Skill evaluation and testing
Test items should match course objectives and have specific achievement indicators

By S.R. Majumdar
The word ‘test’ is a very common term familiar to modern life from almost the very early stage of childhood. Today’s children in this highly populous country of ours need to face numerous tests starting from nursery to high school even for fulfilling a simple dream like admission as decent quality schooling facilities may not be available readily always in all parts of our country. In fact this small but essential luxury of life proportionally remains always in perpetual short supplies compared to the requirement leaving no other options but to select the lucky ones through a democratic process of distribution conducted through competitive tests. Then we cannot avoid tests in our school days and this goes on from school to college to university till ultimately we land ourselves in a job for livelihood again mostly through a competitive test – a very interesting phenomenon of modern life across the globe. The competitive atmosphere through which we have to progress towards our future has certain healthy benefits too which of course may be beyond any further discussion here. A number of tests for vocational education or skill training system are conducted in the country and India can boast of having a well organised system of skill testing mechanism in place under the control of DGET for evaluation of the end quality of the ITI and
Apprentice trainees.

Objective Testing
Very often the word objective testing is used basically to examine a student’s understanding of knowledge acquired at the end of a course. Even at the end of each class room lecture some test should be conducted through some well conceived class assignment test to ascertain if the topics discussed are understood or not. The conduct of a final examination at the end of an academic session or training program thoroughly may judge objectively if the student qualifies to earn a certificate of pass or not. The word ‘objective’ is used in various connotations in relation to testing types and methods used.

The word objective literally means something appropriate to some object aimed at, say, performing a specific function to a certain degree of ability or act to accomplish a job for which students or trainees have been taught or trained. So far test in the skill training area is concerned, the main purpose here would be to ascertain if the goal of acquiring the specified skill to act or to function accordingly has been achieved by a trainee to the fullest satisfaction as planned or thought of.

Performance Ability
Objective test means therefore, a test or testing with an objective in sight. Such tests, hence, cannot be a haphazard one but need to be organised against certain norms predetermined with a scientific basis i.e. an evaluating norm which should have to be distinctly measurable in order to differentiate not only between pass and fail but to be able to measure the individual abilities of trainees including the possibility of bracketing the best from the good and good from the worst in a comparative relational parlance in both practical skills as well as related theoretical area to that skill. As skill training is mostly a system of educating the young to develop their basic and applied skill through an extensive institutional skilling process as also on completion of their stipulated period of apprentice training in industries which enables a young learner to develop practical and applied sense of knowledge and working skill in understanding, identifying, selecting, manipulating, setting of machines and tools etc. in order to be able to join the main stream of industrial productive real world of employment.

For example, a mechanical group of trainees at the end of training period require to perform mechanical jobs within certain industrial and production criteria of mechanical characteristics like tolerances and fitting and finishing norms, geometrical configuration and similar standard activities in conformity to the required industry standard, accuracy, assembly procedure etc. as laid out for each mechanical work. The same analogy will be equally applied for other group of skill trainees, say a machine operator, or a machine tool fitter or a control technician, electrician etc commensurate to the skill profile of specific skill requirement. The testing method in skill training system, therefore, is a highly complex job and needs appropriate attention in both trade specific engineering and associated cognitive area of knowledge according to the trades involved and physical and workshop related capability with the specific skill characteristics as per need of engineering or shop activities they may be put to work with in their professional life.

This puts us in front of certain important factors concerning to have a matching testing procedure which may not be possible without having a well designed curriculum and syllabus drawn for each individual area of core skill and its allied area with well conceived sequential break up of skill elements and appropriate knowledge contents. Equally important is to have in place a pattern of instruction highlighting distinctly the objective of each micro level skill and the attendant knowledge input and accordingly structure the theoretical and skill practice program during the training. Based on this assignment as well as periodic, terminal and other tests need to be administered with test items designed and developed matching to the course objective with specific indicators of achieving the goal. Certain preconditions need to be followed religiosity in order to make such an act of testing perfect, assertive, effective and functional with absolute reliability:

• Uniformity in subject, syllabus and training period
  
• Uniform application of methodology, instruction and skill practice scientifically
  
• Clearly spelt out objective of course and resultant skills expected
  
• Method of testing and gradation with a distinct measurable yardstick of skill
  
• Homogeneity in norms and standard in validation system, etc.

A test item is another specific area of importance. The test item that distinctly fits to measure and match the end objective of the designed program and prescribed for specific skill situation is, therefore, an absolute need to enable an evaluator to measure the trainee’s achievement. Quality and ability of evaluators to test may be another prime area to have a foolproof system of evaluation standard.

Design of Tests
Designing of tests and test items is an art to be set intelligently to have direct feel of the performance which is really a complex matter as under industrial skill training program, not only one has to have a feel of measure not only of the technology knowledge but also of the skill developed as both go together to make a perfect and complete skilled person. Moreover in skill development it is not only the core skill which one needs to master but also certain allied skill area without which the complete skill is not achievable. While testing, this aspect obviously cannot be overlooked. For example a carpenter learning how to prepare wooden door or window frames cannot shy away from the skill of fitting a glass pane or knowledge of glass cutting tools – as per my opinion, an integral part of the core trade. Almost all trades under skill training system are related to few allied trades and while designing the test items and organising tests, for evaluation, test item developers have to take this specific point into note so that the quantum of skill achievement may get evaluated and measured in appropriate proportion without fail and a complete skilled worker is produced and certified. To be very specific, objective questions need to be very sharp, direct and pointed and short, if need be, simple but intelligent without any language ambiguity and possibly could be answered just by a tick mark, true or false, filling up gaps with a word or arranged as matching items to each other etc. The practical jobs should be designed involving the core and allied skills together maintaining a proportion so that at the end, the objective of the totality of the trade is evaluated.

— SR Majumdar is former Director of Central Staff Training and Research Institute, Kolkata

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