NO MORE SCORE SCRATCHING REGARDLESS OF HOW DIFFICULT THE QUESTION IS
For high school graduation exams from 2024 and earlier, the multiple-choice exam subjects, depending on the number of questions in each exam, the score scale will be divided equally. Whether the questions are easy or difficult, low or high comprehension or application, they will all have the same score.
This year's 11th graders will take the high school graduation exam in a new direction in 2025.
But starting from 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training has regulated the structure of the high school graduation exam format, the questions for multiple-choice tests are divided into 3 parts. Of which, there are two parts that keep the same scoring method as before, which are part 1 and part 3. Of which, part 1 includes multiple-choice questions, with 4 options to choose one correct answer. For each correct answer, the candidate gets 0.25 points. Part 3 includes questions in short-answer multiple-choice format. Candidates fill in the boxes corresponding to their answers. For math, in part 3, each correct answer is worth 0.5 points. For other subjects, in this part, each correct answer is worth 0.25 points.
Part 2, which includes multiple choice questions in true/false format, is no longer graded equally. Each question has 4 answers, and for each answer, the candidate must choose true or false. If the candidate chooses one answer correctly in a question, he/she will receive 0.1 point; if he/she chooses two answers correctly in a question, he/she will receive 0.25 points; if he/she chooses three answers correctly in a question, he/she will receive 0.5 points; if he/she chooses all four answers correctly in a question, he/she will receive 1 point.
With this change, Master Tran Van Toan, former head of the math group at Marie Curie High School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), said that the scoring method in part 2 is good and reasonable, creating fairness. Here, it will be possible to evaluate between students who cheat and students who understand and know. For example, in math, in part 2, if you answer right or wrong, just choosing one wrong answer will make the whole question wrong.
Mr. Toan emphasized that eliminating the equalization of scores for answers of equal value also creates self-respect for students. If you know something, say you know it, show it through your answers and vice versa, instead of taking risks and creating falsehoods.
Build test questions so that students can do them no matter which book they study.
Teacher Pham Le Thanh expressed his concern: "The stage of building a test bank and library is very important, ensuring that the materials do not follow any set of books, students studying one of the three sets of books can do the test and can evaluate the capacity and qualities of the candidates, meeting the goals of the high school graduation exam is to reduce pressure and reduce costs for society. At the same time, ensure honesty, objectivity, and reliability enough to serve as a basis for assessing and screening students' capacity after the first 3 years of implementing the 2018 General Education Program".
HELPS DIFFERENTIATE STUDENT LEVELS
Similarly, Master Pham Le Thanh, a teacher at Nguyen Hien High School (District 11, Ho Chi Minh City), acknowledged that the new scoring method according to the 2025 high school graduation exam format is a major turning point for accurately and comprehensively assessing students' abilities.
In part 2, each question has four statements, the candidate must apply all knowledge and professional skills to be able to choose the right/wrong answer for each statement of the question. From there, the thinking and ability of many different groups of students can be classified, the actual ability of each student can be standardized and measured, and the use of "tricks" or "guessing" to choose the answer can be limited. The probability of randomly scoring the maximum score is 1/16, 4 times smaller than the current multiple choice test format.
Master Thanh said that this is also something that testing in advanced countries has applied for many years, bringing many values in measuring and evaluating learners' abilities at each level of education.
Master Vo Thanh Binh, a teacher at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted (HCMC), also affirmed that the change and adjustment of the scoring method in the form of graduation questions according to the new program has a positive impact because it requires students to study and understand the lessons more thoroughly, avoiding rote learning in the subjects they choose. This ensures a solid grasp of basic knowledge to easily absorb knowledge at higher levels, helping to differentiate the level of students.
ADJUSTING TEACHING AND LEARNING
Master Pham Le Thanh said that the new scoring method requires changes in teaching and learning. Students must have a firm grasp and deep understanding of basic knowledge to be able to solve questions; they no longer focus on solving exercises and solving problems, while basic theoretical knowledge of the subject is abandoned because the actual content of the exam is very broad. The development of questions and the form of constructing the exam structure are also more diverse and differentiated.
New grading methods require changes in teaching and learning.
"Teachers no longer teach by guessing questions or "guessing" questions, but must closely follow the requirements of the program to teach, develop the program, and build questions from the requirements of the program to test students. There are no longer unrealistic problems and exercises that do not measure students' abilities like before," Master Thanh emphasized.
Meanwhile, Master Le Van Nam, a teacher at Tran Van Giau High School (Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City), also found the new exam format matrix reasonable and positive. "With previous exams, sometimes teachers reminded students to do easy questions first, difficult questions later, or if they didn't know, they used luck. But with this new structure, it will be impossible to use such habits," said Master Nam.
Master Nguyen Viet Dang Du, head of the history group at Le Quy Don High School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), said that the form of student assessment must also change towards assessing diverse abilities, not testing knowledge memorization skills. Students should proactively seek knowledge through many channels in addition to the knowledge provided by teachers.
Mr. Do Duc Anh, Bui Thi Xuan High School (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), said that teachers need to help students understand and master literature knowledge according to the genre characteristics required by the program. Students need to practice skills instead of cramming knowledge, enhance their ability to think analytically, critically and creatively rather than memorizing. It is necessary to practice many types of questions, find and read many works and authors outside of textbooks. Teachers need to increase practice exercises with texts outside of textbooks for students to learn and recognize.
Therefore, Master Thanh expects the Ministry of Education and Training to orient the exam content towards being closer to real life, not focusing on memorization and understanding of knowledge but encouraging higher-level thinking skills through applying knowledge to solve specific problems in life. "Only by orienting the exam and calculating the score in this way can we fully promote positive signals for innovation," said Master Thanh.
How many points is reasonable?
In the 2025 high school graduation sample exam that the Ministry of Education and Training has announced, for example, for part 2 of history, there are 4 questions, each question has four parts: a, b, c, d. Thus, the four parts in the same question have the same level of difficulty, so when the candidate only chooses exactly one part in a question, it is reasonable to get 0.25 points, instead of 0.1 points.
The test has an additional true/false choice section, requiring students to have a solid grasp of knowledge and understand the nature of the problem to make the correct right/wrong choice. This is a new point in the structure of the multiple-choice test and in the 2025 high school graduation exam illustration, which is agreed upon by teachers and students. The fact that students choose true/false in part 2 is also the application and high-level application section to assess students' abilities most accurately according to the requirements of the 2018 General Education Program, teaching and learning to promote students' qualities and abilities and also meeting the need for synchronous and compatible innovation between learning and testing.
Nguyen Van Luc
( Teacher at Trinh Phong Secondary School, Dien Khanh, Khanh Hoa)
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