Many universities complained when the Ministry of Education and Training proposed to convert exam scores of different methods into a common grading scale and admission process.
According to the proposed 2025 admission regulations, universities are required to convert all admission methods and combinations to a single scale. The Ministry of Education and Training believes that this is to ensure fairness among candidates.
According to the Ministry of Education and Training, the conversion to a common scale and admission is to ensure that candidates are arranged according to their inherent abilities and core qualities, meeting the requirements of each specific training program.
Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Duy Hai, Head of Admissions and Career Guidance Department, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said that this is a difficult technical issue, requiring schools to conduct thorough research to come up with a fair conversion method for candidates.
For example, a candidate who scores 95/110 points under the talent selection method will not only compete with candidates who use this score. Therefore, the school must calculate a reasonable conversion formula, for example, 95/110 is equivalent to 28 points on the high school graduation exam.
Many universities complain that it is difficult to convert assessment methods to a common scale. (Illustration: University)
Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh, Director of the Center for Testing and Training Quality Assessment, Ho Chi Minh City National University, said that this requirement "lacks scientific basis". Because each exam has a different way of assessing knowledge and skills, different levels of difficulty, and different scope of knowledge tested, there is no basis for comparing the results of the exams.
Currently, schools do not have old data as a basis for analysis because this year's high school graduation exam is completely new compared to previous years. Even if the exam is kept the same but the test questions are different, the results will be different.
According to Mr. Chinh, to be able to convert to a common scale, it is necessary to have a score distribution of the exams. On this basis, schools compare and come up with the most accurate conversion formulas and coefficients. For example, schools can compare the scores of the top 10%, the next 10%... and how similar they are.
For example, in the Ho Chi Minh City National University's competency assessment exam, very few candidates scored 1,000/1,200 points. Meanwhile, the number of candidates scoring 28 or 29 points in 3 subjects in the high school graduation exam is very high. Therefore, it is difficult to determine how many high school graduation exam points a candidate scored in the 900-point competency assessment exam is equivalent to.
Thus, at least after the high school graduation exam results are out, the Ministry of Education and Training will send the score distribution data to the schools, then they will have the data to do that. Of course, depending on their characteristics and admission methods, schools will have different conversion formulas.
"If we hastily come up with the most popular conversion method without calculation and comparison, the equivalent conversion results will be very inaccurate, causing disadvantages for candidates when considering admission," Mr. Chinh commented.
Dr. Le Anh Duc, Head of Training Management Department, National Economics University informed that this year the school plans to enroll students using different methods such as: Considering high school graduation exam scores, combined admission for groups of subjects such as students with SAT, ACT certificates; students with test scores to assess capacity, assess thinking; combining high school graduation exam scores with international English certificates.
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To come up with a conversion formula to a common scale, it is necessary to combine many criteria, such as learning outcomes and student output results in recent years, to find a suitable conversion factor.
Dr. Anh Duc
"Regardless of the method, these scores are converted to a scale of 30, then the school will take the highest score to consider admission equally and fairly among all candidates," Dr. Anh Duc emphasized.
The Head of Training Management Department gave an example of a candidate with many different starting points such as: high school graduation exam score of 28, IELTS 7.0, Hanoi National University's competency assessment test score of 90. Like last year, this candidate will submit an application and check many subjects, each subject will be considered separately by the school. Thus, a candidate can hold 3 admission notices.
"This year, that will no longer happen because after converting to a 30-point scale, the school will use the highest score for admission, meaning each candidate will only be admitted in one method," he said, adding that this is very difficult.
To ensure fairness for candidates and come up with a convincing formula, the National Economics University must gather a team of research experts based on a combination of many criteria, such as learning outcomes and student output results in recent years, thereby finding a suitable conversion factor.
The equivalence conversion between methods is understood as the equivalence between learning abilities, not the equivalent conversion in terms of numbers. For example, a candidate who scored 1500 on the SAT, in the top 5% of the best candidates in that exam, when converting, the school will have a way to calculate so that it is equivalent and does not disadvantage the candidate, for example, converting to the top 5% of candidates with the highest high school graduation exam scores.
Of course, if we look at previous years, those who are in the top SAT score group of 1500 or higher but have lower academic results than those who graduate from high school with 28 points or higher, the school will have to consider that 1500 SAT points cannot correspond to 28 points.
Up to now, the National Economics University has basically calculated the appropriate conversion formula, and is expected to announce it to candidates by the end of March. After the announcement, the school may ask candidates for their opinions on whether they are satisfied with those conversions before applying them.
Many candidates are concerned that converting methods to a common scale will make it difficult to ensure fairness. (Illustration: D.H)
According to Master Cu Xuan Tien, Head of Admissions and Student Affairs Department, University of Economics and Law (Ho Chi Minh City National University), the nature of the exams is very different so the difficulty score value is similar.
"Without a reasonable formula, candidates who take the competency assessment and high school graduation exams may be at a disadvantage compared to those who use their academic records," he said. The most reasonable way is to calculate the weight of the score components based on the nature and difficulty of the exams. However, even when processing previous years' score data and comparing the correlation between input and output results to consider the proportion and conversion level, it is only relative.
With this method, Master Cu Xuan Tien commented that the entrance threshold in this year's admission methods may fluctuate greatly. The benchmark scores of previous years - which were reference data for candidates - no longer have much value. "In other words, this year's benchmark scores will be difficult to predict, making it difficult for candidates to set and arrange their wishes," he said.
Khanh Huyen
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