What You Need To Know About The Benefits Of Online Cat Preparation

By Author: Eric Simmerman
Total Articles: 2
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It was in March of 1986 that the Chicago Sun-Times reported on the latest advance in placement exams, reporting that the "standardized testing of college-level skills recently began its long-awaited shift into the realm of computers." The new, improved approach was developed by the Educational Testing Service, along with the College Board, and was named the "Computer Adaptive Test" (CAT). Its first application was in college placement exams, testing incoming freshmen for competency in mathematics, reading and writing.

The story went on to explain that the CAT differed from the "traditional paper and pencil" placement tests, as the "new test adjusts the difficulty level of the questions to the ability of each test taker." The test structure and design is applicable to just about any subject area, and in the years since its introduction the CAT has been adapted for use in university graduate programs, government and business.

A little history

The U.S. armed service branches were unsuccessful in their early attempts to develop "adaptive tests" using large, unwieldy, expensive and slow mainframe computers. The ...
... 1980s brought previously unimaginable power to the personal (micro) computer, and reality finally caught up with theory when the College Board unveiled its CAT Graduate Record Examination (GRE) in the latter part of the decade.

CAT is now accepted as a viable, cost-effective alternative to traditional testing. Software development firms around the world have created "templates" and "shells" with which test-givers can build unique exams without doing R&D on their own. More and more companies will be partnering with government agencies and educational institutions, both private and public, to create customized CATs for placement, grading and licensure purposes. This has opened the door for other entrepreneurs to help people prepare for CATs, and online CAT preparation is a definite growth industry.

Benefits to the test-taker

Because CAT is an entirely new testing approach, one of the most important things online CAT preparation can do is familiarize test-takers with it. One immediate benefit to test-takers is learning to recognize how the exam is tailoring itself to their personal ability levels. If, for instance, test-takers do well on an item of moderate difficulty, they will be presented next with one that is somewhat more difficult. On the other hand, if they did poorly on a question, they would get a simpler one next. This sense of "tailoring" explains why a common nickname for CAT is "tailored testing."

Its proponents claim that CAT requires fewer test items to yield scores as accurate as old-fashioned tests. The data seem to back up this claim, and yet it is also unarguable that knowing how a test is designed, administered and graded confers a definite advantage on the test-taker. Online study and preparation, because of its efficiency and flexibility, is the perfect means to learn about CAT, and is another great benefit for busy students and professionals with no time to waste.

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