Hanoi National University's plan: One exam, One national exam session

In our country for many decades, students at the end of high school have had to participate in two important exams: high school graduation and university and college entrance. Although these two exams have different assessment purposes, they have the same scientific nature, that is, they are both based on the foundation of psychometrics in education, also known as the Science of Measurement and Evaluation (S&E) in education.

Scientifically, it is entirely possible to integrate these two types of question formats into a comprehensive test. Moreover, applying the achievements of the Science of Evaluation and Assessment in education and information technology also helps us gradually achieve the goal of "assessing the capacity" of learners instead of simply "assessing knowledge".

The design and implementation of a simple, objective and highly reliable unified exam is an urgent practical need. It not only aims at high school graduation and university admission, but also gradually promotes innovation in programs, teaching and learning at the high school level in the direction from "knowledge provision" to "capacity development".

Currently, many countries in the world have implemented common exams, unified exams. France has the Baccalauréat exam (Le Bac), about 20 other European countries have a common exam called the Matura exam. Even in the United States, there is a high school graduation exam called Exit Exam, implemented in about 27 states. In particular, this is a mandatory requirement of the State of California, the United Kingdom and countries influenced by the British education system (Singapore, Hong Kong...) have the A-Level exam. Recently, Eastern European countries, especially Russia and Ukraine, have also switched to applying unified exams. The results of these exams are used by candidates as a basis for considering receiving a high school graduation certificate and at the same time registering for university. Because it is a common, unified exam, the number of candidates is very large, most countries use standardized tests with objective multiple choice questions. Only when using standardized tests can it facilitate the application of modern testing technologies as well as information technology, ensuring objectivity and high reliability of the exam.

The decision to organize a common, unified exam in Vietnam today has the basic advantage that our country's information and communication technology has been relatively developed, and there are more and more experts in modern measurement and assessment technology in education to successfully organize large-scale exams. In addition, students have been familiar with the objective multiple-choice test format (TNKQ) that has been applied to Physics, Chemistry, and Biology in the "three common" exam, helping candidates and society easily adapt to these types of exams.

Thus, it can be affirmed that there is a complete scientific and practical basis for implementing the national exam - the unified exam.

One test with one session

Separate “exam/assessment” from “graduation or admission”. This helps candidates avoid the pressure of “pass/fail”, and also creates conditions for candidates to self-classify and screen to register for universities based on exam results.

Test all the knowledge that students have learned, test to encourage and motivate comprehensive and practical learning.

Simple in organization; synthesize and gradually move towards integration in assessment content; gradually move from “knowledge assessment” to “competence assessment”;

It is convenient for candidates to view sample questions, do practice tests, and practice online, completely avoiding complicated and expensive practice tests.

Objective and highly reliable; fair; candidates can choose the exam date, time, and number of times; Simple exam proctoring, easy to deploy on a large scale, for the majority.

Exam structure

The Comprehensive Exam is designed in the form of multiple choice, including 4 components: (i) Mathematics; (ii) Literature; (iii) Natural Sciences; and (iv) Social Sciences. The Mathematics and Literature components each have 50 multiple choice questions. The two comprehensive components of Natural Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and Social Sciences (History, Geography, Civic Education) each have 40 multiple choice questions. The total number of questions in the entire exam is 180. The total time for taking the test is 215 minutes, completed in one exam session.

Question structure by content: Math and Literature and two components of natural science and social science will cover the basic program of high school. The test has 20% easy questions (low ability level), 60% medium questions (medium ability level) and 20% difficult questions (high ability level).

Each correct answer is worth 1 point, no points are deducted for incorrect or omitted answers. The minimum total score is 0, the maximum is 180.

Exam marking

The test and grading are done on computers in specialized testing rooms. The test for each individual will be randomly shuffled in terms of questions and options so that candidates cannot "look at each other's papers" and cannot use outside support. Testing and grading directly on computers will minimize negative phenomena compared to examiners directly grading the test, ensuring speed and accuracy.

The examination is conducted by staff trained in the professional skills related to the examination. The computer rooms have technical staff on duty to support computer operation.

