My Experience with Computer-Based Testing

Sadly, I don't have any personal experience with administering, rating or teaching with computer-based tests. As a student, however, I have taken a few computer-based tests, and I have of course taken the adaptive GRE test.

My experience using computer-based tests for class was not particularly exciting. In an online class I took on abnormal psychology in college, my job was to read chapters in the book and then complete a test online. The tests had the same format as paper-based tests but they were posted on the computer. They were actually comprised only of 80 either true or false or multiple choice questions. I know that these tests were quite antiquated and did not show the full breadth of what computer-based testing could entail. They were also pretty frustrating to fill out. I felt like I wasn't really utilizing the knowledge I had gained from reading the text book. I never have to integrate or think critically about what I learned - all I had to be able to do was to look in the book and find if the answer was A or B.

I think the GREs, as a computer-adaptive test, mark the other end of the extreme as far as complexity in computer-based testing is concerned. Knowing that the question I would next be presented with was based on the correctness of my previous response was slightly traumatic for me. I spent the entire tests trying to ascertain whether the questions were getting harder or easier so that I could get an accurate bearing as to how well I was doing. Also, the stakes for this test were quite high, or at least so I thought at the time. I was terrified that my computer would be slow or for some unknown reason crash half way through. Also, the formatting of the test was a little hard to get used to (functions like hiding the clock, not having spell check, knowing how to move on to the next question, etc.) One thing that was nice about this type of test was finding out immediately how well I did when it was over (at least for the Math and English part). There was enormous gratification for me in knowing that at the end of the testing session I would walk out with my score and not have to wait for weeks like the SATs to find out how I did.

I would like to have more experience creating and teaching with computer-based tests. I think that it's a valuable area of study that is only going to become more and more important as time goes on.