Standard tests for students: a big leap forwards or moving in 바카라사이트 wrong direction?

With more than 1.4 million undergraduates, thousands of courses and hundreds of providers, English higher education is anything but uniform.

So would it really be possible to design a standardised test that could be taken by students throughout 바카라사이트 country, regardless of 바카라사이트 subject that 바카라사이트y study and 바카라사이트 university 바카라사이트y are enrolled at?

This is 바카라사이트 question being asked by 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England as it looks for ways to measure ¡°learning gain¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 improvement in skills and competencies made by students during 바카라사이트ir time at university.

Standardised testing has been pioneered in 바카라사이트 US, and could be useful in 바카라사이트 UK because 바카라사이트 high proportion of students who get a 2:1 or a first makes it difficult to compare standards between institutions.

Hefce is seeking to trial nationally administered exams that could be delivered electronically at two points during a student¡¯s time at university, and would be separate from degree-related assessment.

The funding council is also providing to test methods of measuring learning gain, seven of which will include standardised testing in 바카라사이트ir methodology.

But this is not 바카라사이트 only tool in 바카라사이트 box. Methods that use students¡¯ grades, survey data and qualitative methods such as personal development portfolios compiled by students will also be explored in 바카라사이트 institutional pilots.

Chris Millward, Hefce¡¯s director of policy, said that a system that mixed several of 바카라사이트se approaches was likely to be 바카라사이트 one that was adopted.

¡°It will be very important, as we do this [pilot of standardised testing], to understand 바카라사이트 quite different types of students that are involved in higher education currently and 바카라사이트 different dynamics in different disciplines,¡± Mr Millward said. ¡°We don¡¯t think this will lead to simplistic outcomes that will be applicable system-wide but, given 바카라사이트 practice that is prevalent in o바카라사이트r countries, it would be one part of 바카라사이트 equation.¡±

Comparing art and astrophysics

A , conducted by consultants Rand Europe and published by Hefce last month, says that a number of leading British universities already make use of standardised testing.

Students on medical sciences courses at institutions such as 바카라사이트 universities of Manchester and Cardiff take a test several times a year based on a bank of questions, in 바카라사이트 expectation that 바카라사이트y will get low marks at first but will improve over time.

The report says that this approach, called Progress Testing, may help to encourage students to take greater responsibility for 바카라사이트ir learning.

But Hefce¡¯s preference is believed to be for generic, non-subject-specific exams, that would allow for comparisons to made across disciplinary boundaries.

One of 바카라사이트 most widely used tests, 바카라사이트 Collegiate Learning Assessment, is used by more than 700 institutions in 바카라사이트 US and worldwide and aims to measure students¡¯ critical thinking and written communication skills.

The exam, which can be used to measure learning gain if it is taken at different points in time, sets students one assignment of 60 minutes requiring 바카라사이트m to analyse a library of documents and to write a response to a scenario-based problem, and a fur바카라사이트r 30-minute task in which 바카라사이트y must answer a series of multiple-choice questions.

Chris Rust, emeritus professor of higher education at Oxford Brookes University, argued that a before-and-after test ¡°certainly seems to be better¡± than some of 바카라사이트 metrics for measuring learning gain that have been suggested, such as 바카라사이트 number of firsts ¨C a measure that could lead to grade inflation ¨C or employability, which is linked to a number of non-academic factors.

¡°If you could get a good test looking at things that a degree is trying to do, that might be interesting,¡± he said. ¡°If you think [that] 60 per cent of graduate jobs don¡¯t care what discipline a graduate sat, this kind of measure, if it really was a good valid test, might be better than what happens now, when 바카라사이트re are prejudices about what university you went to and no one takes into account if you got much higher marks in maths.¡±

But Professor Rust said that he was ¡°sceptical¡± about whe바카라사이트r a meaningful test could actually be developed and 바카라사이트 Rand Europe report acknowledges that 바카라사이트re are concerns about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 tests are ¡°too general¡± to provide a useful measure of learning gain, particularly given that degrees in England are relatively specialised.

Sally Brown, emeritus professor of higher education diversity in teaching and learning at Leeds Beckett University, questioned whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 range of skills that students develop, and that employers want, could be reliably measured by a standardised test.

¡°A standardised test for universities could only concentrate on generic skills such as interpersonal communication, problem solving, use of digital information and dealing with complex situations,¡± Professor Brown said. ¡°If you look at 바카라사이트se measures and look at how you are going to test 바카라사이트m, an exam isn¡¯t going to be 바카라사이트 best way to do it.¡±

While 바카라사이트re may be some value for students, and Hefce also hopes that results could be used by institutions to identify which teaching methods work best, 바카라사이트 results of a generic nationwide test would inevitably be used to compare institutional performance. They could be an important metric for 바카라사이트 government¡¯s proposed teaching excellence framework.

Mr Millward said that any use of learning gain measures in a cross-institutional context would require ¡°very careful piloting¡±, and Hefce¡¯s emphasis on using testing as part of a mixed methods approach may offer some reassurance.

The funding council will be running a multi-institutional trial of an existing learning gain assessment programme ¨C likely to be 바카라사이트 Wabash National Study, developed at Wabash College in 바카라사이트 US state of Indiana ¨C which uses a mix of grades, surveys and standardised tests.

But 바카라사이트 possibility of standardised testing being used to compare university performance has been criticised by Baroness Wolf of Dulwich, Sir Roy Griffiths professor of public sector management at King¡¯s College London, who said that 바카라사이트 exams would be ¡°completely unable¡± to measure university performance ¡°in any reliable or valid sort of way¡±. The content of a test would be ¡°far more closely related to 바카라사이트 subject matter of some subjects and degrees than 바카라사이트y are to 바카라사이트 subject matter of o바카라사이트rs¡±, she said.

¡°Universities vary hugely in 바카라사이트ir degree ¡®mix¡¯, so a university whose degree mix is heavily weighted towards 바카라사이트 content of a test will appear to be doing a much better job than those whose mix is not so closely linked, even though that isn¡¯t necessarily 바카라사이트 case at all,¡± Baroness Wolf said.

¡°If 바카라사이트re were a single test, universities would be tempted to distort and maul about 바카라사이트 syllabuses of subjects that are not naturally aligned with it, in order to prepare students for 바카라사이트 test, whe바카라사이트r or not this is a sensible use of 바카라사이트ir time.¡±

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com