Introduction to Adaptive Testing

Adaptive testing has been around for a few years now, but many HR professionals and business owners remain unaware of their existence or application, so here is a quick introduction to the concept and its application in your business:

Adaptive tests are the next level in the evolution of testing people’s abilities and skills, and became reality once computer based testing took a leap forward from merely replicated paper and pencil tests to adapting the test to meet the individual candidate.

This is achieved by the test raising or lowering the complexity of the next question depending on whether the candidate answers the preceding question correctly or incorrectly.  For example, the adaptive Microsoft-Excel Test begins with a basic feature on saving a document.  If answered correctly, the next question might cover intermediate features, and can proceed into advanced features such as macros where a candidate gets every opportunity to demonstrate their skill level to a potential employer.  Similarly, a candidate with weaker skill levels will remain at the basic level throughout the test.

This same principle is also applied to Verbal, Numerical & Abstract Reasoning Tests, with similar results, allowing extremely bright candidates to demonstrate their skills without making less able candidates feel the anxiety of performing poorly.

For the employer, a test that tailors itself to the ability level of each respondent provides high accuracy and precision with far fewer questions than would be required for a typical, non-adaptive test.

Insight about a candidate’s ability can be yielded in approximately half the time of a standard reasoning test, promoting increased organisational efficiency and reduced candidate anxiety.

We have access to over 500 Software & IT Tests in Adaptive Format, as well as Verbal, Numerical & Abstract Reasoning titles, with more information on the latter available by clicking here.  Give Steve Evans a call to see where Adaptive Testing can sharpen up recruitment & selection practices in your business.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 at 9:05 pm and is filed under Industry News, Recruitment & Selection, Testing & Assessment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.