What Do Tests Measure - Coursework Example

Ar What Do Tests Measure? What do Tests Measure? The world as we know today is an arena for race for every human being that is born on thisplanet. In the world today every individual is striving for excellence and success. The word race here has been used to depict the complexity of the world. Race between mankind can be traced back since the very beginning of this world. And the race today between individuals is to achieve success and power. For an individual to be successful in life he has to go through different tests, these tests can either be educational or real life situational tests. The idea of tests has been an old one which is used to measure the capability of an individual. It tells as to how an individual can become successful and what abilities does he possess. This essay would further describe tests by using examples and would tell as to how are they being used in the world today. It would also tell as to what these tests do really measure (The importance of assessment in primary education; Importance of testing in Psychology and education) Tests are done all over this world to find out the mental capability of an individual. It is widely practice in the field of education as it helps the education analysts to know as to how much intelligence, knowledge, or mental abilities an individual possesses. Most of the tests being used to analyze the abilities of an individual are standardized these days. Standardized Tests are those tests which are prepared in a way that the instructors know beforehand as to how would the tests be marked. Tests should be marked precisely so that every individual giving the test should have the chance of scoring good marks (Standardized Tests) In order to establish as to how good a test is three aspects have to be analyzed. These are validity, reliability, and practicality respectively. Validity of a test tells about the successful results of a test. It tells that whether the test was successful in measuring what it was intended to measure or not. Some tests are designed in such a way that they are not able to grasp the original results for which it was made but rather gives the results for something else. Such a test has a low validity and should not be followed to measure the abilities of an individual. Reliability of a test shows as to how much the test was being understood by the individuals and answered accordingly. In other words some individuals do not even understand the test and attempt it without knowing of what they are attempting. These individuals may score higher points even without knowing the objective of the subject. This may then distort the results of the test and in order to avoid such a situation the test should be given repetitively to know the exact results of the test (Test Validity and Reliability) Practicality is another aspect of the tests which should be used when designing the test. Practicality here refers to the steps which are taken before designing the test. These steps should not be hectic enough to change the whole aspect of the test as then the test would be rather impractical. Even if the results are difficult to interpret then the test may be termed as impractical (Importance of testing in Psychology and education; Reliability, validity, and fairness of classroom assessments). With the increased use of tests in the world today, different types of tests have been designed. These tests are designed in such a way that every test measures different things. But all these tests together help to measure the learning ability of an individual, his expertise, his learning capabilities, interest in the subject or his personality. Learning Tests are used to measure the individuals response to specific situations in life which would require intellectual abilities. In other words these tests can clearly show how individuals may react in certain situations and if they would use their intellect or not. Learning Ability Test is another test designed to know about everything that the individual has learned throughout his life i.e. either in school or outside. Although these tests do not necessarily tell about all the skills that he has learned during his life but it is a good test to measure his retaining power. Achievement tests are widely used in schools and colleges. These tests basically denote the learning abilities of an individual regarding a specific subject or field. They do not represent his learning ability of an individual as a whole. These tests are usually conducted in two forms i.e. criterion referenced and norm referenced. Norm referenced tests are tests which are based on the percentile of the students i.e. the scores of all the students are measured together and then the result is made. Such a test does not count the capability of a student but rather the capability of a student in comparison to his peers. Criterion referenced tests are based on the pass percentage of the instructor himself. The instructor pre-sets the criteria of the tests and the result of the tests is then measured by the help of this criteria. Aptitude test is another type of test which helps to know about the interest of an individual about a particular subject and his general IQ level. And lastly personality tests are conducted to know about an individual’s own self. It helps to determine the personality of an individual and judge him according to his answers. The results of the test can either show that the person is aggressive, defensive, jolly or other characteristics of the personality (Importance of testing in Psychology and education). After a test is conducted different methods are used to interpret results which are then forwarded to the individuals who gave the test. All the tests mentioned above have a specific objective which has to be achieved. These tests help to determine the mental capabilities of an individual and nowadays the practice of tests in this world is being used widely (The importance of assessment in primary education) References The importance of assessment in primary education Standardized Tests Test Validity and Reliability Reliability, validity, and fairness of classroom assessments Importance of testing in Psychology and education Read More