Using the results

The report card is designed and used for the purposes of confirming high school graduation level (along with the scores of subjects in 3 years) and providing results for university and college admission.

The test score report will provide separate results for four components: (i) Mathematics; (ii) Literature; (iii) Natural Sciences; (iv) Social Sciences. Scores will be converted to a scale of 0-10, with two decimal places. Test results will be reused multiple times within a period of two years from the test date.

Based on the combined test scores and subject scores, candidates are selected for graduation according to pre-determined requirements. Universities, when using the results of the national test scores, can take the scores of one, many, or all four components to set the minimum screening score; can multiply the coefficients for the component scores depending on the selected major. Schools can also organize an additional single-subject test in the form of a critical or essay, open-ended question, or aptitude test to have more information to evaluate candidates selected for programs with special requirements.

Exam time and location

The exam can be held multiple times a year. In 2015, it was held before the graduation exam, so candidates who passed the comprehensive exam will not have to take the graduation exam as usual. From 2016, there will be only one unified exam. The exam can be held multiple times in May so that candidates who do not meet the requirements or want to get a higher result can retake it.

Candidates can take the test at qualified test sites/test rooms in the provinces and cities. Therefore, it will not put pressure on large cities, creating high social security.

Exam registration will be done online. Students will be familiarized with the exam format online. Instructions for review, practice, and mock exams will also be done online on designated websites with exam formats, sample exams, etc., which will reduce the need for extra tutoring and tutoring.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

About human resources

VNU has enough lecturers in all majors to meet the requirements of creating questions according to the structure and format of the exam.Comprehensive Exam. The team participating in preparing the test questions are lecturers and researchers from the University of Natural Sciences, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Education, University of Foreign Languages, as well as teachers from the High School for Foreign Languages ​​and High School for Natural Sciences in VNU. Over 70 lecturers of VNU have been trained by US testing experts in test writing skills. Many leading experts in high school and university entrance exam writing have also been mobilized to participate in test writing.

About the question bank

Currently, VNU has prepared a source of competency assessment questions with nearly 4,000 items belonging to different components. Of these, a part has been tested. It is necessary to continue testing and developing new questions in the following years to ensure that there are about 10,000 questions in the bank. However, in the immediate future, 4,500 standardized questions are needed for 2015. VNU has also established a Testing Center to be ready to carry out this task.

On September 11, VNU will organize an exam to select students after being admitted to VNU to study in talented, advanced, international standard, high-quality programs. This will be an opportunity to review and perfect the process, test set as well as the process, technology of organizing the exam as well as the test set.

About the exam software

Currently, VNU has built a software to compile questions, organize exams, grade exams and grade exams on computers. This software will be applied on a trial basis for the September 2014 exam within VNU. This admission software allows candidates to take multiple exams, with high security and accuracy. To implement online exams on a large scale, more investment in information technology, both hardware and software, is needed.

Admission and support policy

VNU has published the exam format, requirements, and instructions for candidates online. VNU is also designing software so that candidates can view sample exam questions and take practice tests and practice exams on the VNU website.

Conditions for widespread application of VNU's exam questions

This Comprehensive Exam is designed to cover the current general education program, mainly grade 12. In the condition that the training program, textbooks and teaching methods at the general education level have not changed, candidates can still do well on the test. In addition, with reasonable benchmark scores, along with preferential policies for students in the priority group, the graduation rate will not have a big change. Meanwhile, with the questions that are classified, universities still have the basis to select candidates who meet the requirements. Therefore, the plan is highly feasible.

However, in order to widely use the VNU exam set for the unified exam, additional support conditions from the Government and ministries and branches are needed:

System of policies and guidance documents related to this exam (2015 Unified Exam Regulations);

Support VNU to continue developing a large enough and quality assured question bank that can be widely applied.

Directing localities to prepare hardware infrastructure and facilities (examination rooms). Directing telecommunications corporations to support transmission infrastructure. Regarding exam software, VNU has been implementing computer-based exams with software developed by VNU. With support, VNU can upgrade the software to be able to take online exams in parallel with computer-based exams.

Extensive communication work to create social consensus; Organize a comprehensive support system for candidates before and during the exam./.