In a previous post, we looked at how Directors of the Language Centre at Universitas Indonesia postulated that a digital test is more appropriate for this generation of students. We have now been able to survey test takers on this question. Here are the findings.
Category: Placement testing
Placement test results: what do they mean?
Andrew Stokes reminds us of the purpose of a placement test (with thanks to Laura Edwards of telc Language Tests for her input).
How to take an online test when you have no Internet access
Andrew Stokes explains how an online test can support those with unreliable connectivity — or no Internet access at all.
The importance of placement testing
As both a teacher and test developer I often have the feeling that the seemingly related fields of teaching and testing are in reality worlds apart. Being active in both fields, I try to mediate, to put it in CEFR terms. On one hand, as a test developer I want to measure skills and collect empirical data on my subjects. On the other hand, I am a compassionate teacher (I think) and I really do want all my students to do well.
A world in lockdown: adapting to remote testing
Amongst the many disruptions caused by the covid-19 pandemic has been the closure of IELTS test centres and widespread postponement of IELTS tests. For most students, schools and universities this has brought the academic application process to a halt – but not for all.
Running tests from home
Now more than ever, institutions are finding the need to deliver tests to students who are not able to go to a controlled computer room. What can you do to find the best setup that will make this run as smoothly as possible? This post refers principally to the Dynamic Placement Test, but many of the ideas are relevant to other tests too.
New Admin Panel: powerful yet simple
January 2020 saw the release of the new version of Dynamic Placement Test Admin Panel. Sky Chan, Product Manager, talks about what he aimed to achieve with this version, and why he likes it. The Admin Panel is the program teachers and administrators use to set up tests, check results and print certificates.
“It’s a brand new experience — more relevant for this generation.”
Universitas Indonesia, the number one ranking university in Indonesia, had their own English placement test — but language centre managers felt that a new generation needed a new approach.
Experiment to trial Dynamic Placement Test at Wenzao University
In September 2019, the Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages in Taiwan ran a trial to determine whether they could use the Dynamic Placement Test to test the English of 1,525 new students, using their own devices. This report describes the trial and its outcomes.
Why an adaptive test is the only answer
At the ELITE conference in Malang, Indonesia last week Dr Adrian Raper explained why a placement test must be adaptive. This is a summary of his talk.