Testing of the acquirement of student’s general educational competence

Abstract

According to the Bologna Accords, in recent years the education sector in Ukraine has been undergoing via some changes: Ukraine switched to the multilevel education, many universities introduced the credit-modular system of knowledge, assessment and a successfully implemented distance learning system, based on External Independent Testing (EIT) [http://www.ihep.org/]. Ukraine provides equal access to education. However, despite the positive developments in the field of education, in 2010, only 17% of students received the highest possible score in a test of mathematics, and in 2011, only 7% received 180.5 points and above [Results of social…]. And that is despite the fact that according to the psychometric analysis: 58% test items can be classified as „optimal”. This paper is devoted to investigation of results and search of statistical relationships of indicators in tests of the general competence and knowledge assessment of students, which took place in Ukraine in 2011. A general methodology for finding significant statistical relationships between certain characters is described in the article. We used standard methods of statistical analysis: finding the value of the distribution, the methods of descriptive statistics, one-dimensional analysis of variance. The calculations were carried out with the help of software SPSS. A brief interpretation of test results is given. These results are accompanied by graphics and tables. The study drew conclusions about the level of general education of students in Ukraine in 2011. Objectiveness of test for the knowledge assessment scores is substantiated.