Enhancing Students' Test Skills: Online Psychometric Testing Workshop

1. AGCAS East Midlands Regional Training Event “Supporting Students' Test Practice Needs Through Online Psychometric Testing Delivery” Tuesday 16th September, Loughborough University Overview of the day Jonathan Wolff Careers Consultant, Loughborough University

2. How this course has evolved • Large response to AGCAS group E-mail asking for advice on useful resources for testing as part of modules • Our use of Graduates First / PfS seemed worth sharing • Angus’s offer to contribute to an event added scope and depth • Course has continued to evolve (through phone calls) over the summer • This event has been a catalyst for a number of developments: • Graduates First developed publicity materials and tightened their pricing structure • AGCAS Psychometric Task group updated their guide to resources • PfS speeded up the development of their new online platform • The day has continued to evolve! …

3. Change to course content • An additional 15minute session • The two online group sessions looking at resources will be combined into one 75minute session “This presentation will describe a new open access online course, Numeracy for employability and the workplace, which is being developed for the FutureLearn platform by the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University. The course aims to prepare learners for employers’ numeracy testing and to increase their mathematical confidence.”

4. We said: “At the end of this day you should have”: • Gained an up-to-date understanding of current trends in the use of psychometric assessments, and how they fit into graduate selection processes • Learnt about strategies for delivering high quality psychometric test practice experience and feedback to students/graduates both individually and in groups • Obtained hands-on experience of specific licensed online packages used by HE careers services (e.g. ‘Graduates First’, ‘Profiling for Success’ and others) • Learnt how practice can help students prepare for / improve test performance + Other ways in which students can be better prepared for psychometric tests • Considered the relevance of the British Psychological Society's Test User qualifications to careers practitioners in the current testing environment

5. Reflections on what this day is/isn’t about (1) • About half of the time will be spent in hands-on online learning • As regards input on practice test systems – we’ll only look at two packages in detail • BUT we’ll also look at starting points for researching a wide range of resources • There’ll be an opportunity to talk about other tools YOU find useful • Web links to resources used today will remain available; presentations to be added soon • We’re not presenting an official AGCAS view or telling you how to do it! • PATG are supportive of the day but are not involved in its planning or delivery • We’re sharing experiences/knowledge which you might find helpful in moving forward • We hope to learn from YOUR experience, expertise and insights!

6. Reflections on what this day is/isn’t about (2) • The experience of group members varies enormously • Some of you will already be familiar with the majority of what we cover • For some, there might be information overload on the day - you can re-visit all materials later • Everyonehas a contribution to make – please share knowledge and insights • Angus’s extensive knowledge of all things psychometric is a major asset for the day • We must make the most of it! • Format for the day isn’t rigid, we can adapt it to the needs of the group, so …

7. Are there any specific issues or concerns you want us to cover today? And the issues raised on the day were: • How do we deal with the difficulties faced by: • International students? • Students with disabilities • Are practice tests hard enough? • Are practice tests available for specific technical groups? • Can group practice test sessions fit into an assessment model? • How do you use ability tests in career development planning