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The Impact of Evaluation on Thai ELT

The Impact of Evaluation on Thai ELT. Richard Watson Todd King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. Impacts of evaluation. Most countries: most influential evaluation is University Entrance Exams The Chinese experience in 2007 Parents giving children Ritalin

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The Impact of Evaluation on Thai ELT

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  1. The Impact of Evaluation on Thai ELT Richard Watson Todd King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi

  2. Impacts of evaluation • Most countries: most influential evaluation is University Entrance Exams • The Chinese experience in 2007 • Parents giving children Ritalin • Parents trying to close airport

  3. The Thai experience • Survey of secondary school teachers’ problems • 156 respondents • Most serious problem = the influence of the university entrance exam

  4. A brief history of Thai university entrance • 1967 - 1997: multiple-choice exams as sole criterion • 1998: 10% of marks from school scores (GPA and percentile ranking) • By 2006, school scores increased to 30% (GPA only)

  5. A brief history of Thai university entrance • 2006: name change to O-NET and A-NET • Inclusion of essay question • Link to school curriculum • Norm-referencing through T-scores • Marking fiasco • 2007: multiple-choice only

  6. Future plans for Thai university entrance • 2008: Add 3 more core subjects (health, technology, arts) • 2010: A-NET replaced by aptitude test • 2010: GPA system simplified • 2010: Scores for ethics

  7. Stated reasons for changes • Change away from exams only • validity problems • student stress • growth of tutorial schools • lack of attention to secondary schooling • move to learner-centredness • Keeping school scores to 30% • reliability problems

  8. Stated reasons for changes • National Education Act of 1999 • Section 26 • "Educational institutions shall assess learners' performance through observation of their development; personal conduct; learning behaviour; participation in activities and results of the tests accompanying the teaching-learning process commensurate with the different levels and types of education. Educational institutions shall use a variety of methods for providing opportunities for further education and shall also take into consideration results of the assessment of the learners' performance."

  9. Reasons for changes • Conflict between educational ideals and assessment inertia • Conflict between Ministry of Education and Council of University Rectors • MoE: motivate students at secondary schools • CUR: emphasise reliability

  10. Current situation • Constant flip-flopping • Heavy emphasis on multiple-choice exams • 70% from multiple-choice entrance exams • 30% from school GPA, but 60% of school scores from exams with heavy multiple-choice bias • Emphasis on multiple-choice exams unlikely to change in future

  11. Impact of university entrance • Impact on teaching and learning • teach vocab and grammar • no higher-level thinking • rote learning • ephemeral memory of facts • receptive skills emphasised

  12. Impact of university entrance • Impact on other exams • School exams use entrance exams as model • The case in 2006 • April 2006: O-NET including essay • June 2006: new semester • July 2006: mid-term school exams include essay • August 2006: CUR announces ‘no more essays’ • September 2006: final school exams have no essay

  13. Impact of university entrance • Impacts on students and society • students focus on grades, not learning • more cheating and selfishness at school • reliance on tutorial schools • inequalities in access to higher education

  14. Validity and reliability • Multiple-choice is practical • but 2006 marking fiasco not caused by essays • Multiple-choice is reliable • only if questions are well-designed

  15. Validity and reliability • Poorly designed questions from secondary schools • ______ sports bag do you like? • a. What • b. Who • c. Which • d. Whose

  16. Validity and reliability • Poorly designed questions from secondary schools • People swimming here do so his own risk • a. Everybody swim here • b. People swim here because he like risk • c. People who swim here will have accident • d. People did not swim here

  17. Validity and reliability • Content validity: Test what you teach • O-NET based on school curriculum • Use of school GPA scores • Reliance on multiple-choice means prominent objectives ignored • Multiple-choice may be more a measure of test-taking strategies than of language ability

  18. Validity and reliability • Predictive validity • Research into predictive validity • GPA better predictor than exams • Tutorial schools influence scores • University entrance exams are not particularly valid for predicting candidates’ future performance

  19. How good is university entrance? • Detrimental effects on teaching and learning • Detrimental effects on school evaluations • Detrimental effects on students and society • Good practicality • Reasonable reliability • Poor content validity • Weak predictive validity

  20. Directions for change • Previously • inconsistent • directionless • knee-jerk reactions • driven by personal agendas • How to decide on and implement changes

  21. Implementing changes • Gatekeeping is only one among many considerations • Use National Education Act as a guide • Emphasise validity over reliability • Change university entrance from a problem to an agent for beneficial development

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