Proceedings of the 40th International Academic Conference, Stockholm

A SHIFT TO SUBJECTIVE TESTS

MURAT POLAT

Abstract:

This article reports on a descriptive study which attempts to reveal the recent trend in the world, a shift from objective testing to subjective testing not only in achievement tests but also in high stakes testing. Mostly done in “True-False or Multiple Choice” formats, the so-called objective tests offer administrations nothing but merely a number, which is commonly thought to be objective scoring; however, the need to evaluate higher thinking skills, self-expression, interpretation, imagination and/or subtlety of the test takers stands over there untouched. On one hand, measuring such abilities of learners which would never be assessed by classical methods attracts all the decision makers in educational settings, a burden itself which may be costly, time-consuming and hard to justify on the other. Perhaps most people might agree on the idea that classic tests are too artificial, common and even a 6-year-old child can easily predict the learning outcome and what the reason of the test is without having any prior testing knowledge. Moreover, standardized tests are also taught to force the administrations use the “guess factor” about the test takers and would not give any clues on the individual differences of the participants. That is why ignoring the standard tests results, more and more face to face interviews and writing exams are conducted in quite many settings including education, business, human relations etc. to better understand if the required qualities could be demonstrated by the candidates in pre-prepared everyday situations.

Keywords: objective testing, subjective testing, assessment, multiple choice tests, standardised tests

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2018.040.050

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