Study choice test

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A study choice test is a psychological test procedure with the help of which prospective students can find out which subject they should study. Study choice tests belong as so-called aptitude tests to the professional aptitude diagnostics in the broader sense.

development

Study choice tests have been around for a long time on a voluntary basis. They were mostly offered in magazines for schoolchildren and by the employment agency and were used to aid in decision-making as to which subject one should study most sensibly. Private educational institutes, i.e. companies in the educational sector, also offer tests of this kind under the concept of professional aptitude diagnostics in the broader sense.

Compulsory study choice tests were and are rare. The best known is the test for medical degrees . Otherwise, study choice tests were always only a voluntary option for prospective students, which were basically only carried out in the own interest of those being tested.

Recently, however, there have been some developments in this area that have intensified in the course of the Bologna Process , because since then in the education sector more attention has been paid to effectiveness, evaluation and a kind of optimization of the education system.

Officially, i.e. on the part of the universities, study choice tests were first used on a larger scale by the Association of North German Universities . The purpose of these tests on a voluntary basis was to reduce the number of dropouts in advance by offering students who would like to study help in making a consciously thoughtful decision on the respective subject.

In the area of teacher training , too, attempts have been made for some years to give student teachers the opportunity to test their inclination and aptitude for the teaching profession with the help of a study choice test. For this purpose, the “ Career Counseling for Teachers ” (CCT) project, supervised by Johannes Mayr and Bernhard Sieland , was launched for German-speaking countries with EU funding . This is a self-assessment that various universities in Germany, such as the Leuphana University of Lüneburg , and universities of teacher education in Austria make mandatory.

For the study of technical subjects, i.e. engineering courses, nine technical universities (TU9 group) have created a special test in a joint project, which they strongly recommend to all prospective engineering students on the part of the student advisory service.

Recently, more and more universities are designing their own, mostly subject-related study choice tests, which can be carried out as an online self-assessment . In general, there is a trend that more and more universities are introducing such tests, and many are announcing the implementation of corresponding tests.

Content

For a long time, many tests were limited to exploring the prospective student's interest in a subject (propensity test).

So-called study aptitude tests were then developed, i.e. special tests with which the specific suitability for the respective subject should be tested. The only aptitude test of this kind that has been designed and scientifically supervised at least in this way is the medical test .

Today almost all study choice tests consist of the components of aptitude test and aptitude test. Furthermore, the information aspect is also emphasized, i.e. the clear presentation of course content, aspects of the organization of the course as well as information on the job profiles behind the subjects. In the legal field, too, the Bucerius Law School in Hamburg designed an aptitude test for the selection of its students, which is intended to enable a diagnosis of suitability for law studies .

However, it is still controversial whether it is actually possible to use a test to determine a person's suitability for a particular subject.

literature

  • Simone Dlugosch: Prediction of academic success. Shown using the example of the selection process at Bucerius Law School. Shaker Verlag, 2005. ISBN 978-3-8322-4557-3 .
  • Michael Rentschler, Hans P. Voss: Study suitability and student selection . Shaker Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8322-7419-1 .
  • Joachim Diercks, Jutta Kast, Kristof Kupka, Katharina Bolten: HAW-Navigator - internet-based orientation and self-assessment instruments and their connection with the student advisory service at the HAW Hamburg . In: Journal for Advice and Studies, 1/2009.
  • Holger Walther: "Abitur, what now? Finding the right degree". Completely revised new edition, 2015, Südverlag Konstanz, ISBN 978-3-87800-069-3 .

See also

Web links

swell

  1. See archived copy ( Memento of May 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) and Archived copy ( Memento of May 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. See http://www.global-assess.rwth-aachen.de/tu9/
  3. See the offer of Saarland University ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) and the information on the aptitude test of Bielefeld University ( Memento from June 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  4. See the message in Focus from March 17, 2007.
  5. See archived copy ( Memento from July 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )