Test Procedures for Universities and other Educational Institutions and Sponsoring Organisations
- For more information on tests used for many application areas click here ...
- For more details about the benefits click here ...
- For more about quality as the topmost priority click here ...
- For more information on ITB tests click here ...
- For more about consultancy work for universities click here ...
High Informational Value and Integrated Processes
Educational institutions require procedures which enable them to assess the aptitude or individual promotional needs of their target groups reliably, clearly, and efficiently. Today this requirement is met by straightforward tests conducted online or off-line. This kind of test process leads to higher procedural quality and eases the burden on internal infrastructure. ITB Consulting provides methodologically developed solutions and competent consultancy services.
In addition to a general student aptitude test, ITB Consulting has developed and evaluated faculty-specific selection tests and self assessments for Informatics and Computer Science / Mathematics, Engineering, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Languages, Law, and Economics. ITB Consulting also provides consultancy services to foreign institutions on issues of test design, development, and implementation. One of its biggest test projects is the Test für medizinische Studiengänge or TMS (Aptitude Test for Medical Studies). It was used for admission purposes by all German universities for many years and hence became one of the best-known test procedures in Germany. Today the test is also used in Switzerland and Austria. From year to year more and more German universities are using the test for student admissions, although it is no longer mandatory.
ITB Consulting supports over 20 text programmes for private and public university admissions as well as for grants and scholarships programmes at home in Germany and abroad (Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein). All ITB tests are developed and continually evaluated according to scientific criteria. To date over 500,000 people worldwide have taken part in test procedures developed by ITB.
ITB offers tests for many areas of application
- Faculty-specific student aptitude tests for restricted admission courses ("numerus clausus"): standard procedures available for Medicine and Economics; individually designable, references and testimonials available
- Admission tests for Master's courses: standard procedure available for Economics; individually designable, references and testimonials available
- Study advisory tests: designed individually, references and testimonials available
- Selection tests for grant and scholarship programmes: designed individually, references and testimonials available
- Self-tests on personality, interests, and motivation within the scope of self-assessments: standard procedures available; individually designable, references and testimonials available
- Intercultural competence test: standard tests available; individually designable, references and testimonials available
- English tests: standard tests available for various language levels; individually designable, references and testimonials available
- Special programmes for private universities: designed individually, references and testimonials available
Contact: Phone +49 (0) 228-8 20 90-0; E-mail info@itb-consulting.de
Benefits of ITB-Tests
In principle other procedures apart from the tried and tested procedures offered by ITB Consulting also come into question for selecting students. A comparison shows that ITB procedures provide many benefits.
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High degree of specificity: the test procedures are specifically tailored to the respective requirements of Bachelor's courses and of consecutive and research-oriented Master's courses. The tasks simulate typical requirement situations for the respective study courses.
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Low degree of trainability: The trainability of ITB Consulting tests is demonstrably very low (cf. Hofer & Hänsgen, 1996; Trost et al., 1998). The success rate in these tests does not depend on whether one has attended expensive preparation courses.
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High numbers of participants can be efficiently managed, organisationally speaking: Test participants can be allocated to numerous sites and several dates if so required.
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Reasonable participation fee: the participation fee is usually no more than €50 (for Master's courses up to €97). Comparable American tests mostly charge significantly higher fees.
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Differentiated feedback: each participant receives differentiated and individual feedback, including a detailed explanation of the results.
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Structuring possibilities for universities: the results can be weighted differently in individual task groups, allowing the selection procedure to be exactly matched to the respective main focus of studies. A university can choose the most suitable application model from a range of models (for more information on the various models click here ...): for example, obligatory versus optional execution of the test, bonus models for improving grades, integration of additional selection criteria. It may hence influence both the number and structure of students admitted. The way the test procedure is applied also has a positive impact on its acceptance among candidates.
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Equivalent grading: as opposed to American tests, ITB Consulting test procedures permit the test results to be compared with Abitur (A level) or Bachelor grades.
Quality is the Topmost Priority of Selection Tests
The benefits of a selection test hinge on its quality. ITB Consulting procedures, which over 500,000 people worldwide have used to date, are developed in compliance with internationally recognised quality standards, are systematically evaluated and continuously improved. These procedures have already proven their high quality and forecasting ability in numerous studies and surveys (cf. Blum, Hensgen & Trost, 1985; Dlugosch, 2005; Fay, 1982; Greiff, 2006 ; Hänsgen & Spicher, 2001b; Hell, 1999; Hell, Trapmann & Schuler, 2007; Sauerland, Stegt & Trost, 2009; Stumpf, 1980; Trost, 1997; Trost et al., 1981; Trost et al., 1998; Trost& Freitag, 1991; Trost, Klieme & Nauels, 1997). All selection tests are based on a tried and tested quality assurance system:
- Development of a test concept: a requirements analysis (cf. Flanagan, 1954) is the first thing to be carried out. Subsequently proposals for task groups are elaborated to measure those competences which are particularly vital to meeting the analysed requirements.
- Meticulous task development: new tasks are continuously being developed for selection tests. Each test task is checked through in an internal quality assurance system.
- Empirical pretesting of all tasks: all test tasks are tested using members of the respective target group; quality parameters are used to select the most suitable tasks.
- Continuous evaluation: each test element is analysed for its relationship to other available aptitude and performance indicators. In addition, its forecasting ability regarding future performance is also checked. The procedure is revised if and when required.
Examples of ITB-Tests
- For Mediziner-Test TMS/EMS (Aptitude Test for Medical Studies) click here...
- For TestAS Test (Test for Academic Studies) for foreign students click here ...
- For the student aptitude test for Master's course candidates in Economics and Social Sciences (TM-WISO) click here ...
- For a selection test (demo test) of the German National Academic Foundation click here ...
- For the ITB personality test (PSA) click here ...
- For the ITB intercultural competence test click here ...
For an overview of ITB services click here ... , for more information on ITB's partners click here ...
Consultancy Work for Universities
Optimising Legally Admissible Arrangements
The seventh amendment of the German Higher Education Framework Act (HRG) provides that state-run universities allocate 60% of university places in nationwide restricted admission courses themselves. This marks a further key step towards promoting university autonomy and profiling in the field of higher education.
However, the greater degree of autonomy also means that the universities themselves have an obligation to develop a procedure for allocating university places. ITB Consulting counsels universities on developing such a procedure. For more information on this, click here ...
The German Higher Education Framework Act (HRG) sets out which criteria must be taken into account in selecting students:
- average grade in school-leaving certificate
- weighted individual grades in school leaving certificate which may provide information on subject-specific aptitude
- results of a faculty-specific student aptitude test
- type of vocational training or professional occupation
- results of a selection interview which is supposed to provide an insight into the student's motivation level for the selected course and intended profession and simultaneously avoid misconceptions
- or a combination of these criteria.
The selection decision must give great consideration to the school-leaving qualifications. The other criteria may be applied optionally, unless otherwise dictated by federal state (Länder) legislation.
Designing a procedure which is fair to all candidates, which enables the selection of best-suited students while simultaneously efficiently handling the scarce resources available, and which additionally promotes profiling by the individual universities and makes them attractive to student candidates - this is a task that ITB Consulting has already mastered with many public and private universities.
Contact: Phone +49 (0) 228-8 20 90-0; E‑mail info@itb-consulting.de
