Testing Center

Head of the Center — Oleksandr Demydenko, Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences

Telephone: +380 61 236 22 52 (Ukrainian only)
E-mail: testcentre@ZSMPhU.zp.ua

Extensive use of various forms of test control in the work of the university for a long time has led to the understanding of the need to create a single structural unit with the ability to conduct a centralized test control of the quality of the educational process at the university as a whole. The result was the creation of the Testing Center of Zaporizhzhia State Medical and Pharmaceutical University in 2011.

The Testing Center is used for final module tests in individual disciplines, comprehensive tests, Rector's tests, preparation for licensing exams KROK 1, 2 and 3, and can perform both a full cycle of test exams, including test processing, forming variants, layout, printing, making booklets, scanning response forms, processing and analysis results, and separately each of the necessary stages. The software used in the test preparation process allows you to work with text tasks and tasks that contain graphical information.

The creation of the Testing Center made it possible to minimize the time for preparation for tests, limit access and increase confidentiality of the information, conduct centralized multidisciplinary tests, and provide feedback to university departments.

Exclusive equipment is used to ensure the quality level of the Center's work. So, for printing of booklets with test tasks the Xerox 5740 publishing complex (high speed, double-sided printing, automatic bookbinding) is used. Scanning of the corresponding forms is carried out by the high-speed Fujitsu fi-6130 scanner (30 forms/min., hardware color clipping). There is also a spare HP 5590 scanner. Form recognition is performed using the Abbyy FormReader 6.5 (100,000 forms/year license). Work with the tests database, formation of variants and keys of answers is carried out in AOC @ RATOS. There is also a separate server for tests storing and accumulating, workstations with personal computers and a local network for primary work with the test database, scanning the appropriate forms and processing the results, as well as a printer for current work. Preventive maintenance of the complex is approximately 25,000 UAH per year.

The staff of the Center has 4 employees: the head of the center and three specialists, each of whom performs certain functions related to the organization, technical support, preparation and conduct of tests.

The "Regulations on the organization and operation of the Testing Center and testing of students at the Zaporizhzhia State Medical and Pharmaceutical University" was developed and approved at a meeting of the Central Methodical Council, according to which the Testing Center provides: checking the quality of tests and, if necessary, their correction; entering tests into the testing system; formation of tests variants; providing the appropriate number of printed booklets and answer sheets; analyzing test results; providing information on test results to the relevant departments of the university; control over the formation of a tests bank of disciplines for which final test is defined.

Procedure for preparing and compiling booklets with tests variants:

1. Review of source versions of questions;
2. Detection of inaccuracies and correction of errors;
3. Conversion of prepared tests into AOC @ RATOS format if necessary;
4. Generating the required number of variants;
5. Preparation of tests for registration;
6. Formation of variants;
7. Layout of booklets;
8. Production of booklets and their binding;
9. Transfer of ready booklets to deans' offices or departments on the eve of the exam.

Thus it takes about 1 hour to assembly of one variant for one subject, and up to 2 hours — one variant for three subjects.

Verification of completed and encrypted relevant forms:

1. Checking the presence of a cipher on each form;
2. Verification of special labels on the form;
3. Scanning;
4. Checking the results with the help of the application and comparing them with the answer keys;
5. Saving results;
6. Analysis of the obtained data;
7. Formation of the database of exams results.

It takes up to 3 minutes to check 1 completed form, depending on the quality of filling out the form. Accordingly, the inspection of 100 forms takes 1.5-3 hours.