Don't be too creative!

The requirement that the literature exam not use materials from textbooks makes teachers confused, leading to many controversial exams.

The seemingly "trendy" and creative exam questions of Mac Dinh Chi High School (District 6, Ho Chi Minh City) lacked the basic requirements of the 2018 General Education Program and lacked scientific and logical basis, causing much controversy.

Careless, sloppy

Not only the "canvas" exam of Mac Dinh Chi High School, the recent mid-term literature test at Vo Truong Toan Secondary School (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) also made many teachers and experts comment that it was not standard.

Specifically, the test consists of two parts: reading and comprehension. Part 2 of the test, which should have been "Writing", is still written as "Essay". A literature teacher at a middle school also said that this test had a basic error in citing unreliable sources. Meanwhile, the test requirements had questions for 6th graders, not 9th graders. "Not to mention, the test order was unclear and not neat, the requirements in the test were also vague and unclear, causing difficulties for students" - this teacher assessed.

A mid-term literature exam at Hoa Hung Secondary School (Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province) recently discussed by many teachers and students also showed many problems in the way the exam was designed. The exam consisted of 2 long pages with 6 questions and many teachers and students said that it took half of the time (of 90 minutes) to read all the exam materials.

Many exam questions have caused controversy recently. Photo: Social Network

Mr. Do Duc Anh, a teacher at Bui Thi Xuan High School (District 1), said that in addition to typing errors, many exam questions also showed the carelessness of the test makers. Some questions required reading and understanding a poem, but the source was not listed as the publisher. Meanwhile, the reading and understanding questions required identifying the content of the entire poem. In the "Writing" section, students had to read and understand the whole story to write an analysis.

With the ability, level of 9th grade students and skills accumulated in half a semester, they cannot meet the requirements of such exams.

Consequences if the test is not up to standard

According to the head of the literature department of a high school in District 1, the decision to not use textbooks in the exam questions seems like a small change. However, if teachers do not prepare properly, they can easily fall into a state of "chaos in the exam questions".

In the old program, for many years there were only the same number of works. Teachers taught from one course to another, even memorized the lessons they taught. When there was a change, requiring them to choose different materials from the textbooks, many teachers were confused and faced difficulties.

Many education experts believe that test making is very important because it reflects and evaluates the output level of students' abilities, thereby negatively affecting the teaching and learning process.

From the reality of teaching and setting questions, Mr. Vo Kim Bao, a teacher at Nguyen Du Secondary School (District 1), said that there are currently many groups and associations that sell lesson plans and prepared lessons under the guise of "test banks". This situation requires teachers to be alert. Teachers must train themselves in the ability to choose sources of documents and materials.

According to Mr. Do Duc Anh, many exam questions deal with current issues but are not necessarily educational. Test makers need to carefully select materials to bring out the true educational value of the exam.

Faced with the reality that many exam questions are called "open, following the trend" as today, a literature lecturer at a university in Ho Chi Minh City commented that if teachers want to create open exam questions, they must first understand what "open" is. Open does not mean following current issues but is open in thinking, viewpoints, perceptions, flexibility in solving problems, solving life situations, and social reality. Therefore, teachers must ensure standard knowledge and skills when creating exam questions.

"If the exam only serves one trend or movement, it is not okay, because that trend or movement only serves one group of people. Choosing the topic to include in the exam is an important step, it must raise issues of the times, humanity, education..., not follow trends or movements" - this lecturer emphasized.

Determine the goal when making questions

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training requires that before creating test questions, teachers and schools need to determine the competency goals that need to be tested and evaluated, ensuring that they are consistent with the educational goals of the school, the subject or educational activity. The form of testing and evaluation must meet the requirements for developing students' competencies...

Source: https://nld.com.vn/ra-de-theo-chuong-trinh-moi-dung-sang-tao-qua-da-196241110205155693.htm