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Unit 4c Aptitude Test

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34 views21 pages

Unit 4c Aptitude Test

Uploaded by

hu ting ming
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PREDICTING

COLLEGE
PERFORMANCE
DR NOR MAZLINA GHAZALI
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE

• As most every college student knows, a major use of aptitude tests is the
prediction of academic performance.
• In most cases, applicants to college must contend with the Scholastic
Assessment Tests (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT) assessment
program.
• Institutions may set minimum standards on the SAT or ACT test for
admission, based on the knowledge that low scores foretell college failure.
• In this section we will explore the technical adequacy and predictive validity
of the major college aptitude tests.
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE: The
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
• Formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Tests, the Scholastic
Assessment Test, or SAT – oldest of the college admissions tests,
dating back to 1926.
• The SAT is published by the College Board (formerly the College
Entrance Examination Board) a group formed in 1899 to provide a
national clearinghouse admissions testing.
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE: The
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)

• Purpose of nationally based admissions test was – “to introduce law


and order into an educational anarchy which towards the close of the
nineteenth century had become exasperating, indeed almost
intolerable, to schoolmasters”
• Over the years – extensively revised, continuously updated , and
repeatedly renormed
• SAT – emphasized changes in content and format
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE: The
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
• SAT consists – SAT Reasoning and SAT Subject Tests
• SAT Reasoning – college admission decision
• SAT Subject Tests – advanced college placement in fields such as
Biology, Chemistry, History , Foreign Language and Mathematics
• SAT – three (3) sections – four (4) subtests (Table 1)
• The Critical Reading section involves – reading individual paragraphs
and then answering multiple-choice questions about the passages.
PREDICTING
COLLEGE
PERFORMANCE: The
Scholastic Assessment Test
(SAT)
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE: The
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
• The questions embody these approaches:
 Vocabulary in Context – discerning the meaning of words from their
context in the passage
 Literal Comprehension – understanding significant information
directly available in the passage
 Extended Reasoning – following an argument or making inferences
from the passage
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE:
The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
• Some questions in the Critical Reading section also engage a complex
form of fill in the blanks.
• However, instead of testing for mere factual knowledge, the questions
evaluate verbal comprehension.
• Example:
• Hoping to ___________ the dispute, the family therapist proposed a
concession that he felt would be _______ to both mother and daughter.
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE: The
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)

• A. end……….divisive
• B. overcome …….unappealing
• C. protract …..satisfactory
• D. resolve ….acceptable
• E. enforce ….useful

• ANSWER: D
• SAT – incorporates more difficult items of this genre.
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE: The
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)

• Second part of the SAT is the Math section – consisting of three (3) subtest –
assess in term of basic math skills in algebra, geometry, statistic and data analysis
needed for successful navigation of college. Questions are multiple-choice
format
• Example:
• What is value of X satisfies both equations below?
• X2 – 4 = 0
• I 4x +6 I = 2
• ANSWER: -2
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE:
The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
• The Writing portion of the SAT – consists of a 25 minute Essay
section and three multiple choice substest that evaluate the ability of
the examinee to improve sentences, identify sentence errors, and
improve paragraph
• Essay Test – the examinee reads a short except and then writes a short
paper that takes a point of view.
• Example:
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE: The
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)

• A sense of happiness and fulfillment, not personal gain, is the best motivation and
reward for one’s achievements. Expecting a reward of wealth or recognition for
achieving a goal can lead to disappointment and frustration. If we want to be happy
in what we do in life, we should not seek achievement for the sake of winning wealth
and fame. The personal satisfaction of a job well done is it own reward.
• Assignment: Are people motivated to achieve by personal satisfaction rather than by
money or fame? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on
this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your
reading, studies, experience, or observations (College Board, 2005).
PREDICTING COLLEGE PERFORMANCE: The
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)

• The essay is evaluated by two trained readers on a 1 to 6 scale,


resulting in a total score of 2 to 12 for the Essay test.
• Students also receive a separate score on a scale from 20 to 80 for the
multiple-choice portion of the Writing section.
POSTGRADUATE SELECTION TEST

• Graduate and professional program also rely heavily on aptitude tests


for admission decisions.
• Of course many other factors are considered when selecting students
for advanced training, but there is no denying the centrality of aptitude
test results in the selecting decision.
POSTGRADUATE
SELECTION
TEST
POSTGRADUATE SELECTION TEST: Graduate
Record Exam
POSTGRADUATE SELECTION TEST: Graduate
Record Exam (GRE)
• The GRE – multiple-choice and essay test widely used by graduate
programs in many fields as one component in the selection of
candidates for advanced training.
• Offer many subjects examination – Biology, Computer Science,
History, Mathematics, Political Science, Psychology)
• Heart of test – general test designed to measure VERBAL,
QUANTITATIVE & ANALYTICAL WRITING APTITUDES
POSTGRADUATE SELECTION TEST:
Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
• GRE-V – items such as analogies, sentence completion, antonyms and reading
comprehension.
• GRE-Q – quantitative section consists of problems in algebra, geometry,
reasoning, and the interpretation of data, graphs and diagrams.
• GRE-AW – measure of higher-level critical thinking and analytical writing
skills.
• It consists of two writing tasks: A 30-minutes essay in which the applicant
analyzes an argument.
• Here is an example of an issue question:
POSTGRADUATE SELECTION TEST:
Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
• As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the
ability of humans to think for themselves will surely deteriorate.
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement
and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing
and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the
statement might or might not hold true and explain how these
considerations shape your position.
POSTGRADUATE SELECTION TEST:
Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
• The argument questions entail reading a short paragraph that invokes an
argument and writing a critique of the argument.
• Beginning in 2012 the first two scores (GRE-V) and GRE-Q) were reported
as standard scores with a mean of about 150 and a range of 130 to 170.
• Reliability of GRE – is strong with internal consistency reliability
coefficients typically around .90 for the three components.
• Validity – the GRE commonly has been examined in relation to the ability
of the test to predict performance in in graduate school.
• Thank you

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