Subj : Re: Aptitude tests "not test well" (was: Software Job Market Myths) To : comp.programming,comp.software-eng From : gds Date : Thu Aug 18 2005 10:07 pm blmblm@myrealbox.com wrote: >In article , >Robert Maas, see http://tinyurl.com/uh3t wrote: >>> From: blm...@myrealbox.com >>> >if I were designing an application form, I would >>> >not bother to put an age field on there, or even a DOB field, despite my >>> >earlier point about it being a useful indicator. And that's because I >>> >wouldn't bother putting a former employer section or a qualification >>> >section on the form. Instead, I'd put in an aptitude test. >> >>> it seems to me that it would screen out people who don't "test well", >>> i.e., people who aren't very good at demonstrating their abilities >>> under a particular kind of pressure that doesn't seem entirely relevant >>> to what you'd want them to do on the job. >> >>IIRC that kind of pressure mostly applies when contestants are >>called into a room at a particular time with a standardized test >>with a limited amount of time to finish the test. If the test were >>instead given over the Web, with the contestant/applicant allowed >>to start whenever they feel ready to tackle the first question, >>and they're timed on just that one question then offered a chance to >>either take a break or move to the next question, timing each >>successive question individually and always offering chance for taking >>a break after finishing each question before seeing the next, and >>there's no time limit for all the questions although taking too much >>time causes a lower score, that would seem to elmininate the problem of >>fatigue in a long test, "bad days", and the pressure of coming to a >>test room at a particular time. Would that alleviate most of your >>concerns? > >Yes, but it raises an addition, possibly more important, concern: > >If the test is given over the Web, I can't think of any way for >the tester to have any confidence that the answers being given are >coming from the person being tested himself/herself. The scenario >you describes seems to make it very easy for the person being tested >to cheat in any number of ways that would be difficult or impossible >to detect (hiring someone to take the test, asking others for help, >etc.). An ethical person would not do this, but not everyone's >ethics are above reproach, no? The purpose of such a test (IMO) is to simulate the work environment, within which people might be reasonably expected to consult other employees, the Web, etc., to solve certain types of problems. This requires, of course, that the test designer think of questions whose solutions require original thought and can't simply be looked up. The reference material is used as an aid to the solution process. --gregbo gds at best dot com .