‘Technology in testing: the present and the future’ by J. Charles Alderson (2000)

In the article, Alderson (2000) talks about advantages and disadvantages of computer-based testing. He says that ‘computer-based testing removes the need for fixed delivery dates and locations normally required by traditional paper-and-pencil-based testing’. Test takers can take the test at any time of their own choice. Another advantage is that ‘results can be available immediately after the test, unlike paper-and-pencil-based tests’. It is believed that ‘feedback given immediately after an activity has been completed is likely to be more meaningful and to have more impact, than feedback which is substantially delayed’. Comparisons are also made between diskette, CD ROM- based tests and the tests delivered over the Internet. For the Internet-based tests, delivery and purchase of disks is not required. Anybody with an access to the Internet can take a test. Disks and CD ROMS are fixed in format, which normally can’t be updated. Whereas tests delivered by the Internet can be updated normally. Further, results of Internet-based tests can be sent immediately to score users, which is not possible with diskette and CD ROM- based tests. Also, Internet-based tests can access large databases of items, which is not possible through diskette and CD ROM-based testing.

As every coin has two sides, computer-based testing is also not free of the disadvantages. Firstly, computer-based items are ‘limited in the item types’. MC, gap-filling and cloze items are frequently used. Other items can’t be used since they are ‘much harder to implement in a setting where responses must be machine-scorable.’ Secondly, ‘a degree of computer-literacy is required’. It would be unfair to ask those candidates to sit for computer-based testing who are computer illiterate. Further, Alderson (2000) also states that ‘there is a degree of risk in delivering high-stakes tests over the Internet’ since hackers might break into the database.

Alderson (2000) has also thrown light on the ‘computer-adaptive’ testing. In computer-adaptive tests, computers estimates the candidates’ ability and offer test-items according to a candidates’ ability. But, it requires large banks of items to be presented to candidates of varying ability. Pedagogically, computer-adaptive tests are more ‘user-friendly’ as ‘they avoid users being presented with frustrating difficult or easy items’. They can also be ‘user-friendly’ in the sense that they can ‘provide a range of support to test takers’. ‘On-line dictionaries’ that are tailor-made for the text and test being taken can be made available. Computers can also adjust scores on items for which extra support has been accessed.’

Though Alderson (2000) has listed number of possibilities of computer-adaptive testing in becoming much user-friendly by adjusting the level of difficulty of items and by providing extra support, offering massive control-over one’s testing could put the reliability of the computer-adaptive tests into question. I would appreciate allowing control-over one’s learning than allowing control-over one’s testing as too much support provided during the tests could make the ‘interpretation of scores’ very challenging.