Which type of test is most suitable? Where and when will the examination take place? These are all aspects that need to be considered when developing an examination. The most important part of this process is obtaining high-quality examination questions. An examination board or educational institution always strives to develop examinations of the highest quality. Whether this is done individually or in a group, every educational institution has its own working method. In general, the following principles play a role when you have to decide who to deploy at what point in the test construction process: Working efficiently and quickly, at the lowest possible cost Sufficient, but not excessive control checks Assessment for a profession or professional group in line with professional practice Gaining stakeholder support We distinguish between two stages in test construction: test development and assessment. This blog is limited to test development. Read more about the setting an examination. The developer Most examination boards have a working method whereby the subject matter expert provides exam content based on their own work experience or specialist knowledge. The subject matter expert is naturally best placed to identify the mistakes most commonly made in practice. By asking questions about these areas, you can be sure that the examination covers relevant subject matter. Only at lower levels or for general knowledge do education, assessment or language experts write the questions. Both options are perfectly acceptable, of course. Experience shows that an education, testing or language expert will never be as knowledgeable about the subject matter as someone who actually practises or has practised the profession. Furthermore, do not underestimate the support that can be generated by content experts who are recognised as specialists in the professional field. Working with a construction group; the advantages Construction groups are often used for long-term projects. These are composed of a number of subject matter experts working in collaboration with an assessment expert. The advantage of this is that it improves the quality of the examination. Before the questions are finalised, they have already been reviewed by several people. You would expect that most errors would have been eliminated by then. In addition, a group often has more knowledge than a single person. Another advantage of a construction group over an individual test developer is the support among the parties involved: it is often easier to accept tests and test results when it is known that a group of experts has been involved in their development. Before a construction group can be formed, a number of important conditions must be met: The frameworks within which work is carried out must already be clear, and the group must have discipline in its discussions or have a strong chairperson. Members of construction groups must be able to meet regularly for whole days or half days at short notice. Otherwise, the objective – having good tests available in good time, developing tests together – will be lost. Conclusion In general, choosing a subject matter expert is the most obvious choice. Not only because of their knowledge of the field, but also because of the support they generate from stakeholders. If it is a long-term project, set up construction groups. If the conditions cannot be met, it makes sense to use individual test developers. In that case, it is advisable to include an extra control step, in which a subject matter reviewer provides critical feedback.
