Advantages And Disadvantages Of Oral Test

Oral tests have are criticized by both instructors and students alike (Aiken & Groth-Marnat, 2006). Students who dislike oral examinations assert that they are an unfair measurement of scholastic knowledge. Furthermore, pupils cite that there grade may be dependent on plethora of variables such as the teacher’s impression or their mood. Instructors dislike oral examinations because it may be a long process and the grading criteria may be inefficient. Although there are a multitude of disadvantages of oral examinations, there are advantages as well. An oral test allows for an interaction between the student and teachers where other qualities may be taken into consideration such as presentation style and linguistics. Some students may have …show more content…
Each time the student inputs an answer; the computer system adjusts or adapts the next question to fit within the knowledge level of the student. This method is a superior mechanism of testing because is ensures that the test falls within the comprehension range of the student. According to van der Linden (2008), a primary advantage to adaptive testing is that the examinations are shorter in length and due to the fact that they are computer based, grading is automatic. Furthermore, the potential for cheating is dramatically reduced unlike conventional testing because each test has a wide range of questions and the order is scrabbled. One of the primary limitations of adaptive testing is that unlike conventional testing, the student is not allowed to skip or return to a question later in the examination. This is due to the fact that each answer influences the next question; therefore it would alter the entire test. Another limitation of adaptive testing is that in order to conduct the tests a computer and specialize software is required (Aiken & Groth-Marnat, 2006). Consequently, the initial start up costs can be expensive in addition to the regular maintenance of the computers utilized for …show more content…
As a test is utilized over time, the results should remain consistent unless some catastrophic event occurs which significantly alters the data. If a significant change occurs without a catastrophic event, the test is unreliable and should not be use as an effective method of analyzing or predicting individuals or behavior. Reliability is not only applied to individuals, but is considered to be how the test is provided to a specific group. Typically, prior to providing a group the examination, administers are under strict guidance of how the test is administered. Any deviation from standard procedures or protocols could potentially void the entire