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Can test management be done in-house? What are the challenges that arise in test administration?
- CBT
- Test management
Not only qualification exams aimed at the general public, but also qualification exams aimed at a limited number of industries or within a company, require a tremendous amount of work to administer the exam. Not only does this alone require a huge amount of manpower, but there are also many challenges that arise during the process of administering the exam. This time, we will explain the challenges that are likely to be faced during the preparation stage before the exam, the exam implementation on the day of the exam, and the processing after the exam.
Challenges in exam preparation
1. Exam reception/ Candidate management
Registration for exams has become mostly online in recent years. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a website for applying for the exam, but depending on the exam, you may also need a My Page where you can check your receipt, admission ticket, and even announce the results.
Once we have received the test application, we must check Candidate 's data, allocate the test date and Test Center, notify Candidate in advance, send examination tickets, respond to inquiries, handle cancellations, and other administrative tasks. not. Additionally, since the data entered by Candidate is highly personal information, it is necessary to ensure the security of data management.
2. Prepare payment methods
In the case of exams that require a fee, payment is usually made at the same time as the application. Therefore, it is necessary to have a mechanism for online payment. It is recommended to have multiple online payment methods such as credit cards and PayPay.
3. Arrangement of Test Center
One of the most difficult preparations for administering an exam is arranging Test Center. It is necessary to find Test Center that suits the number Candidate and the format of the exam, and if the examinees are all over Japan, it will be more convenient for Candidate to have Test Center in as many areas as possible. In some cases, it may be necessary to arrange Test Center overseas.
Challenges in conducting the exam on the day
1.Security measures such as spoofing and cheating
Impersonation of someone other than the person who applied for the exam and cheating by bringing answers into the exam are old frauds. In recent years, there has been an increase in the news of cheating using smartphones, such as searching the Internet during exams or using chat to receive answers from outsiders.
In addition, not only Candidate but also staff involved in test administration may commit fraud, such as leaking test questions in advance. Even if you do not intend to do so, exam questions may be lost during shipping, or the computer used to manage them may be accessed by unauthorized persons.
Advanced security measures are required to prevent these frauds.
2.Securing test management staff
On the day of the exam, you will need staff to guide you through Test Center, register for the exam, and supervise you. The larger the number of Candidate and test Test Center, the more staff must be secured. In recent years, there has been a serious labor shortage, so it is often difficult to find even part-time workers. Of course, you have to pay your staff, so there are costs involved.
Furthermore, there are security issues, and the staff responsible for accepting and proctoring exams must be trained, and manuals and workflows must be prepared.
Issues after the exam
1.Scoring/pass/fail notification
Candidate' answers are scored, tabulated, and a pass/fail notification is sent, but double-checking and triple-checking are essential when grading is done by humans because mistakes cannot be tolerated. Even if the test is conducted using a mark sheet, it will take time to convert it into data, and it will also be necessary to compile the answers obtained at each Test Center.
Additionally, in recent years, there has been a demand for shortening the time it takes to announce results for qualification exams. Particularly in the case of industry or in-house exams, passing the exam is often a prerequisite for working, so if it takes a long time to announce the results, it will not be possible to carry out work smoothly, which could result in lost business opportunities. There is also gender.
2.Analysis processing
In order for certification exams to continue to have value in the future, they need to be updated. For this purpose, it is necessary to analyze the answer results and examine the validity of the test questions. However, analytical processing requires specialized knowledge, and it is often difficult for test management organizations to conduct analysis in addition to their regular work, both in terms of time and know-how.
On the other hand, it is also necessary for examinees to analyze their answer results. You can learn about your weaknesses and utilize them in your future studies.
3. Candidate status management
The qualifications and conditions for taking the exam vary depending on your past exam history, such as exams where you can step up to intermediate and advanced after passing the beginner exam, exams that require renewal after a certain period of time, and exams that offer discounts for taking multiple exams. If you decide to take the exam, you need to manage it so that you can easily see what status Candidate is currently in.
Especially when taking the exam as a group, the person in charge of the group needs to manage the current status of the individuals, so a management function for the person in charge is also required.
summary
Test management is complicated and requires a huge amount of work. It is not realistic for the test administration organization to do all of this in-house. For this reason, it is common practice to outsource test management to a management agency.
In addition, in recent years, there has been an increase in the use of paper-based group tests (PBT), CBT tests in which people gather at Test Center and answer questions delivered to a computer, and IBT tests in which online tests are conducted at home regardless of Test Center. Masu. By adopting CBT or IBT, everything from test application to scoring and analysis can be conducted online, which can significantly reduce the amount of work required to administer the test.
If you are considering outsourcing your test administration, please contact Prometric can handle everything from application to analysis. Our world-class testing operations, which are conducted in 180 countries around the world, ensure complete security.
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