Online Continuing Education Workshops on Test Development

Academic examinations can be game-changing. They determine, for example, who is accepted to courses, who receives a scholarship, who qualifies as a lawyer, and who continues to the second year of studies in economics.

The majority of test developers are course lecturers, who assume this heavy responsibility. Most lecturers have no formal training in this area; they design tests to the best of their ability, drawing on their deep familiarity with the course content, their personal insights, and intuition.

At the same time, there is a growing realization in academia that test development is a professional skill in and of itself, and that educational personnel should receive dedicated training in test development. This training would be based on the findings of studies conducted over the past few decades in the field of psychometrics - the area of psychology concerned with measurement and evaluation. This type of training could greatly improve the ability of tests to determine how well examinees have learned course material as well as the tests’ fairness.

For nearly 40 years, the National Institute for Testing and Evaluation (NITE) has specialized in developing examinations and conducting scientific research in the field of psychometrics. NITE facilitators have led hundreds of workshops on test development at various institutions for higher education and other organizations.

Now, NITE is offering online continuing education workshops that address various aspects of test development, including writing and scoring tests. These workshops are made available to individuals, staffs, and institutions who aim for a high professional standard in terms of evaluating their students’ knowledge, proficiencies, and skills. These workshops, which include videotaped lectures and experiential practice exercises, are led by lecturers with broad theoretical knowledge and extensive practical experience in test development.

In addition, we offer interested institutions a short workshop facilitated by senior NITE test developers who will work with participants to solve several of the practice exercises included in the online workshop and give them constructive feedback on their solutions.

 

Available tracks for continuing education workshops

 

For consultation, general information and coordination of an online workshop:
Director of Verbal Reasoning Domain, Sephi Pumpian, 02-6750646, sephi@nite.org.il

ספי פומפיאן

 

Examples of institutions where workshops have been held in recent years

  • Ben-Gurion University
  • Bar-Ilan University
  • The Hebrew University
  • The Open University
  • Tel Aviv University
  • Ohalo College
  • Orot Israel College
  • ORT Braude College
  • Oranim Academic College
  • Afeka College
  • Ashkelon Academic College
  • Western Galilee College
  • David Yellin College of Education
  • Hadassah Academic College
  • Kinneret College
  • Sami Shamoon College
  • Sapir Academic College
  • Zefat Academic College
  • Ruppin Academic Center
  • Shalem College
  • The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo
  • Tel-Hai Academic College

 

Organizations outside the higher education system

  • Meir Medical Center Nursing School, Kfar Saba
  • Israeli Medical Association
  • The Center for Educational Technology
  • Israel Police
  • Ministry of Health
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Ministry of Tourism
  • Israel Railways