The Association of Tests Publishers (ATP), an international, non-profit organization representing providers of tests and assessment tools and services, held its fourth conference on, ‘Revamping Exam Standards in India: Improving Evaluation and Assessments of Higher Education and Professionals,’ in New Delhi today. Over 300 delegates from academia, universities and HR attended the event.
Global experts deliberated important subjects relevant for changes in the examination space like incorporating Artificial Intelligence, Test Scoring Algorithms, Content Development, Holistic framework for improving Evaluation and Assessments, Improving Quality of Higher Education. The forum shared global best practices in the assessment space by addressing topics such as exam security, candidate convenience & flexibility, and different methods of testing. This year’s conference is being hosted by I-ATP in academic partnership with ACT.
The event was oriented on scientific techniques, best practices and new technologies for use in higher education assessment and the workplace. The key objectives of this event was to gather educational leaders together with human resource professionals, under one roof to establish an ongoing dialogue for raising assessment standards by embracing world class best practices and exploring new technologies.
“There is an urgent need to revamp the exam structure in India. The assessment system must be re-invented, re-designed, re-positioned to ensure high quality internal assessment. We are focusing on leveraging technology, artificial intelligence on learning platforms and use of data analytics to make it more personalized for every student.” remarked ATP CEO Dr. William G. Harris, as he opened the fourth annual conference of the Indian Regional Association of Test Publishers (I-ATP), 2018.
” We need to work hard towards revamping the exam structure according to global test best practices. Conferences like these will act as platforms where industry stalwarts, thought leaders, practitioners, teachers and all other stake holders can gather and discuss to adopt the best practices. This can only be achieved by learning, discussing and talking to each other.” said Divyalok Sharma, Chair India- ATP & Senior Director, Pearson VUE.
Speaking at the event, Prof. Sanjay Govind Dhande (Ex-Director IIT Kanpur), noted “India is marathon country with certain drawbacks in the education sector. We have a centralized examination system where the task of a teacher is to teach and not assess. Proliferation of entrance examination is another hindrance where success & failure in such exams have become a part of assessment culture. Testing should be a feedback mechanism rather than a guillotine assessment. We have enormous administrative and legal issues as well. Examination is not a pure assessment to test the true ability of a student. Unless we change our mindset and attitude, things won’t change.”