep 2003 (UTC)
From the passage on multiple choice tests:
- If a subject makes an error and produces an answer that is not an option, the subject will see that he or she is wrong. As a result, he or she will probably continue working until an allowable answer is achieved. If the subject fails to produce an allowable answer after an inordinate amount of time, he will probably suffer from dramatically increased anxiety, leading to a cascade of further errors not representative of his actual level of knowledge.
I was about to write a new article on multiple choice tests when I found out -- just in time -- that Smack had included a paragraph or two on that subject in the general article on testing. Now I've been trying hard to understand the passage quoted above, but I think I failed. How can an examinee "see that he or she is wrong"? Where does that form of instant feedback come from? <KF> 22:32, 4 Feb 2004 (UTC)
- I meant that if, for instance, the answer choices are 2, 4, 6, and 8, but you come up with 7, you'll probably take another shot at the problem. Please rewrite my statement to make it clear. --Smack 07:37, 8 Feb 2004 (UTC)
[edit] exam techniques that work!
That's not nice; see how I feel about exams. Instead I want to talk about people who go into the exam with the premeditated intention of doing some bewilderingly insane thing that they are totally convinced will score them an "A". I suppose this is a gentle counterpoint to how to write an "A" paper with minimal effort. Here's my favourite example dating from my student days. This guy had a 100%-guaranteed-no-possibility-of-failure plan for those proof questions in maths exams. He reasoned that there was always an obvious first line to the proof and there was always an obvious last line to the proof, and things only got tricky in the middle of the proof. So his idea was to write really really small in the middle.
I'm not sure if this is true or just an urban legend, but I read somewhere that a philosophy class had a final exam with just one essay question: "What is courage?" One student handed in his exam within seconds. His answer? "This is."
According to the story, he got an A.
[edit] Test = Exam?
Having just finished reading Assessment, I've come here to learn more about testing, assessing and evaluating. What I find interesting is that Exam redirects to Test (student assessment) and that oral exams are not even mentioned. Do they not exist in the countries about which this article was written? <KF> 17:36, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
[edit] POV?
The article seems very anti-examinations. Sentences like "Despite the problems with testing, little has been done to prevent them, especially in schools that are rigid and unwilling to change their rules," make it sound like testing is some ridiculous farce that bureaucracies continue to use out of tradition. Whether or not this is in fact the case (testing does, admittedly, suffer from many of the described drawbacks), the article should try to present the upside of tests, in addition to the problems. MrHumperdink 17:40, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- Agree with you. I'm going to have a go at balancing it when I find the time. Stephenhumphry 05:33, 12 August 2005 (UTC)
- Let's achieve better neutrality in section "The flaws and politics of testing" by deleting the following items:
- References to conformism/uniformity/freedom - What is the point of, say, a math course if students do not need to conform to correct answers?
- The paragraph below the bulleted list - Insinuates that testing is some sort of conspiracy in the school system which should be dislodged.
- Cheating as a widespread problem - In most testing situations, the answers to the questions cannot be "obtained beforehand." Methods for cheating are hardly a "formidable arsenal."
- "The penalization of students who do badly on tests" - Assuming the knowledge of a student is going to be evaluated, there is no alternative to penalizing students to some degree for low test marks. Alksub 05:42, 8 October 2005 (UTC)
- Totally agree. Busy time of year for me, but I'm going to try to get to this still if nobody else does in the mean time. Thanks. Stephenhumphry 08:59, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
- Let's achieve better neutrality in section "The flaws and politics of testing" by deleting the following items:
[edit] Where are the pros of tests?
I see a list of dozens of cons, but where is the positive aspect of testing? Or is it non-existant?--Fito 16:47, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)
- No, they're not non-existent. Despite limitations, tests are a much fairer way of selecting people than anything else that has been proposed. Certainly, subjective judgments made in the absence of any level playing field are considerably worse (even if you make explicit the criteria for making the judgments). I can tell you I'd much rather the medical doctor I go to see have passed tests than to discover that a few teachers thought her/his knowledge and skills seemed good enough (and that's not to say I don't value such judgments, you just have to be realistic about the limitations of using such judgments). Stephenhumphry 05:33, 12 August 2005 (UTC)
so why are test good? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.77.69.29 (talk • contribs).
[edit] High stakes
This article calls the SAT's high stakes, however, it does not say why they are wor what high stakes testing is.
- Isn't high stakes self-explanatory? Stephenhumphry 12:10, 2 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] NPOV
I've had a go at making this conform with NPOV. I omitted the list of "cons" entirely - I think there is balance in the text, which is destroyed by a long list of cons without a corresponding list of pros. If anyone disagrees, though, I'm open to debate. Will revisit and try to refine some more later. Stephenhumphry 12:10, 2 November 2005 (UTC)
- Unless anyone objects, I'll remove the NPOV check in a few days. I think the article is considerably more balanced now. Anyone still have concerns? smhhms 14:48, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
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- Seems pretty balanced to me. Considering the number of students on Wikipedia though a little anti-test bias seems inevitable though. Deco 17:47, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
I removed the dot point introduced in "Flaws and politics" becaust it is not neutral, contains unsupported assertions, and contains several different points, which defeats the purpose of using a dot point. Pleae cite evidence if you wish to make such strong and, on the face of it, biased statements as "inflexible time limits can cause ..." and "tests encourage non-creativeness and rigidity". smhhms 10:55, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Chart
I removed the chart. I don't think the chart helps the reader understand the essence of testing at all. It would be appropriate for a subsection on normative assessment perhaps. The chart needs to be clearly linked to content of the article and to have clear explanation. smhhms 10:55, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] International?
GCSE's and A-level's are hardly international... they are only taken by British students. And what does 'international (internal) mean anyway? It seems to be a contradiction in terms. Terrafire 14:57, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Tests?
When were the tests first used in the world. 82.114.81.149 21:26, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
