For decades, institutions worldwide have devised ways to administer tests and maintain the exam’s integrity, but that doesn’t mean that the process of managing tests is foolproof. Testing methodologies are changing quickly as electronic technologies alter the landscape.
IPC recently revised its certification testing programs, converting from paper to an electronic format. The change, part of IPC’s Certification Quality Initiative, will improve security, shorten turnaround time for test takers and help IPC improve the quality of questions.
“When you deliver the test electronically, you can randomize the questions and ensure that everyone has a unique test,” said Keenan Loubser, IPC’s senior director of certification. “Also, the more you automate, the quicker you can deliver the results.”
Another benefit is that the electronic tests are harder to duplicate. Electronic tests can be sent directly to the site shortly before the test is taken, so there’s less time for exams to copied or breached. The randomized nature of questions also reduces the incentive to purloin questions. “We can do psychometric analysis on the questions to make sure they’re fair and unbiased,” Loubser said. “For example, if 90 to 100 percent of test takers are getting a question right or wrong a majority of the time, we can perform an analysis on the question and update it even while it’s in the field.”
Maintaining the integrity of the certification process isn’t the only benefit for those taking IPC’s certification exams: In addition to improved questions, test results will be delivered sooner.
While most people taking the tests will do so on a digital platform, there will still be the opportunity to print exams under specific scenarios, especially when delivering exams at secure sites where it is virtually impossible to access external internet sites. Employees in these facilities will get paper copies printed shortly before the test.
Protecting the integrity of the paper copies is a bit easier in a high security facility,” Loubser said.
Now that IPC has made the transition to electronic testing, the ground work for further enhancements to the program are being planned. One is to expand the portfolio to include new job roles and levels of certification.
“We plan to expand our certification programs to address different skill sets,” said Loubser, who joined IPC in May. “For higher level skill sets, you need a larger bank of questions that specifically validate skills using a variety to question types. Electronic testing allow us to make this breakthrough.”
The electronic tests are also being translated into Spanish, German, Chinese and French. Loubser noted that the ability to see how people are answering questions will help translators see if they have made any alterations that make a question difficult to understand.
Loubser is currently working closely with the training centers that administer IPC examinations to collect feedback so that IPC that can continue to improve the testing process as a whole.
“This is a good opportunity for us to work together as we expand the new online system,” Loubser said.
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